Tales from the Israeli Cheder

Cheder head orders children into groups and scolds them if they leave the groups. Says, we must teach them to be soldiers. The boys are 4 years old.

Boy says, "I don't want to be here." Cheder head says then leave. Opens the door and shoves the kid outside. Kid cries in terror, let me back in. Cheder head says, we must show them who's boss. Kid is 4 years old. 

Cheder head advocates violence with the kids. Grab them by the ears he tells the workers. 

Welcome to Israel where the culture is cruel militarism. This is what happens when you start a country by violating the Three Oaths and taking the land by force. Hashem leads you in the direction you want to go. You want to be violent?

Israelis in Amsterdam

 

Warning - there's profanity in this one

My grandmother came from the Ukraine. She recalled the pogroms "the goyim came in and hurt people." She didn't like to talk about it. She'd say just that, look off in the distance, and her voice would trail away. She was an aidle yiddisheh woman just living her Jewish life in poverty. She and her family didn't parade into another country, attack people and property and chant genocidal rape fantasies. Don't even dare coopt the word pogrom to describe what happened in Amsterdam.  

No it wasn't a pogrom. 

The Israelis as usual started all the trouble.

Norman was right after all

Historian and critic of the secular state Norman Finkelstein talks about the way the military deals with Arabs. He says it instigates a bit, then some more, then some more, then the Arabs push back, then the military claims it was attacked and slaughters people.

I wondered if this was true. And today I witnessed the tactic in action. I was at a bris in the middle of Meah She'arim. After hearing some commotion, I went outside and saw a troop of police. There were at least twenty of them, armed with rifles and machine guns and stun grenade cannons. 

All the weaponry is a strange sight in Meah She'arim because the people are so peaceful. They walk slowly in long coats and modest clothing. They always seem to be on the way to shul or grocery shopping. Unlike many in this secular state, they don't carry guns. They carry tefillin bags.

The police stomped around, with their glaring eyes, and their dead faces, acting like they owned the place. It turns out they had come to remove Palestinian flags. 

There was only one actual flag, and then two small ones painted on a wall. You would have thought that they were searching for atom bombs. They looked so serious and so angry. I couldn't decide if it was more scary or comical.

The people took it in stride. Nobody spoke to them. Nobody even shouted which surprised me because I keep reading in the papers how those awful Charedim shout the word Nazi at the poor wonderful police. A few people watched as one policeman went into a shul to pull down the flag, and another spray painted over the small picture of a flag on the wall. 

I got this vibe that I often get from Israelis. Ooh we caught you. They love to catch people. The bus ticket checkers relish catching somebody who forgot to swipe his card or who did but his card didn't work and he didn't realize it. Once, a guy from the post office gave me that I caught you attitude when I was about to accept a package for my wife, which is what I thought he wanted me to do. I said, do you want me to sign for it? Ah, he caught me. I'm not her!! 

So the police sprayed over the flag, and I figured this was unpleasant but I guess that's it. But it wasn't over. The police lingered. They marched around the neighborhood looking for more flags. I went back inside to the seudah for a half hour and then heard more commotion. The police were still there, stomping around, storming past people, pointing their guns.

Here's what happens. The police come and the people put up with it. But the police don't leave. They do their best to intimidate until finally a mentally unstable person -- and Meah Shearim has a few -- shouts or tosses something at them. The police rush the person. The Charedim rush to save their friend. And the melee begins.

The police start it all. That was their intention all along. 

I remember something I read from a former soldier, how the police stomp around Hebron with the intention of making the Arabs feel chased. Everything with Israelis is about intimidation.

So right about this time school let out. Was that intentional? Did the police time their little storm trooper march for when school let out? I'll bet they did. So all the children -- and that includes little cheder boys with their payus and little school girls with their books bags -- saw the big mean police grabbing, shoving, arresting.

