Ultra Orthodox Jewish men and boys run past Israeli policemen on horseback during a demonstration in Jerusalem, on 16 July 2011. Some 800 people rallied in the capital, clashing with police and trying to block a Jerusalem road to protest the opening of a parking lot on shabbat. EPA/OLIVER WEIKEN
An Ultra-Orthodox girl stands in the street during a protest by hundreds of ultra-Orthodox Jews against the opening of a road on the sabbath in Jerusalem July 16, 2011. Israeli media reports said Saturday's protest marked the anniversary of the opening of a public parking lot over the objections of religious politicians and was also called to demand a main road running by their neighborhood be shut on the sabbath. REUTERS/Darren Whiteside
Authors Note and Personal Opinion:- (Not necessarily the opinion of the Publisher of the Website, although 99% of the time these points of view are identical, at least on a good day :-) It's really hard to know what to make of this whole thing. I suppose from a very photojournalistic point of view I believe the expressions on the children's faces tell a lot.
If you got to the website Vosizneias.com which is yiddish for What's News? Other than seeing there are many advertisers using the old style of "in your face" of the ads having movement or blinking on and off as an assault on your sense, you see many sorts of different pictures, that truly tell different stories.
Actually the more I think of it, and look at the photos, I really start to think to myself are the Ultra-Orthodox doing the right thing? I suppose initially as a Jew myself who recently (less than 5 years ago) starting living the orthodox lifestyle including keeping kosher (in and out of the house) separate dishes, I was thinking I should be on the same side as these folks, the "Ultra Orthodox that is".
Then I looked at the photos, the website itself really does not take a stand on the issue, it simply records facts. The photos record the facts as well, yet in my opinion the last three photos tell the story best.
I left out the middle one. The first photo here shows, the the two men sort of looking at each other as to say, "Maybe coming here was not such a good idea, and the boy at the right of the photo carrying a green bag, probably his snack, is may be thinking "Wow, this is cool" which might really be the age appropriate thing for the boy to think. Especially when one considers that the culture that the people shown here is generally sheltered and relatively isolated from worldly matters.
Which is precisely my point. What is the lesson for the young children. Are they meaning or intending to teach their children, that its okay to violate the laws of the land in order to strictly adhere to Torah Observance, to their children. Or more importantly is it not obvious to most people with even an elementary and unsophisticated understanding of our Holy Torah, that by choosing the special and holy day of the Sabbath itself as the "proper and ideal time to conduct such protests" that they too are violating the sabbath every bit as much as those who park the car in the parking lot in Jerusalem.
Actually if you give it even a little more thought, what these "ultra-orthodox believers" are doing is even worse, then perhaps the secular and non-religious Jews do by parking their cars in the parking lot. They have chosen "or were born" into this lifestyle. No one is coming after them and saying you must drive a car, or come to work on Shabbos. Now one is telling them, you must light fires, and turn light switches on and off. Do they have a point, a valid reason for their protest, perhaps? Are their methods just and proper to protest worldly affairs and to try to effect social change, on Shabbos? I for one, do not think so.
I humbly conclude that even if you are strictly in accordance with all relevant Halacha (Jewish Law) "keeping Shabbos" yet if in your every deed and action, demonstrate that your are not honoring "sanctifying" or making Shabbos the special and holy say it is, then I am forced to conclude, that the people in these pictures, are not truly keeping Shabbos correctly.The next to last photo on the website, shows that, yes indeed, people are angry, there is a man down being helped up by his comrades, but yet they are talking, they are listening to each other, they are brothers, cousins, family, Jews with common ancestors.
Finally it was the last photo in the Photo Story, that really made me think. I have included it as my last photos in this piece. The young girl, standing in the middle of the street, not quite understanding what she has witnessed. Her expression probably says more than I was able to with so much thought, and carefully composed words. Therefore I will not even try to describe what her expression reveals.
Protest, if you so choose, just not on Shabbos.
Stephen C. Sanders
aka- SandCloud.
PS: I guess I am not really surprised that I had a strong opinion on this matter after all. I first saw this in Jerusalem nearly two years. I guess the idea then was that the Chasidim were trying prevent cars from parking in the Garage by standing in front of them. This was done on shabbos too. Also if you go to the website, and see that the 1st comment also makes the same point that I make here, in far fewer words.
http://www.vosizneias.com/87601/2011/07/17/mea-shearim-800-orthodox-jews-protest-parking-lot-operating-on-sabbath
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