There is a clear distinction between Lakewood and Beitar in that the "undesirables" in Beitar are sincere frum people who have issues such as being baalei teshuva, kids off the derech, not dressing according to the charedi mold, etc. If they can't live in a frum neighborhood then they have no other choice. Plus, it could happen to anyone with teenagers, no matter how frum the rest of the family is. Though the people who are bullied and intimidated and discriminated against are usually davke the loners and weak people who can't take it and either suffer or just leave the community - these people are not illegal aliens and drug dealers. If anything it's the establishment here that acts like thugs. Everyone here accepts in theory the concept of controlled demographics, but the problem is the discriminatory, corrupt, mafia, big brother, etc methods. and that there is a built in system for neighbors to use loshon hara and even motzei sheim ra to label someone as a pariah, without clear guidelines and due process to determine the truth and the proper way to resolve the issues. This system is the background to the ultimate result of a 14 year old girl being reported on, tracked, and attacked with acid in her face, though they had harassed and threatened her older sister. This is clearly antithetical to the beginning of the Tur's choshen mishpat. [quote] not to mention all of the mussar values of the Torah way of life. I am sure the Chofetz Chaim is rolling over in his grave that this is what passes for "chassidus" and "kedusha" nowadays.
Why would any Jew want to live in such a place?
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't. I don't think that there is anything "frum" about this.
In all fairness, there are a lot of sincerely frum people in Beitar who like the city because of the reality that it is the "City of Torah and Chassidus" as its slogan proclaims. Meaning that in its everyday environment the atmospere is very conducive to an insulated modest Torah-study intensive way of life. A lot of well-meaning people are simply unaware of the reality that goes on here. Recent elections and changes in the Demographics Committee including the installment of a hotline for reporting "spiritual problems" have made things more public, yet at the same time the city's children are continuing to grow and the "wayward youth" problem is worsening. So, many otherwise relatively good frum people tolerate and even participate in the campaign against "tumah", kind of like the Salem witch hunts. Most are still unaware or in denial of the mafia methods used to acheive the spiritually utopian "tzivyon ha'ir" (city character) that they want so badly. or they even justify it because of their fear of the alternative. That is why it is so imperative for rabbanim to stand up and condemn this phenomenon, to make it clear that this is not daas torah, and why the reality of the severity of the victims' experiences has to be made as public as possible. Fanatics will always exist and will remain unrepentantly committed to their unholy cause, but hopefully at some point regular people will no longer be their accomplices. BS"D.
ReplyDeleteI just finished reading your posts on the situation in Beitar. As a native New Yorker now living in Jerusalem, I can understand why rabbanim would be concerned about frum jews renting out space in our communities to undesirable elements. However, I can not understand what the problem is in Beitar? Who is moving their except for people who are trying their best to fit in with the frum community? Arabs? secular Jews?
ReplyDeleteAs the only colored-shirt-wearing yungerman in my neighborhood, i feel a little concerned. I shudder to think how such a group would discern who is not the right type of frum.
i have mentioned in a previous post that the people who the community is afraid of are those who threaten their facade of "kedusha", such as baalei teshuva with their individuality and diverse backgrounds, including many breslovers and russian chabadniks, divorcees and single parents, serious social work cases, etc. The main issue though, as in most of the Charedi world today, is clearly that of the growing presence of "off the derech" youth at various stages of non-conformity and with a general lack of framework or direction, who have nowhere to go and so are very obvious around the city. Many of these kids have serious issues due to the broken, abusive, or poverty stricken homes they come from. Baalei teshuva are blamed for bringing with them outside influences and a lack of mesora and strictness, and have become the city scapegoat for all its problems. This was explicit in the false propaganda statement released by the city PR man in response to the acid attack on that girl (see earlier post).
ReplyDeleteIn the recent elections a political party was created just to represent all the "pariahs" here. they won one seat in the city council. a small victory but not nearly enough. i have sent Rabbi Eidensohn some of their info, perhaps he can post that here.
The following article (June 12) is not entirely accurate but it is good enough to give you a sense of the dynamics going on around here:
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/990640.html