Note: Based on some feedback I received, I want to make clear this post is concerning some – not all – Charedim who act a certain way. They by no means reflect all Charedim.
As a general rule, I do not like airing our dirty laundry, and by “our” I mean the Jews and Israelis. There are way too many spreading vile hatred against us, so I certainly would not want to provide them with grist for their mills.
There is an exception to this: when I feel the benefit of doing so would outweight the cost.
I say this as a prelude to an experience I had on my flight to the United States. During the course of the long flight, we had multiple conversations with our flight attendant, a lovely man who spoke multiple languages. We got talking about things like his love for Tel Aviv (he said it is his favorite place in the world) and his experience on different flights.
At one point in one of our conversations, he mentioned he and his colleagues dread working on the Newark-Tel Aviv flights. We asked why, and he told us that many “Orthodox Jews” on the flight – he was referring to Israelis who wear the garb of what are commonly referred to as the “Ultra-Orthodox” (a term I do not really like) – behave terribly on these flights. They speak rudely, throw trash on the floor and even leave the toilets in a very bad state (“missing the toilet” for example). And, as has been widely publicized, they cause a ruckus when seated next to women.
My wife and I were mortified. We are observant Jews (albeit of the Modern Orthodox kind), and hearing that our fellow Jews – who by their very appearance represent observant Jews – are behaving like this (causing this lovely flight attendant to specifically mention it), upset us.
There is a phrase for this: Hillul Hashem (desecration of G-d’s name).
We explained to our fight attendant that these people may look like observant Jews but they are doing it all wrong! Treating our fellow man as we ourselves would like to be treated (a principle that comes from Judaism before being further spread by Christianity with “Love your fellow man”) is a fundamental. Contravening this is a huge sin, especially when you are representing the Jewish people.
To my non-Jewish readers and even Jewish ones who are perhaps not so knowledgable on Judaism: please know that these people may look religious, but they are not. You cannot truly be religious and fear G-d, yet treat those created in G-d’s image like this. If anything, these are members of a cult that resembles authentic Judaism in some ways, but just isn’t.
