Burqa update: Clearly Not Empowerment

Hadrei Haredim has the scoop on what is perhaps the most bizarre wedding to take place in Meah Shearim this year (and that is a hard title to win).

According to the report last Friday a young Haredi man who could not receive a Get (divorce), and therefore had to get the permission of 100 rabbis to remarry wed his new beloved in a private ceremony. However the ceremony was not closed and private just due to the unusual circumstances of the groom, it was also due to the fact that the girl he was marrying was a member of the Burqa cult.

This would be weird enough by itself, however the report also states that for the girl this was a double celebration - not only was she getting married, but this was the first time she was out of the house in a year and a half!

Enigmatically we are told that the grandfather of the Chatan is an unnamed yet famous Haredi rabbi, who is quoted as saying "Anyone who sees a woman in a Burqa should spit on her - she is part of the evil side (סיטרא אחרא).

Clearly this is a marriage made in heaven.

Canada - Jewish Burqa Cult and Haredim In Israel

The Globe And Mail is reporting on a the deportation of two young Israeli women, who seem to be members of the Burqa cult. I'm not 100% convinced this is the infamous Beit Shemesh "Burqa Cult" Aka as the Jewish Taliban - mostly because to the best of my knowledge the Beit Shemesh cult does not have a rabbinic leader as this article suggests, nor have I previously heard the name "Lev Tahor". My own guess is that this is a separate though similar cult:

It is an enclave of ultra-Orthodoxy in the midst of the Laurentian mountains of Quebec, and its family practices have sparked an international tug-of-war with Israel.

Lev Tahor, a community of religious Jews on the edge of the forest north of Montreal, has carried on largely away from the glare of public scrutiny for years. Women and even little girls dress head to toe in chador-like veils and marry as young as the age of 16. Residents have limited contact with outsiders.

Finding Sympathy For The Burqa Cult

A motherinisrael has posted about the Hardi fight against the Burqa cult. I recommend you read the entire post on her blog before you read further.

There is a clear undercurrent in her post - though one that is never openly stated.  Here is the full Pashkevil and translation as posted by "mum":

Help! Help! Jerusalem and Beit Shemesh are crying out about a new cult of cruel and vicious women, destructive of household harmony in many homes, and who endanger life and do not spare babies and children.