By Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel
CHULA VISTA, California — Like a bad penny, the problem will not go away. It doesn’t seem to matter what people say or do to prevent it. Beth Shemesh is a lot like a train-wreck waiting to happen; actually, it has already happened, but the extent of the damage and casualties has yet to be determined.
Beth Shemesh continues to explode with internecine religious violence. Today, hundreds of Haredim are rioting in the streets. Bear in mind that many Haredi leaders have condemned the violence but they are frightened. One prominent Haredi leader, R. Minster Ya’acov Litzman is scared because he has received numerous death threats from Haredi extremists over the last few months. Litzman is not exactly a flaming liberal in the Haredi movement; in fact, he happens to be one of the most important leaders of the Agudat Yisrael and United Torah Judaism faction of the Knesset.
You might wonder: Who’s behind the violence? Who is instigating the violence seen in Beth Shemesh? Sources close to Litzman say the Sikrikim (Hebrew סיקריקים) are acting as the ringleaders in Beth Shemesh.
San Diego Jews might find it hard to grasp the subcultures and factions that exist within the Haredi movement itself.
You practically need a scorecard.
Some Haredi leaders are very pro-Zionist. Other Haredim like Chabad and Gur, pay their taxes and serve in the Israeli army but still would never describe themselves as, “Zionist.” Virtually all Hassidic groups share the common belief believe that only God and the Messiah can establish a true theocracy and “Jewish State.”
Some Hasidim take a much more militant approach to the State of modern Israel. One of the oldest Hassidic groups, known as the “Neturei Karta” (“Guardians of the City”) is no stranger to the modern Jew. They believe that God punished the Jews by unleashing a Holocaust for having accepted Zionism instead of waiting for the Messiah. This was the group who met with the Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad a few years ago. The Sikrikim are actually an extremist breakaway faction from the ultra-Orthodox Neturei Karta and Gerrer Hassidic movements.
The name “Sikrikim” ought to be familiar one to anyone who has read the Talmudic account of how Jerusalem got destroyed. The Sicarri (literally, “dagger” men) were the Jewish zealots who attacked Rome, which resulted in the expulsion of our people.
Today’s Sikrikim gangs are no less violent and extreme; they operate mostly in Jerusalem, where they have won international attention for their attacks on their fellow Gerrer Hasidic Jews. When they first began, their core group was said to be about a hundred, but their ability to attract others to their philosophy has greatly expanded their ranks, which are now in the hundreds.
The Sikrikim recently attacked Chief Rabbi Yona Metzger with stones for attending a popular book store, Ohr Hachaim, which did not follow specific “modesty standards.” The owner refused, until the Sikrikim put glue in the locks and dumped human manure inside the store. Attacks on prominent rabbis may also explain why so many important Haredi leaders are reluctant to speak out. Finally, the owners agreed to post a large sign requesting that all customers dress modestly. In addition one of the Sikrikim supervisors made sure the store-owner had to remove all controversial books from the shelves.
A few months ago, the Sikrikim vandalized a popular ice-cream store (I remember visiting several years ago) in Me’ah She’arim. The store had video-games and it was one of the few places where young boys and girls could actually socialize. Well, the Haredim put an end to that benign activity. However, the Sikrikim didn’t like the fact the boys and girls could still share the same table. So, this past October, the Sikrikim left signs asking men and women to be seated separately, and not to eat in public. The Sikrikim asserted that licking ice-cream cones was “immodest.”[1] Later that night, they broke in and vandalized the store.[2]
The owners hoped the police would arrest four of the assailants since they were videotaped. However, the police refused to get involved. Only a handful of the Sikrikim have since then been arrested and charged.
More recently, this past October, the Religious Zionist Orot Banot Girls School opened up in Ramat Bet Shemesh only to be greeted by the Sikrikim, who stood outside the school on school days and taunted the students, throwing rocks at them, claiming that the girls were “immodestly” dressed. [3]
As I see it, the presence of the Kosher-nostra gangs would disappear if the Israeli government decided to really put its foot down. All of us need to contact the Israeli Consulate and write letters to the Knesset urging them to actively arrest these people and make them serve real hard time in prison. Once this happens, Haredi and secular alike will breathe a collective sigh of relief.
It is strange that the Sikrikim gangs would have chosen to choose a name from ancient Israel’s most violent group; had they prevented Rabbi Yochanan ben Zacai from escaping the city of Jerusalem, Judaism might very well have disappeared from history. It is a pity the Sikrikim syndicate has such a superficial grasp of Jewish history for had their spiritual forbearers (the Sicarri) killed Rabbi Yochanan, they would not exist!
Notes:
[1] “Ultra-strict Jewish sect trashes ice cream parlour claiming licking cones in public promotes promiscuity.” The Daily Mail. 2011-10-18.
[2] Lubell Maayan, (2011-4-22). “Religious zealots attack “immodest” Jerusalem shops”. Reuters.
[3] Alison Kaplan Somer, “American enclave stands up to extremists”, The Jewish Daily Forward, 29 December 2011.
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Rabbi Samuel is spiritual leader of Temple Beth Sholom in Chula Vista. He may be contacted at michael.samuel@sdjewishworld.com