It was mayhem. And it was all caused by one of the world's most unprofessional police forces. Does it really matter if there are three Palestinians flags in Meah Shearim? Aren't there crimes to solve? Isn't there a war going on? Well, actually it isn't a war, but that's another subject. 

And the world's most unprofessional press -- when it comes to Charedim-- will report that those nasty Charedim attacked the wonderful brave police and called them that dreaded N word.

But I know really happened because I witnessed it with my own eyes. It was twelve hours ago and I'm still furious! I'm told that this goes on all the time.

Jewish state? I don't think so.

Can you imagine what they do to Arabs? I don't even want to think about it.

All the modern conveniences - NOT, part 5

15 desk phones, 8 alarm clocks, 2 fridges, a drier and a washing machine, 6 smoke alarms, a fuse box timer, several sinks and toilets, a hot water dispenser, and a computer - this is what I have had to replace in recent years in SSOI. I'm not talking about batteries here but rather the entire device. At this moment, I have leaks in a toilet and a sink. I already fixed a toilet and a sink. Two doors won't close even though we have had them fixed twice. The doorbell has never worked. 

At the shul where I daven, all the door handles to the toilets are broken as are two of the toilets. The floor keeps flooding.

I have fixed my water heater twice, and even when it works, it doesn't provide enough hot water for a full family to shower within two hours of Shabbos. And you have to remember to turn it off for after a few hours it can explode. Yes, explode.

Because in this land of alleged "all the modern conveniences" the devices keep breaking. In the store, there are few choices, maybe 2 types of alarm clock 4 types of phone, all of which the store keepers know little about. But they all break. They sell junk here. My pants fall apart too. I keep replacing them. And it's more expensive too. Polyester pants that fall apart are $60. In America, cotton pants that last a decade are $20. Computers and cars twice the price. And salaries are 1/4 what I had in America.

I dare say that nothing I buy here works.  

STAGGERING NUMBERS: 12,000 IDF Soldiers Treated Since October 7, Nearly Half with PTSD- theyeshivaworld.com

Since the war began on October 7, the Defense Ministry’s Rehabilitation Department reports it has treated roughly 12,000 IDF soldiers, many facing serious physical and psychological impacts. Among these soldiers, around 5,200, or 43%, are dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder.

Further figures highlight the severe nature of injuries: 14% have moderate to critical injuries, including 23 soldiers with major head trauma, 60 amputees, and 12 who have lost their vision. Approximately two-thirds of the 12,000 soldiers are reservists.

A notable 1,500 of those treated sustained injuries twice, having returned to service after initial recovery.

Beyond this wave of cases, the Rehabilitation Department continues to care for 62,000 veterans from prior conflicts and projects this number could rise to 100,000 by 2030, with at least half expected to suffer from PTSD.

STAGGERING NUMBERS: 12,000 IDF Soldiers Treated Since October 7, Nearly Half with PTSD – The Yeshiva World

Anyone who continues to promote aliyah is not a gadol, not an ahavas Hashem, not an ahavas Yisroel. They are crazed ideologues and should be shunned and shamed.

Letter from a frum lady

Being a proper chareidi means kosher phone only, no text, no camera, no WA, no internet.  And best not to be on the internet at all (although nearly everyone is to some extent).

You can get WA on your computer, but it will confuse people b/c they will think you are on call constantly and will see your messages immediately and that you have the ability to snap a photo and send 1-2-3.

And if you want to buy a refrigerator, you have to get one from a frum store that has installed Shabbos mode, as the technology today (not just in Israel) has gotten so complicated that there is not just one light bulb to unscrew to use the fridge on Shabbos but rather someone has to install a complicated computer on the back of your fridge to allow it to switch off all the lights/settings that would cause someone to violate Shabbos upon opening the fridge.

