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Subject: Unveiled: The Israeli Women in 'Burkas' (Fwd)
Date: Wed, 27 Feb 2008 18:14:02 +0300
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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Women scurrying through the backstreets of a Middle Eastern city, the curves of
their bodies covered in up to 10 layers of thick cloth and only their eyes
visible to the outside world.
But these women are not Muslims choosing to wrap themselves in full length
niqabs or burqas, these are a small group of ultra-Orthodox Jewish women in
Israel who have taken to wearing quite possibly one of the most austere forms
of "Jewish hijab" available.
[ [024:031] Ask the believing women to lower their gaze, guard their chastity,
and not leave bare their beauty and charm, except that which becomes apparent
by itself. Ask them to pull their veil-cloths down across their bosom, and not
show their adornments to anyone except their husbands......
Modesty among some strictly Orthodox women can now mean wearing 10 skirts and
seven robes. By Michal Levertov in Tel Aviv
A new ultra-modest fashion among some strictly Orthodox Israelis, in which
women wear several layers of skirts, robes, scarves and veils and avoid talking
to men other than their husbands, is creating a storm of controversy among the
country's religious communities.
The unofficial leader of the trend, often practised in defiance of husbands and
in the face of rabbinical reluctance, is Bruria Keren, who lives in Ramat Beit
Shemesh, an strictly Orthodox neighbourhood south-west of Jerusalem.
In a rare interview, Mrs Keren recently told the Ma'ariv newspaper: "The Holy
Mothers and the women of Jerusalem used to wrap their bodies and to hide their
faces. It is even written in the Torah that Tamar did not see the face of Judah
since she was covered.
"The Torah does not change. The body should be concealed so its shape won't be
seen. The face and the body-shape of a woman might be an obstacle to men. The
more layers of clothes, the women's modesty is higher regarded."
Rebbetzin Keren, a mother-of-ten and a practitioner of alternative medicine,
devotes much of her time to silence and prayer, but is also a charismatic
preacher to her growing flock.
Her outfit consists of 10 thick skirts, seven long robes, five kerchiefs
knotted at the chin, three knotted at the back of the head, and her face hidden
behind a knitted linen veil.
The whole costume is covered head-to-toe by several thin shawls. According to
Maariv, Rebbetzin Keren's community consists of about 50 followers in Beit
Shemesh, 70 in Jerusalem, and dozens more in Safed and in the Orthodox
settlements of Beitar Illit and Elad.
But such extreme devotion does not appeal to the Orthodox establishment, in
spite of its own support for tzniut, or modesty.
According to the Ha'aretz newspaper, the Rabbinical Court in Jerusalem forced a
couple to a divorce even though the husband appealed for a matrimonial
reconciliation because the woman was totally covered by a veil. They also
awarded custody to the husband, in spite of his wife's complaints of violence,
and issued a warrant for a psychiatric examination for her.
One of Mrs Keren's closest disciples, a convert to Judaism known only as Anne,
told Ma'ariv she hopes "that men will demand that their wives would wear the
robes and the veil. That in a few years all the men in the Orthodox public
would discover the sweetness of the clothes' layers and the modesty that is
behind the veil."
The women apparently do not feel any solidarity with their Muslim counterparts.
Another follower interviewed by the newspaper, Miriam, 32, said: "People are
asking: 'Who is it? A Muslim? An Arab?' But there are people in the Orthodox
public who insult us, and that hurts us most. Only an Orthodox person knows
what an insult it is for a woman to be told that she's a Christian or an Arab."
Professor Tamar Elor, a scholar of Charedi society at Jerusalem's Hebrew
University, told the JC that there was a strong element of feminine defiance in
the phenomenon.
"The decision over the modesty issue, and obsessive discussion about the body,
was all in the hands of the rabbis.
"And here, the women took over it and brought it to the edge, just like a
former trend in which women gave birth to more children than their spouse
wanted.
"It's as if they say, 'If that's my expertise I'll excel at it'. Thus, they
move the power to their own hands".
Comments After reading couple of articles in JC News, I found few
interesting points there.
1- This is a religious movement leading by a woman.
2- Apparently, these ladies have many children. Again, according to the same
articles, it seems it is one of their holy goals.
3- They cover themselves secure and avoid direct contact with other men.
4- What I found ironic is that many people of their greater communities
(Orthodox and moderate Jewish) somehow look down to them. Even in extreme cases
consider them as mentally extremely disturb. I don't think it is a fair
judgment.
However, it seems to me that these ladies are making a social/political
statement i.e. a protestation against their larger community concept of
womanhood.
Unfortunately, it maybe true, many men by instinct or whatever reason, in depth
of their mind consider woman as a commodity, someone that should be kept hidden
at home doing the housework, bringing up and taking care of children, etc.
Please bare in mind that there is a great difference about this movement, it is
these ladies who are running the show, not their spouses.
Good luck to them.
Posted by: Mack, London, UK | Monday, 04 February 2008 at 03:20 AM
The way I see it, a woman's body is her personal space which all too
often-if not as a rule- men tend to 'occupy' with their gaze alone. It's a
problem encountered by women all over the world, regardless of religious
affiliations.
If a woman wishes to guard this personal and private space and make it off
limits to strangers then she has a right to do so. The problem arises only
where this is done forcefully and without both men and women understanding the
reasons why the Abrahamic religions all called for modesty in dress for women.
In fact, the irony is that in doing so the religions impliedly acknowledge that
men have a 'problem' in their ability to curb their sexual desires which makes
men inherently 'weak' in some way.
The hijab/tzniut was probably never meant to be a way of oppressing women,
instead a privilege bestowed on them that they have a right to protect
themselves from the gaze of men. It's a 'hands off' symbol unlike any other and
should be understood properly before these women have to suffer at the hands of
society.
If we really want to liberate women, why don't we just let them choose what
they want to wear and how.
Source:
http://www.thejc.com/home.aspx?ParentId=m11&SecId=11&AId=57786&ATypeId=1
With Kind Regards
Mohammad Usman
Jeddah
SAUDI ARABIA
Learn right knowledge, do righteous good deeds, recommend one another to the
truth & observe patience. (Al-Asr:03)
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