One of my archaeologist buddies once encountered a Haredi flasher, in the streets of Mea Shearim.

Zhu Bajie

My first thought was, wouldn’t hurling rocks be considered “work” as well?

I agree with Leila that the the obscenity of death and destruction inflicted upon the innocent is a far greater priority. The cultural disconnect she mentions also reminds me of hearing about Amish/Mennonite youth meth/crack dealers. Seems that piety tends to privide cover for a multitude of “sins.”

This subject invites punning.

In May Ben & Jerry’s came out with a new flavor, which drew the ire of the Israilers. The flavor is called “Imagine Whirled Peace.” It’s a tribute to John Lennon. The problem is that the flavor (via the Ben & Jerry’s Foundation) raises money for two nonprofits, one of which brings Israeli and Palestinian kids to the US for camp. In response, a “conservative” columnist has been tearing into Ben & Jerry’s for promoting “moral equivalency camps.” (In case you don’t know, “moral equivalency camps” are summer camps that bring together Israeli kids and the children of “terrorists.”)

A Conservative Columnist works herself into a frenzy over this. If I recall, she even refers readers to her old blog postings about Ben & Jerry’s, in which she oh-so-bitingly suggests new flavors like Hamas Caramel Crunch. Apparently, she’s had it in for Ben and Jerry since she found out that they supported the uber-jihadi Cindy Sheehan.

the real travesty here was that gossip reporter having the absolute tastelessness to ask niki, “are those boobs real?” israel, the state where you can’t even find a classy video about a topless dj party for a deodorant.

i’m guessing that axe has been slipping a few shekels to this rabbi papenheim, because the publicity they are getting is just priceless.

so when are you richard going to get past taking these haredi boobs seriously? oops i’m punning again.

During my my first academic year in Jerusalem, my Columbia roommate wanted me to meet a female American friend of his who also attended the Hebrew University. Before I could do so, I was riding on a Jerusalem public bus and witnessed a woman get up and say something irate to the Haredi man sitting next to her as she stormed away fr her seat. I later learned that this was my roommate’s friend and the man sitting next to her had groped her. Welcome to the world of the Haredi. This is what happens when you deny human instincts.

Another person I met recently told me a story about being sexually abused at a Haredi orphanage and of course no one took his complaints seriously. I’m not saying that these things only happen among the ultra Orthodox. But I am saying that they happen when you either ignore or repress or express shame about human urges.