Okay, been getting lots of questions about this so let me TRY to explain this... When I go to the Kotel, the Western Wall, I can tell in an instant who is a real haredi and who is just looking like one so tourists give them a donation. (hint: green striped bobby socks and blue slacks are not worn by the average hasidic jew.) To an outsider, us black hatted orthodox jews all look the same. There are groups ranging from the Litvaks to the Chassidism... and in the chassidic world alone, a wide variety of sects from Lubavitch [the most famous for their amazing outreach] to the Satmar [who wear the frisbee-style felt hats.] among many, many others such as Belz, Viznitz, Skver, Gur, Bobov...) The Satmar are famous for their belief that the State of Israel is esentially a mistake and that the re-formation of a Jewish state was not yet meant to be until the coming of the Messiah. the satmar sects number in the [probably] tens of thousands of people. you may not agree with them, but at this point, the practical difference is that they do NOT accept government subsidies or visit the Kotel. (they do generally vote in municipal elections) They are NOT the Niturei Karta. they are NOT affiliated with the, uuh, 20-100(?) or so folks who go to Palestinian protests, pray (tfu!) at Arafats grave, or do any of that stuff. Those folks are considered by the ENTIRE spectrum of orthodox judiasm to be a bunch of quacks... and the media loves them because they are LOUD,, not because they have any significance in the Orthodox Jewish World. Hope I clarified this for many of you whove been wondering. THEY ARE NOT US. You may ask but.... and your argument may have a good point, why people have certain opinions or whatever. but this does not change the basic fact that 50 idiots are getting worldwide press and making even many secular jews, never mind the world at large, think that people with peyos, beards and black hats are against or happy about IDF soliders being killed or wounded in war against our enemies, God Forbid. Feel free to share if you think that may help fix that terrible misconception. I cant reach the whole world with this message. אחינו כל בית ישראל הנתונים בצרה ובשביה העומדים בין בים ובין ביבשה, המקום ירחם עליהם, ויוציאם מצרה לרווחה, !ומאפלה לאורה, ומשעבוד לגאולה, השתא בעגלה ובזמן קריב, cc: Allison Josephs Shlomo Solokkhz Psycoholics Haim Cohen Charley Levine Dena Goldschmiedt-Wimpfheimer Stuart Schnee Danny Danon - דני דנון River Dale
Posted on: Tue, 29 Jul 2014 14:40:26 +0000