While it is important to talk about the halacha about whether you are allowed to call the police when you see find out about someone being abused - it is as least as important that you actually do something to protect the victim. Most people - even if they feel abuse is wrong and that it is permitted to call the authorities or even beat the assailant - will not intervene as can be seen from this video. WHAT WOULD YOU HAVE DONE?
In this experiment, do we know how many of the weaker (elderly, female, shorter..) joggers called the police?
ReplyDeleteThe press recently covered the 50th 'anniversary' of the 'kitty genovese' case.
ReplyDeleteThe conclusion was: nothing changed.
Nobody cares. It's not a matter of confronting a tall strong guy, it's just a matter that nobody cares.
ReplyDeleteOnce many years ago I visited a friend who lives in Har Nof, an american-haredi neighborhood, for a Shabbat dinner, in Agassi street. As I came out of the shul and walked towards the house, I didn't notice a big oil spot close to the curb, stepped on it and fell... man... what a fall... it caught me by surprise, so I did not have the split-second time to move my arms to protect the side of my torso, that hit the curb. Not to say that one of my legs just "folded" behind me... I couldn't breath for a few seconds and the pain did not let me get up... tons of people passed by, since everybody were leaving the shuls at the same time. And all passed by me, men, women and children... so many people saw me, since I fell right in front of the big shul that is close to the stairs that connects Agassi to the street below, where the supermarket is...
I did not have the breath or voice to ask for help, but I was a woman with a pain expression in the face and a "folded" leg on my back, open arms and on top of a oil stain. It doesn't need to be a genius to see I was not there from my free will. Then, when I finally got the energy to get up, I did it, alone and very slowly and rested for a while. Then I went to my friend, limping and with a huge oil stain on my brown skirt and a hurt leg.
In general, nobody cares.
I have seen people fall and many people rush over to see if they can help. Doesn't justify the lack of help in your case - but there are times when people do react appropriately
ReplyDeleteThe purpose of the article is to encourage the mindset of intervening - instead of relying on others
My grandparents lived in Brooklyn, in Williamsburg. Over time many Chasidim moved in to the area. I didn't witness the following. My mother described it to me. My parents had gone to visit my grandparents. My parents z"l parked and got out of the car. A blur approached on the sidewalk: a little kid of color running for his life. He was being chased by a group of men from the neighborhood. Apparently, the kid was in the wrong place according to the men. Or maybe he'd attempted some petty crime. The men caught up with the boy. And started giving it to him: viciously, violently attacking the boy. They apparently wanted to "teach him a lesson".
ReplyDeleteMy father -- being my father -- went to rescue the boy. He shamed the men: "What are you doing?! You're going to kill him!"
In response, the men, according to my mother, stopped -- and were ready to turn on my father for stopping them. A plainclothes officer showed up at that moment and took control of the boy, defusing the situation.
My father never thought about standing up for the right. He just did it. Without any concern for the ramifications. That's where I get it from. I think there's a teaching that the son is the kneecap of the father. I doubt if I reach anywhere near that level. By the way, I think my father was around sixty when this incident occurred.