Ultra-Orthodox Man Spits On Lesbian Rabbi At Gay Marriage Pr

aidelmaidel

Tue, Jun 21 2011, 4:50 pm

http://jezebel.com/5814123/ult.....rally

http://blog.timesunion.com/cap.....mble/

Quote:

Here’s video of a minor skirmish that broke out between a group of Rockland County Orthodox rabbis hasidim who have been loudly chanting “No vote for LGBT supporters” for, oh, about an hour on the east side of the Senate antechamber.

The arrival of Sen. Ruben Diaz Sr. prompted a mini-parade despite the tight quarters and the presence of numerous marriage advocates — such as Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum of Congregation Beit Simchat Torah, who prompted a heated reaction from one of the Orthodox protesters by throwing an arm over his shoulder as she attempted to insert herself between Diaz and the cameras.

“You’re not a Jew! You’re not a Jew!,” he responded, just before a trooper moved in to ease the loose procession down the stairway.

SunshineWoman

Tue, Jun 21 2011, 5:13 pm

That is disgusting and an embarrassment to all Jews. People may live different lifestyles from others but at the end of the day a Jew is a Jew, and we must have ahavas yisroel.

shalhevet

Tue, Jun 21 2011, 5:21 pm

SunshineWoman wrote:

That is disgusting and an embarrassment to all Jews.

I agree 100%.

Touting yourself as a "lesbian rabbi" is disgusting and an embarrassment to all Jews and a big chilul Hashem.

But I also think spitting is uncalled for. I didn't watch the clip, but what was the spitter doing there anyway?

Chloe

Tue, Jun 21 2011, 5:27 pm

Where is he spitting at her??
Not that I agree with the way he spoke or acted.

Bottom line. She shouldn't be there representing Judaism and he shouldn't be there because he doesn't know how to represent Judaism.
I wish they would send down better representatives who are articulate in their language and in the know hows of the outside world to represent us.

ora_43

Tue, Jun 21 2011, 5:34 pm

I didn't see spitting either.

I also think that touching someone like that when you know that it's offensive and unwanted to them is wrong. Obviously saying "you are not a Jew" wasn't called for either. But it's not like she was the innocent pro-gay-marriage protester set upon by the vicious ultra-orthodox man; he yelled at her only after she deliberately provoked him.

Barbara

Tue, Jun 21 2011, 6:06 pm

shalhevet wrote:

SunshineWoman wrote:

That is disgusting and an embarrassment to all Jews.

Well, she isn't an embarrassment to me, so you're wrong there.

She is entitled to represent her own beliefs and understanding as to Judaism. Just as I am free to disagree with her.

She wanted to be on camera to present her view (which I share) that gay marriage should be legal in the state of New York, as well as to emphasize that not all Jews share the world view of the men shown. I'm not quite sure how she keeps getting jostled and pushed to the back if none of those men are touching her.

In any case, I do think she knew that she'd provoke a response by touching him, but spitting (and yes, *I* can see the spitting) and yelling that she's not a Jew was a bit much.

SunshineWoman

Tue, Jun 21 2011, 7:07 pm

Let me clarify the embarrassment to all Jews is the fact that the chassid spit on the woman. Though she didn't help herself by putting her arm around the man. That was disrespectful and inappropriate.

bubby

Tue, Jun 21 2011, 8:08 pm

She knows she was out of line. I'm more bothered by the "You're not a Jew" than the spitting, but you can tell by her reaction that she knows she provoked it all. What was he supposed to do, hug her back? This was probably all his broken English could come up with, but it was the height of disrespect & nastiness to do that to him.

She's entitled to her views. I disagree with them, but she crossed the line when she deliberately put her arm around the Chasid. She knew what she was doing.

And she wants & believes she deserves respect? Not now.

groisamomma

Tue, Jun 21 2011, 8:31 pm

Barbara wrote:

[

Well, she isn't an embarrassment to me, so you're wrong there.

She is entitled to represent her own beliefs and understanding as to Judaism. Just as I am free to disagree with her.

She wanted to be on camera to present her view (which I share) that gay marriage should be legal in the state of New York, as well as to emphasize that not all Jews share the world view of the men shown. I'm not quite sure how she keeps getting jostled and pushed to the back if none of those men are touching her.

In any case, I do think she knew that she'd provoke a response by touching him, but spitting (and yes, *I* can see the spitting) and yelling that she's not a Jew was a bit much.

Barbara, do you really? I hear you that not all Jews share the same views, but from what I've seen most Orthodox people are either indifferent to legalizing gay marriage or outright against it. I'm a bit surprised there are Orthodox people that actually condone it.

ora_43

Tue, Jun 21 2011, 9:45 pm

If a random man put his arm around me, I'd shove him off.

If he did it intentionally, doing something he knew I didn't want as a religious woman, just to get a reaction, I'd do more than shove.

I don't like the sight of a man getting that angry with a woman, but OTOH I'd feel like a hypocrite saying "oh he shouldn't have been so mean to her" when if the genders were reversed, I'd have understood if she'd kicked him where it hurts.

marina

Tue, Jun 21 2011, 9:52 pm

Regardless of the politically charged circumstances, I am finding it very odd that people here are actually comparing the friendly act of putting your arm around someone to the derogatory act of spitting at them.

the world's best mom

Tue, Jun 21 2011, 10:38 pm

Even before she put her arm around him, which BTW, was not friendly at all, she kept purposely blocking their sign with her own. Each time they moved away, she came back. So they were already annoyed, and rightfully so, when she came and put her arm around his shoulder. She obviously did it all just to make him upset. Every "Rabbi" knows that Chasidish men would not appreciate a woman's arm on them.

He should not have said that she's not a Jew, but I think he meant her outlook was not the Jewish outlook. He was right about that. No way anyone can tell me Judiasm is pro gay and lesbian marriage.

I did not see him spit, but if he did, that was wrong of him.

In summary, he may have reacted out of anger, but she purposely sparked his anger, which was very wrong of her.

melbee

Tue, Jun 21 2011, 10:40 pm

marina wrote:

Although I do not agree with the Chassidish man and do not like his reaction, I don't see how you could say this is a "friendly act". The two groups have apparently been fighting all week (I read that on a different article) and it seems she knew that to put her arm around him was offensive. It was not done out of any form of companionship.

bubby

Tue, Jun 21 2011, 10:58 pm

BTW, he spat at her feet...a pfut, pfut, pfut sort of thing, like to ward off the evil eye. He didn't spit in her face. He was horrified that she did that...I'm not crazy about those crazies, but what she did was so darn mean. She deserved a lot more than that reaction.

I like Ora's last line! LOL

DrMom

Wed, Jun 22 2011, 1:18 am

She deliberately provoked him. I can understand his reaction.

An aside (not related to the spitting/hugging issue):

The sign he was first holding up shows an exceedingly poor understanding of how to communicate using television as a medium (yes, I know the reasons for this are obvious). Who's going to read that whole megillah??? Who can read that miniscule 8-point font from a TV monitor? They need simple, 2-3 word signs in huge block print (like the woman had) if they expect anyone to actually read the message they want to communicate.

Edit: He also shouldn't mix messages (take off the Israeli flag with the big red "X" on it and save it for the next Neturi Karta rally). Too confusing.

Maybe I can start a communications consulting firm for Charedi protesters...

sarahd

Wed, Jun 22 2011, 2:42 am

marina wrote:

And I can't understand why you call the spitting derogatory. Why, he was only trying to clear the dust off her shoes - and she was assaulting him. Pretty nice of him, I'd say. He could have smacked her and instead he did her a favor and everyone's attacking him for it.