Jew Vs. Jew

Please get back to the MAIN POINT of this article. Why are you getting off course & explaining a quote, when Rabbi Salomon is speaking of how some Jews' minunderstanding of Torah

Thank you for speaking the truth, and being mavdil bein Or le'Choshech. It is crucial we stand up for what's right and get the word out that these activities do not represent Tora, orthodoxy, or even the ultra-orthodox community--and get it out both within and without the Jewish world. The Kamtsa story happened when no chachamim in the room objected the man being victimized. Thank you for using your position to clarify bein or lechoshech.

Rabbi Salomon's claim that spitting on an 8-year old girl is wrong and reprehensible is beyond argument. 99.99% of all haredim agree with that. But that is not the main point. The real story is that the Israeli news media are exploiting an eccentric "man-bites-dog story" (among other carefully orchestrated provocations of the last two weeks) to besmirch an entire half-million member religious community in Israel and encourage gratuitous hatred ("sinat chinam") among Jewish brothers, in promotion of its agenda for the upcoming elections. Much as the innocent husband who is asked when he stopped beating his wife (as if the fact that he once beat her is taken for granted), every mainstream Haredi is suspect unless he has rushed to condemn the obvious. Contrary to Rabbi Salomon, I feel it is more important than ever to investigate the "spins" of this story and expose the hidden agendas.

I agree with you. One side is using it for their advantage for political reasons. The U.S. has gotten into this story also through their media. This could have more agenda than just Israel's election year, it is ours also. Something to think about.

There is always agenda... but this is not what Rb is saying. He sais that it is not in any way showing what yidishkite really is. From Chareidy point of view this is reprehencible. You can spin it any way you want it, but for 99.9 % of Chareidim this is not at all what we believe in and hence there is no back story. Those people have to be dealt with by their Rabbaim and their communities.... As a charedi woman I am deeply embaressed...

I appreciate your integrity in taking on this sad topic, not ignoring it, and yet not giving it "spin" for your own benefit.

I still don't now the whole story.

I respect you for speaking out about this. I read about what has been going on and was truly beyond upset. I so totally agree this has nothing to do with Torah, nothing to do with religious observance, and mostly to do with the opposite of what we hold dear, namely the sacred, in all, and the reverence for others, other Jews, other ways of observing and being. Such violence and such violent feelings have no place in Judaism and certainly have nothing to do with worship. They are the antithesis.

I AGREE WITH RUTH HOUSMAN 100%.

It was infighting and hatred between Jews that left us totally unprepared to defend Jerusalem from the Romans in 70 CE. Thank you Rabbi for expressing your anger and sadness that Jews hating Jews has no place and destroys us from within.

Truth is truth, no matter who says it. Rabbi Salamon did not tar all Haredi with one brush. But he courageously spoke out against the reprehensible behavior of the few who are making so much news that people will think they represent all. I am not Orthodox, but I am resentful that this small band of men believe they can treat a small girl with disrespect and thereby influence an election and the world. Shame on them! Good for Rabbi Salamon!

I am a student and lover ot Torah. You have said what is in my mind and heart.

Hashem tells us when the Jews are united we are invinsible. We need out Rabbis to remind us of this and put out a big effort to create more of this thinking.

Thank you! it says in our beloved Torah - that where no one is acting like an upright person we should be acting like an upright person. Thank you for saying the simple truth. I wish the israeli media would put this as top headlines! "Haredi Rabbi condems wrong actions". Your words give me hope! they give me back the respect i always felt for Haredi jews. You didn't let us down! Thank you so much for standing up for what is right. Thank you for being a human being, a rabbi, a man of integrity, a man who is able to stand unapologetically and show what a torah jew is truly about. Thank you for sounding a same voice amongst all the mess. I really really respect you and want to come close to your way of Torah! Thank you!!!!!

Thank you, Rabbi Salomon, for standing up for what's right instead of taking the easy way out of finding some way to justify or excuse such disgusting behavior. As for Steve's comment, which is a perfect example of the kind of "spin" the Rabbi was condemning, he doesn't explain why, if these attitudes only apply to a few people, there have been riots in Jerusalem with haredim attacking the police over the gender segregation issue. This man isn't as much of an aberration as some people would like to believe, and I agree that this behavior has got to stop for the sake of Israel and the Jewish people.

Yesher koach for saying it like it is! Hopefully, this chillul HaShem will be dealt with appropriately by the Israeli authorities and by the Israeli rabbinic leadership.

Thank you for making the simple point that the actions of "haredi" against girls and women is simply wrong. Period & finish. There is no justification. Regarding Steve's comment, I would be more concerned about the way "religious Jews" are lumped together if Israeli haredi had spoken up against these shameful demonstrations.

It wasn't in Ramat Bet Shemesh. It was in Bet Shemesh. The demography is different.

Thank you for addressing this problem in such a straight forward manner

great commentary rabbi !!............the simple question i would ask these people who would do such terrible and hurtful things is....." are your actions bringing glory to hashem's name ??"......i would hope that would give them pause.....and something to think about !!

