Take for example, this excerpt from Jonathan Rosenblum's op-ed, "Knowing our Limits" in the Mishpacha magazine:-
A group of five feminists, including novelist Naomi Ragen, has petitioned BaGaTz against the Mehadrin lines maintained by two publicly-subsidized bus companies: Egged and Dan. Petitioner do not demand the immediate cessation of Mehadrin service, but rather that the Court order the Transport Ministry to conduct a study of the necessity of separate seating bus lines and require Mehadrin buses to be clearly labeled.
At the hearing before BaGaTz, a good deal of attention is likely to focus on an incident that took place on the number 2 bus between Har Nof and the Kotel last November 24. In a widely circulated Email, Mrs. Miriam Shear, an Orthodox grandmother from Toronto described an alleged attack on her that day.
Since there has been no court decision in this matter of the attack, it is, truthfully, alleged.
Nevertheless, I do think it would have been better to have written "what Mrs. Shear alleged to have happened...".
What's the difference you ask?
Well, in my phrasing, it is clear that Mrs. Shear is the one doing the alleging and that there was an incident but perhaps not all the details are clear. In Jonathan's version, it is as if the who incident really didn't occur.
The difference is minor but the conclusions could be major.
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The use of the word "alleged" notwithstanding, Jonathan Rosenblum's article makes a good point about the Haredim's valuing of "halacha" over democratic ideals not being a good thing at this moment, thus:
"If BaGaTz eventually bans Mehadrin public buses, those who were so insistent that Mrs. Shear vacate her seat will have made a significant contribution to the final decision. Certainly they have already made helped make Torah Judaism appear as something ugly and fanatical in the eyes of hundreds of thousands around the world.
It is unlikely, however, that those involved in the bus incident will ever know of their "achievements." But what concerns me more is the fear that even if they knew of them that they would have no regrets.
There is, unfortunately, a small, but not negligible, segment of our community for whom the image of Torah Judaism in the larger world is a matter of utter indifference. All that matters, in any given situation, is what they perceive as the immediate religious imperative. Concern with the spiritual state of their fellow Jews is not even on the radar screen.
No doubt among my readers there are those who will point the finger of blame at Mrs. Shear: Why couldn’t she have moved to the back of the bus? Why did she have to distribute her Email so widely, knowing that it would generate great attention? And perhaps they are right.
But to focus only on her actions is to miss the point. There is a growing tendency in our community to attempt to impose our halachic standards, even chumrot, whenever we have a momentary majority, such as on the early morning bus to the Kotel. Even leaving aside the consequences of such a strategy on the attitude of traditional and secular Jews towards the chareidi community and Torah itself, I fear it is a dangerous approach.
Democracy may not be the Torah’s ideal form of government, but in recent history it has generally proven to be the best protector of the rights of Jews and of our ability to flourish as Torah Jews.
Therefore Torah Jews have an interest in playing by the rules of a democratic society. If we want the majority of Israeli society to respect the rights of the chareidi minority, then we have to also respect the rights of the majority. "
My son just contacted me and directed me to this site. He is attending Yeshivat Sha’Alvim. This is in fact the very story I relayed to my family when I returned from Vatikin one early morning in November during the week of Thanksgiving. I had just passed thru the security and saw about 8-10 women around a tall man wearing a black hat. He stood about 6’2” with a neatly trimmed grey/black beard. The women was repeating the story of what had just happened on the bus. She was sickened by the fact that this man spit in her face because she was on this bus. She said something like how could a religious frum person behave like this. He tried to walk away because someone said the police were on the way. All of the women tried to create a tight wall around the man to prevent him from leaving before the police got there. He pushed his way thru the women and started to proceed accross the plaza towards the kotel. He was walking really fast but the one women was right at his side. I was right behind both of them as we proceeded towards the wall. As they approached the wall the lady stopped out of respect of the fact that she could not go any further. Some men came up to the lady and screamed at her for being where she was. The man quickly dissapeared into the tunnel to the left of the wall. The lady turned to me and asked me to go get the police but someone had already called them. The police were there in less than 30 seconds. We gave a description of the man and they went in to see if they could find him. They brought someone out but it clearly was not the correct man. If anyone knows how to contact Mrs. Shear please let me know. I have a picture of her and the man as they were walking torwards the kotel. Maybe someone will recognize this man. This was the picture I showed to the police before they went into the tunnel
Er, how can she contact you if you're anonymous?
Anonymous = upndownpico@aol.com
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