The world of the ultra-Orthodox is fascinating, and varied, but largely closed to outsiders. Numerous communities live according to their own rules, as determined by their rabbis. They maintain their own schools and academies, and resist efforts of the government that provides most of the funding to influence even part of the curriculum. They adhere to their own styles of clothing, and maintain courts for settling disputes. While many of the ultra-Orthodox employ Hebrew for daily conversation and instruction, some communities insist on Yiddish as the mother tongue at home, in school, and on the street.
Social scientists who are Orthodox in their own practices have described some of these behaviors, but have found themselves limited in the communities and practices they can investigate. Some of what they write has the tone of anthropologists who visited exotic tribes in far corners of the world, but must rely on hearsay and speculation when they write about others that remain hidden in the jungle or on distant islands.
A wave of police reports and news stories about behavior that is bizarre even for the ultra-Orthodox has provoked shock and speculation. Several families and rabbis are in the spotlight for the brutal treatment of children, incest, and rabbinical use of sex for treating problems. One woman has been pictured repeatedly as she waddles into court under the 12 layers of garments and full covering of her face that she insists is required. Another enters with her face buried in a book of Psalms.
Among the charges are the beating, burning and prolonged enclosure in luggage of children said to be possessed by evil spirits; parents' knowledge of sexual relations among their numerous children; one rabbi who treats family problems by having sex with the woman of the family, with the consent of her husband and perhaps in his presence; and a woman in the process of divorce who says that she was pursuing revenge against an abusive husband by having sex with her young boys.
Religious observers have spoken of sects that have settled in religious neighborhoods, are made up of Jews who have recently become ultra-Orthodox, and are led by charismatic figures who call themselves rabbis but who may not have had traditional religious training and received the authority of a rabbi from a recognized teacher.
Why not? Should Jews be immune from the forces that create charismatic behaviors in the outback and suburbs of North America, the shantytowns and villages of the Third World? Most people who believe in the Almighty and the miracles described in sacred texts behave in ways that are well know and acceptable. Others show no conventional limits to what they teach and practice.
The conventional ultra-Orthodox adhere to the responsibility of parents to educate and discipline their children. When charges of child-abuse surfaced, religious figures quoted Scripture: spare the rod and spoil the child (Proverbs 13:24). Since then, commentators have asserted the differences between conventional ultra-Orthodox and these recent converts and their unknown rabbis, especially with respect to the puritanical regulation of sex. Families with long histories of being ultra-Orthodox, and whose rabbis learn religious law in established academies are as different from behaviors recently exposed by the police as is night from day.
As they distinguish themselves from these newcomers to their neighborhoods, however, the established ultra-Orthodox have not yet openly examined their own responsibility for permitting the activities to exist. They identify other behaviors that disturb the peace in or near their communities. Committees of decency beat up men who prey on children or disturb someone else's wife, destroy kiosks that sell secular newspapers, spit on women who wear slacks or short sleeves, rip down offensive advertising posters, and burn shops or restaurants that sell non-kosher food or remain open on the Sabbath. It is difficult to believe that conventional ultra-Orthodox, participants in committees of discipline, and their rabbis have not heard about peculiar behavior within families or by men who claim to be rabbis.
It will take awhile for all this to be sorted out by police investigations, court proceedings, and commentators who claim to know. One of the rabbis said to advocate what the police term "sadistic punishment" for dealing with children, and sex for other family problems is said to have fled Israel for Canada.
Israeli authorities move slowly through one deliberation after another. The police and judges say that they are understaffed.
The former president, Moshe Katsav, accused of rape and other ugliness is said to be having second thoughts about agreeing to reduced charges of sexual harassment. His story has been in the headlines over the course of almost two years.
Ultra-Orthodox politicians have not emphasized the issues of child abuse or improper sex in their communities, or on the fringes. They have been speaking prominently about a lower court decision that would allow the sale of bread in Jewish cities during Passover. There may be an accelerated appeal to the Supreme Court. Passover is less than two weeks away.
Israel is a free country. One can chose the abominations that merit a public campaign.
Ira Sharkansky (Emeritus)
Department of Political Science
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Home tel: 972-2-532-2725
Cell phone: 054-683-5325
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