JERUSALEM — In Israel’s ultra-Orthodox Jewish community, where the rule of law sometimes takes a back seat to the rule of God, zealots are on a campaign to stamp out behavior they consider unchaste.
They hurl stones at women for such “sins” as wearing a red blouse, and attack stores selling devices that can access the Internet.
In recent weeks, self-styled “modesty patrols” have been accused of breaking into the apartment of a Jerusalem woman and beating her for allegedly consorting with men. They have torched a store that sells MP4 players, fearing devout Jews would use them to download pornography.
“These breaches of purity and modesty endanger our community,” said 38-year-old Elchanan Blau, defending the bearded, black-robed zealots. “If it takes fire to get them to stop, then so be it.”
Many ultra-Orthodox Jews are dismayed by the violence, but the enforcers often enjoy quiet approval from rabbis eager to protect their own reputations as guardians of the faith, community members say. Although some welcome anything that keeps secular culture out of their cloistered world, others feel terrorized, knowing that the mere perception of impropriety could ruin their lives.
“There are eyes and ears all over the place, very similar to what you hear about in countries like Iran,” said Israeli-American novelist Naomi Ragen, an observant Jew who has chronicled the troubles that confront some women living in the ultra-Orthodox world.
The violence has deepened the antagonism between the 600,000 haredim, or God-fearing, and the secular majority, which resents having religious rules dictated to them.
Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said the modesty police are not an organized phenomenon, just rogue enforcers carrying out isolated attacks. But Israel’s Justice Ministry used the term “modesty patrols” in an indictment against a man accused of assaulting the Jerusalem woman.
The unidentified, 31-year-old woman had left the ultra-Orthodox fold after getting divorced, according to the indictment filed by the Jerusalem district attorney’s office. The indictment said her assailant tried to get her to leave her apartment in a haredi neighborhood by gagging, beating and threatening to kill her. He was paid $2,000 for the attack, it said.
The rabbis are afraid to condemn the attackers, said Yehuda Meshi-Zahav, another community member.
“They can’t come out against zealots who champion modesty. Here and there they write against violence, but the militants ultimately set the tone,” he said.
