http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/hard-line-israelis-have-secularism-under-siege/article1226532/Hard-line Israelis have secularism under siege ‘They're taking control.” Anat Mishal, a 42-year-old shopkeeper, was shaking with anger as she described her feelings about the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community that has been gobbling up more and more of this central Israeli town.
“It started with women handing out slips of paper to people like me, telling me I couldn't wear blouses like this,” she said motioning to her sleeveless top, ideal for days like these: 35 degrees outside, and not much cooler inside Ms. Mishal's small grocery.
“Then, one Friday night, a few weeks ago, I left my two kids alone – teenagers. They were playing music, not too loud, and this Haredi
neighbour comes and pounds on the door shouting ‘goyim' and demanding they turn off the music,” he said, referring to a Hebrew term for non-Jews. “It really scared them.”
“I'm an observant Jew,” Ms. Mishal says, “but in my own home, I practise the way I want.”
Ms. Mishal is far from alone in feeling this anger, as the Haredi population is exploding and spreading into parts of Israel long considered secular. With this growth has come an upsurge in violence as these fundamentalist Jews confront secular Jews and their more traditional municipal governments.
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In the past year, ultra-Orthodox rabbis have forced department stores in the lake-side city of Tiberias to cover up mannequins that were displaying bathing suits in the windows, and have persuaded billboard companies to excise pictures of women, including Kadima Party leader Tzipi Livni, from their billboards.
Growing numbers of bus lines whose service includes Haredi communities are now segregated, with women allowed only to sit in the back of the buses. And female choristers of the Knesset Choir recently were not permitted to perform inside the main Knesset chamber, lest they offend Haredi members in the audience.
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Ms. Mishal was looking forward to these years. She had trained as a dental hygienist and works a couple days a week in local clinics. “I went to work in one of the Haredi clinics,” she said, “and I was careful to wear a long skirt and long sleeved blouse. I even pulled my hair back, but it was mostly uncovered, and they screamed at me, called me a hooker, and said I would burn in hell.”
“You can't live like this,” she said. “As soon as I can sell this place we're moving out of here.”
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When the state started in 1948, they accounted for only 1 per cent of Israel's population, Prof. Ben-Yehuda said. “Today they are between 8 and 11 per cent of the Jewish population,” or about 600,000, and their numbers are multiplying quickly. Israel's Central Bureau of Statistics says that Haredi women have eight children on average.
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