Your claim that spitting on an 8-year old girl is wrong and reprehensible is beyond argument. 99.99% of all haredim agree with that. But that is not the main point. The real story is that the rabidly anti-religious Israeli news media are exploiting an eccentric "man-bites-dog story" (among other carefully orchestrated provocations of the last two weeks) to blacken an entire half-million member religious community in Israel and encourage gratuitous hatred ("sinat chinam") among Jewish brothers, in preparation for the upcoming elections. And much as the innocent husband who is asked when he stopped beating his wife (as if the fact that he once beat her is taken for granted), every mainstream Haredi is suspect unless he has rushed to condemn the obvious. Perhaps as a well-meaning American not entirely familiar with the cynical shenanigans of the Israeli left and their sidekicks in the secular media, you are not entirely to blame, but with all due respect, Rabbi Salomon, you have fallen into the Israeli secular media's well-laid trap.

What a wonderful example of denial, and what a conspiracy theory you come up with! Do you really think this whole matter is nothing but a plot around the elections? Who are you defending? Yourself? Who are you fooling? And why?

I agree with your analysis 100%. As a fairly new immigrant to Israel, I have been shocked by the outright discrimination toward Haredim. I never experienced anything like this in the US, so it has been a sad awakening to this situation.

People need to be aware that MOST of what is reported in the press on issues having to do with haredim is grossly distorted at best. The Forward ran a Philologos column saying there is a new word in Hebrew for the disenfranchisement of women. Did it ever occur to them that the word is new because this is a recently invented concept devised by the media as a tool in their war on haredim? The sign in Beit Shemesh requesting women not to congregate in front of the shul at times when tefilla is letting out had been there for TEN YEARS without comment, but suddenly just last week it became a "crisis" situation that had to be solved with dramatic police action! While there has definitely been some major wrongdoing on the part of a small number of extremists, the incitement in the press has been beyond all bounds. And the army's recent announcements that they will not allow charedi soldiers to obey Jewish law show clearly that the secular society has declared war on Torah-observant Jewry. Read Caroline Glick's excellent column "Our World: Is Israeli society unraveling?" where she analyses who benefits from the manufactured crisis of the "threat" of haredim. Now THAT is something to think about.

My hat off to Rabbi Salomon for so courageously stand up aginst small group of evil individuals w

I agree with Rabbi Salomon's comments and wish there was a reference to the book authored by Samuel G. Freedman, JEW VS. JEW, published by Simon & Schuster in 2000. This well written book documents some of the hideous things we do to each other in the name of 'religion' in the USA.

Read todays Caroline Glick's column on this subject. It is excellent

These so called "religious" Jews are creating a chillul HaShem by spitting on the graves of the Kedoshim who have died over the centuries for only one reason; they were Jews.

Speaking and lecturing on this website won't make a dent on these characters' world outlook and interaction with the rest of us. They don't care about Aish, about you, or me. If you want to change, use the mandate and power of your position to call for action.

It distresses me to hear people trying to deflect criticism. It is easy enough to see reprehensible behavior on YouTube videos that ought to be condemned out of hand. I appreciate that you make no excuses for this chillul Hashem. If we don't stand up to thugs, we will have a nasty minority ruling through fear.

just as an aside, here's how the media doesn't even cover the hundreds of events each*week*, and I do mean hundreds that involve not just the religious belligerency, in the article, but the slaughtering by the many many tens of thousands- "DUSHANBE. – An outrageous incident occurred in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, where a group of religious fanatics killed Santa Claus. Parvis Davlatbekov wore [sic] as Santa Claus to congratulate his friends for the New Year. However, a group of fanatics attacked and stabbed him by crying ‘infidel’ in the street. The young man died on Monday without coming into consciousness. The unprecedented tragic incident is widely discussed in Facebook, ITARR-TASS reports. Tajikistani MFA acknowledged officially the incident. However, it rejected that the brutal killing occurred on religious grounds but claims it was a regular violence. Meantime, local media calls to pay attention to the discussions whether it is right to celebrate the New Year in a state where 98 % of population is Muslims." And mind you.... this will get zero commentary by anyone, let alone the seculars who demand Israeli religious bow in submission over their own arrogant ones, who don't kill anyone, nor but act crudely, and rudely. Get the idea??

Your words are an echo of my thougths on the matter. To me, though, the sadness of it all is what stands out. That the frum world can reach this point is dispicable, as you stated, but most of all it saddens me to the core. And it saddens me when I see comments by people who actually agree with this terribly wrong attitude. How sad it must be for people like you who are working in kiruv and are probably seeing alot of their hard work being undone by these very sadly misguided people.

I understand that the Jewish sages teach that we are supposed to judge others favorably (when it comes to judging others in general), so it seems like a misconception that either certain Jews or certain humans would be better than that, given all of mankind's prejudices among those different, or even a certain difference within the same kind of community...As for these Jews who spat on an 8-year-old girl over what she was wearing, chances are, this wasn't even a fringe group of Jews - just fringe individuals acting upon their impulses from their prejudice.

Its sad & scary at the same time!!!

The media in Israel does not report the news but creates it. There have been cases in the past where the media (in collaboration with others) where the ones who put on the whole show in the first place. Before deciding on anything the real questions to ask are was the perpetrater caught, were charges brought against him & does he/he's familly really belong to the social group he is identified with.

Right on the money.