Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Female Derangement Syndrome

There is an illness that it affecting some people in our community.  It's an insidious illness... often there are no warning signs until the initial outbreak.  Once an outbreak occurs, however, it leads to violence, vandalism and destruction.  It seems to strike most often in the Chareidi communities of Israel, although, I suppose, it is possible for it to strike elsewhere as well.  The illness is called Female Derangement Syndrome.  Despite it's name, just about all those afflicted with the illness are males.

The most recent outbreak of this disease occurred in Emmanuel, in Israel.  A fellow who operates a Go Kart ride decided to allow some teenage girls to take a ride on the Go Karts.  This, apparently, did not sit well with Rabbi Yehoida Gadasi, a local Emmanuel rabbi.  When he heard that girls were on the Go Karts he proceeded to march on to the tracks, yell at the girls, force them from the Go Karts, yell at the operator, curse him, pick up the Go Karts, smash them against the floor and damage them.  He accused the owner of "opening a brothel" by letting the girls ride the Go Karts.

If something like this were an isolated incident, we could dismiss it as the work of a "lone nut."  But, unfortunately, this seems to be part of a larger trend.  Far too many reports are coming in of cases where violence against women or their activities.  We've all heard of the reports so far... whether it's a woman getting beaten up for riding in the wrong section of a Mehadrin bus or throwing acid in a girl's face or cursing, spitting on a woman and throwing cinder blocks at her (!) for not dressing in a tznius fashion, or throwing chairs at women at the Kotel,or any of the other acts of violence that have been committed against women in the name of "modesty."  Clearly the people who commit these acts must be sick.  They clearly suffer from Female Derangement Syndrome... a sickness whereby one is led to irrational violence by the otherwise lawful actions of women.  


You might ask how I know that these men are sick?  Perhaps they're just control freaks out to control everything women do and they use violence towards that end?  I suppose that's a possibility, but I can't help but think that some of these people are just plain mentally ill.  Someone who equates allowing girls to ride a Go Kart to opening a brothel is just not playing with a full deck, in my (non-professional) humble opinion.  If Rabbi Gadasi really believes that a girl riding a Go Kart is the equivalent of a whore, then he's clearly not rational.  If someone thinks that a woman deserves to be beaten up for sitting in the wrong seat on a bus, then he is (again, in my non-professional humble opinion) incapable of dealing with the real world and the standards that most normal human beings (and the Torah, too, for that matter) apply to social interactions.  To me, that's a sign of illness.  


Now, I don't mean to excuse these men because they have a "sickness."  One can be sick and still be considered responsible for criminal acts they commit because of the sickness -- and men who suffer from Female Derangement Syndrome should be no different.  But ultimately, the onus is on the community to deal with these individuals, to treat them if possible or put them in a position where they can cause no further harm.  Sadly, however, the community usually just turns a blind eye to the monsters in their midst.  The community must do more to rein in these lunatics.

The Wolf

(UPDATE:  One of my commentators informs me that Rabbi Gadasi is Sephardi and not Chareidi.  This leads me to a question -- is being a Chareidi exclusively an Ashkenazi phenomenon?)

12 comments:

Dave said...

The rabbi is sefardi not chareidi. But why let that stop you from sticking your hatred of chareidim here?

BrooklynWolf said...

Dave,

1. Thank you for the information. Truth to tell, I was not aware that being a Chareidi is strictly an Ashkenazi phenomenon. I added your information as an update at the end of the post, along with a question hoping someone can clarify this point for me.

2. I don't hate Chareidim. I do have concerns about some of the things that go on in the Chareidi community. I believe that commenting on violence that comes out in these situations is legitimate and should not brand me as a Chareidi-hater.

The Wolf

Dave said...

Okay, that was too harsh. Nevertheless, you seem to nitpick on Chareidim throughout your blog, whilst ignoring other communities worse sins. (And, no, I will not enumerate them.)

E-Man said...

Sefardim can be Charaidim a 100%.

G*3 said...

> Nevertheless, you seem to nitpick on Chareidim throughout your blog, whilst ignoring other communities worse sins.

1. That probably depends on one’s definition of “sin.”

2. Decrying near-assault, destruction of property, public embarrassment, and discrimination against women is hardly nitpicking.

Be Honest said...

. Decrying near-assault, destruction of property, public embarrassment, and discrimination against women is hardly nitpicking

Insresting, I have never witnessed such things among chareideim, and it was never endorsed - just the opposite. But what can I do if there are some individuals who go extreme and then you call it a chareidi thing. And when people say that MO people are not careful to follow SA, the answe is - they call themselves MO but anyone not following SA is not orthodox

kisarita said...

This rabbi need not be sick. The society he belongs to is sick, and that is the problem.

To use an extreme example, the germans in the Nazi era were not sick. They were normal people in a sick society.

To treat this as an individual phenomenon misses the point.

SubWife said...

Hmm, my husband and subsequently I are Sephardi. Like Wolf, was not aware that being Ashkenazi is a prerequisite for being Chareidi. That being said, it is easy to dismiss this as an act of a lunatic. but based on everything I read about Israel and from Israel from my friends etc, this seems to be a growing trend. And unless community addresses this, this will only escalate.

btw, what happened to this rabbi? any legal consequences for property destruction?

PutChicken said...

Opening a brothel? Maybe the rabbi needs a dictionary.

I am pretty sure that Go Karts are not normally provided in those types of establishments.

Anonymous said...

"If something like this were an isolated incident, we could dismiss it as the work of a "lone nut." But, unfortunately, this seems to be part of a larger trend. Far too many reports are coming in..."

When you say "far too many", just how many is that? Around 10? Now count up all the Chareidim.

OK, so 10 is certainly not a "lone nut", but neither does it indicate a "larger trend". It merely indicates *a few lone nuts*.

There is a story/joke of a person who, after hearing Shlomo Carlbach's 'Shvartze Wolf' story, began to regard every meshugenne in his neighborhood as a potential "lamed-vavnik" (i.e. one of the 36 tzaddikim who are pillars of this world). As he grew up and moved into a bigger neighborhood, he came to realize that there were simply too many meshugennes for this to be true.

SubWife said...

To anonymous,

About ten years ago, such acts were extremely rare. The past six months or so, there's something of this sort happening on a pretty much weekly basis. Yes, you can say it's an act of twenty deranged lunatics. But the fact that these incidents are steadily increasing in number, no matter how insignificant in relation to an overall Chareidi population, is a trend.

Kylopod said...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sephardic_Haredim