Open letter to a Peleg Yerushalmi rioter: Thanks for the 'lessons'
Open letter to a Peleg Yerushalmi rioter: Thanks for the 'lessons'

Hi there:

To introduce myself, please know that I, too, and my entire family are categorized as “hareidim.” We wear the black hats, jackets and most of our boys wear the tzitzis fringes hanging on the sides of their hips. The Yeshivas we went and go to are all kosher ve'yosher, in the hareidi category or even a bit towards the hasidish trend. Now you have my calling card

As such, though I am definitely not a member or even a close acquaintance with the Peleg Yerushalmi you belong to, the pictures, videos and simple sights of the demonstrations / riots you perpetrated this last week, have left me with an indelible understanding of who you are.

Let me state here emphatically that everything I witnessed you doing, must have been meant, at least in your opinion, Le'shem Shamayim - for the sake of Heaven - and a tremendous uplifting of the Jewish spirit.  Well, almost everything...

You refuse to register with the IDF and receive the unlimited deferment every yeshiva student can request and receive, as long as he brings a letter from his yeshiva head attesting to his full time study and renews it when requested. That is what haredi and religious Zionist Torah scholars have been doing for decades. You know that despite the fact that the projected number for annual haredi enlistment in the draft law passed seven years ago has not been reached, not one haredi who is learning Torah has been drafted - ever.

I want you to know, however, that your demonstrations taught me a number of very important lessons which I intend to impart to my children and grandchildren to follow in the future.

What did I learn?

I learned that it is OK with you to waste precious time from the 'learning' you are clamoring for.

I learned that every dollar donated to the upkeep of the yeshivas you attend, is a dollar thrown away.

You taught me that in Peleg Yerushalayim a 'Ben Torah' and a 'Ben Sorer U'moreh' (Rebellious son in the Bible, ed.) are one and the same....cut from one ugly mold.

I learned that young fellows like you, barely out of elementary school, learn quickly the art of chutzpah and that individualism in your cult comes way and above the good of the general populaton. Is this what your parents instilled in you?

Your actions taught me that to raise one's hands and feet to hit and kick women, is not only your right but also must be a declared mitzvah emanating from the directives of your cult. You also demonstrated quite clearly that stealing phones from others who do not agree with your outrageous behavior, is a G-d given right. Bravo.

Thank you too, for demonstrating to one and all that fighting with girls comes hand-in-hand with loud imprecations. Doing so, while the wild, unruly crowd swarmed around you, showed me how spineless you are. Spineless.

Do you know how many doctor and hospital-bound people you prevented from reaching the help they needed? Do you care that thousands of working people were late to their jobs because of you? Do you care to know how many people missed their flights due to your outrageous behavior? Do you know how many shiurim were delayed or canceled because of you? Obviously you don't.

I believe the security forces didn't do a proper job in ending your outrageous antics. I believe that they treated you with silk gloves, rather than the iron-fist needed to stop the outrage at its birth. What a shame.

Some people say you are crazy, stupid, wild, sick, disturbed, unbalanced and many more descriptive titles which they pinned on you and your friends. Others say you are idiots.

They are wrong. None of those describe you properly.

You are nothing more than reshaim – evil persons following an evil path. If Moishe Rabbeinu was here today, he'd smash the second tablets too.

PS... Don't forget to call the police – those you insulted this week – if you need help anytime during the rest of your life. In case of enemy hostilities, don't forget to quickly hide behind the back of the brave soldiers whom you cursed yesterday. You'll be safe behind their backs. They will not treat you in the manner in which you behaved towards them.

Thanks for the life-long lessons.