So you go to a store in a very frum neighborhood like RBS B, buy a fridge.  The sephardi guy working there has a smartphone but he understands the customers mostly do not.  Yet somehow, he never answers a phone - the only way to reach him is by WA - so if you don't have WA, you have to go there when the store is open.  And like a typical sephardi, opening hours vary between 5 pm and 6:30 and there's always people waiting.

So you buy your fridge, after waiting something like an hour (at least he's nice).  The fridge comes later that day, all is well.  Then some problems occur and now you have to deal with the non-religious fridge company (Shabbos mode apparently was put in by an outside service company).  They NEVER answer their phone and if they do, it's to take a message that is not returned.  Then you find them online and make an appointment but since your hebrew is not so good, you found their sister company and the tech won't do the repair.  Then you finally find the company's WA number and reach them, to be dragged around for about a week before convincing them you bought one of their fridges and there is a problem and it's under warranty.  Then the tech finally comes and says the problem is the Shabbos mode and detaches it.  Then you call the Shabbos mode people who give you a hard time and insist you use your smartphone to take a photo of the Shabbos mode and WA it to them.  You explain you have WA only on your computer but they do not understand until you have explained it 7 times.  Finally your Hebrew speaking teenager manages to get the to agree to come and they say they can come only within 10 business days which means your fridge will be unable for at least 1 Shabbos.

Lesson - do not move to Israel if you are Chareidi.  You have to have a smartphone to manage.  Maybe if you are from a gigantic heimish family who know who to ask for help and who can have you for Shabbos when your fridge is not working, fine.  But for us BT Americans with no family around, no go.

Even the Shabbos mode people do not understand what this is a kosher phone!!!

I learned the hard way

 You think you knew what you had in America until you leave there and come to Israel. A few years here and it really hits you. America is the world's empire. Everything seems to come from America, including the Jets that the SSOI flies over your head on the way to its bombing runs. Certainly, the Internet is all America, from Microsoft to Apple to Facebook to Twitter to Snapchat to Rumble to Zoom. The equipment is half America/half Asia, although it was nearly all invented in America. The Nobel prizes go mostly to America and some Europe.

On the BBC home page half the articles are about America. Even one of the princes of England moved there.

You go to work and service your American clientele. They are so polite and efficient. Then you go and try to deal with Israeli customer lack of service people. You see ads in the paper that say, tired of Israeli customer service, we offer American customer service. 

Then you think, I left that place? And what did I come to? War, fighting, internecine hatred, struggles to earn a living? In America I hardly ever heard a peep of negativity about Charedi Jews, just some from ex-Charedim, nothing from gentiles. Here it's daily. And it's in the newspapers. It's in the Knesset. No American congressperson condemns Charedim. Rather, their religious devotion is praised.

In the SSOI, you are considered less than human "if you don't serve' as they call their slavery in the military. The IDF can't watch a fence and the SSOI can't get enough revenge for its own failure and now it sends boys to die to the West and North. And it insists that Charedim be a part of that. Politicians literally lament that Charedim aren't dying too. That's how crazy these people are.

America is proud of its military. In SSOI they worship it like a god. I have never seen such worship of a secular entity as Israelis of their military, even though it's not such a competent one as we have learned. I think its unarguable that the Zionists hijacked basic Jewish instincts to their project. 

You see spokesmen for the SSOI enter debates on Piers Morgan and other shows. They scream, they interrupt. They sound like utter crazy people. They are self-righteous. They are boring, repetitive, dishonest. They are Cretans. And it's so embarrassing. 

Now you are in the Holy Land you try to rationalize even as it's covered with non-religious and anti-religious crazy people. It's sickening really to see Jews driving on Shabbos in Israel. It makes such a mockery of the religion and it affects you. It lowers your own respect for Torah observance. You can't help but be affected.

Are you tzadick enough to live in a catastrophe of a society with limited health care, with daily battles to earn a living, with poor schools and see it as all worthwhile because you are in the Holy Land? I doubt that you are. I am not. I learned the hard way. I hope that you learn from my mistake.