Jerusalem – A woman who boarded a bus designated for religious passengers sprayed tear gas at an Orthodox man who demanded she move to the rear section last week in Ashdod.
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The incident began on Friday, when an 18-year-old Orthodox man noticed the woman, 60, sitting at the front of the bus on a route on which men and women are segregated for purposes of religious modesty.
The man objected to the woman’s seating location, and asked her to move to the back, police said, but she refused to budge.
The exchange quickly escalated into a confrontation, police said.
After being cursed at repeatedly, the woman told him to “shut up,” adding, “What do you care where I sit? So what if this is a religious bus? Nothing will happen if I sit at the front,” according to her police interrogation transcript.
The woman then sprayed tear gas “to scare the youth who was yelling at me,” she told officers.
The bus driver stopped the vehicle, and opened the doors to air out the bus, while the young religious man called the police.
The woman was detained for questioning and released on bail. She is suspected of assault.
Leave the innocent lady alone!
This young chap clearly deserved it. Derech Eretz is paramount.
its about time some has to do it but a 60 year old
this 18 year old should learn a little derech eretz
I cant stand reading about these extremists.
This 18 yr old child got the wrong chinuch from a father and an educational system that is way off the mark. I thank H–shem every day that I live in the goldene madina!
she is 60 for crying out loud. Derech Eretz kadmah LTorah, we need Moshiach NOW
What gives an 18 year old man the right to curse or yell at a 60 year old woman? Is this what they are teaching young boys and men these days? I was brought up to offer your seat to a woman, particularly an older woman. Can someone explain again how this really shows respect for jewish woman. I don’t agree with the pepper spray, but I can understand how this lady felt physically threatened by this hoodlum.
It pays to remember violence can go both ways.
the man who cursed at the woman should also have been arrested.the article states that he cursed at her.
I and thousands of other normal Yidden will glady contribute to this wonderful woman’s legal defense fund.
I can’t imagine the chutzpah for an 18 year old boy to ask a 60 woman to move to the back of the bus…..perhaps he should have mentioned something to the driver and let the driver intervene….
Will she get a refund for her bus fare?
Tear gas isn’t good, as it obviously affected other people on the bus. She should have used a stun gun on him.
good for her. you gotta stand up to these thugs
The article calls him a “man.” This nebech of a nebesh is a BOY.
how could a 18 punk think he can scream at an elderly woman. I guess maybe where he lives either parents or yeshiva, that respect for the elderly if of a much more important issue than the stupid bus rule.
Wheil I think she was wrong to use the maze I do give her a thumbs up.
If this continues with the nuts and the buses I can see open warefare .
While I am very uncomfortable with segregating the buses, if this was a “religious bus” and separate seating is required, why you coming to the defense of the women? Granted, I wouldnt want my 18 son to have the chutzpah to demand a 60 year person to change her seat, it doesnt take away the fact the women appeared to be provoking the fight in the first place. However, if the “religious buses” do not explicitly or implicitly require separate seating, then I agree with comments 3 and 4.
thats my lady you go girl.
Personally, I think that anyone who cant sit next to a female needs serious therapy. But I have a solution that I think would meet everyone’s needs (insane though they may be): Years ago, in Monsey I rode on a segregated bus that was split down the middle. Men on the right, women on the left. That way you avoid the bad vibes of “the back of the bus” and still get your charedi seperation so you can feel holy. I wonder if that would diffuse this. Someone should propose it. If the Charedim still insisted on the front/back thing then that would tell you something else is going on here too. Right?
Al eileh ani bochea… ;(
he deserved it if he wouldn;t let her sit where she wanted.
Why would an old woman have tear gas? Are you sure they didn’t mean pepper spray?
This lady is the Jewish ROSA PARKS.
For people who are so homophobic they sure sound very gay to me.
What a chutzpah of that lady! This was on a bus special for seperate seating, why does she come on this bus and not obey the rules? She could go on the reg. Bus and seat were she wants, she should get arrested and the keys placed in a storm drain
What this woman did was a real kiddush hashem and she will be rewarded for standing up to the mindless and sexist chareidi efforts to impose chumrahs which have no basis in halacha. For generations our parents and grandparents were able to travel together on wagons and/or trains in Europe without separate seating. Rav Moshe, Z;tl, also said it was mutar for men an women to travel together on mass transit. But for these lunatics, thats not good enough.
The whole story illustrates how lawless society is in Israel. If the offical policy is that this bus is a “mehadrin” bus which is segregated, then that should be obeyed. At the same time, the reaction of the young man is despicable.
why dont you guys understand why he did it he did it because she was 60 if the case would be with a young 18 year old lady that guy would not have any problem with her he just wanted to make room for somebody closer to his age and he didnt mean frumkite at all
The lady obviosly came for a fight, for why did she have the pepper spray, which 60 year old women walks around with pepper spray? But on the other hand I would not want my son to be this 18 year old. He was wrong for yelling and cursing her, he should have asked the driver to intrvene or he could have asked her nicely (it takes two to tango) she got what she deserves, and he will probably end up in prison one day for assulting someone else.
When will we learn to teach our children better chinuch????
By spraying tear gas on a bus she assaulted every person on the bus including the driver.
That stuff gets around, I can tell you from experience having once used it on someone who assaulted me.
Amazing how everyone can stick up for the woman because she was fighting the “chareidim,” and overlook her disgusting behavior.
Notice she is the one being charged with a crime. Being cursed at is not a reason to assault people.
It would appear to me she came looking for a fight.
She should be given a life time bus pass for free rides on Arab buses. If she cannot respect the protocal on a Charedi Bus she
shouldn’t ride on them.
some fight a 60 year old vs a 18 year old why no one came to help the we will never know but we do know we all should know better we are jews we can only do what we can do love all jews
I have a question for the majority of the chumtra-ists that post here, I am sure than the majority of you are descendants of holocaust survivors, as I did. While growing up, I never heard one of these people complain about men and women sitting together on a bus or subway or any form of public transit. Not only that, but I was brought up that I was to give my seat to an elderly person, jewish or not. That is simple derech eretz, which as most people know, is kadma letorah.
Do these hoodlums think they are better than the poor souls that lived through the hell of the nazis or more frum than them? My parents were thankful just to get a seat, forget who was sitting next to them. What kind of chutzpa do they have to even demand separate seating buses? is is halacha? absolutely not. Just our society getting sicker and sicker by the day. A message to our yeshivas, keep raising these boys this way. You will reap what you sow. As it is, these young men are completely illiterate nowadays. Since they have no clue what derech eretz is, their learning is worthless.
Great comment, #4 . you are one of the few commentators on this page with some brain cells.
Sometimes there are only mehadrin buses to the locations you need to go. She might not have had any options. A 60 year old lady might not have been able to walk to the back of the bus-many times the front can be lowered but not the back.
She might not have purposely tried to go against the “rules”, however demeaning they may be. Why cant the men sit in the back? Why cant they sit left vs. right like on many “mehadrin private buses” in America? This was a public bus run by the government!!
Oh, an for those who complained about why she had pepper spray, she might have had it to protect herself from hooligans, like this boy will grow up to be. Someone wants to pickpocket her- she is allowed to carry pepper spray!
What is with the boy’s chinnuch? why be on a mehadrin bus if you aren’t at least minimal in your middos?
On one hand you have a chutzpadik 18 yr. old looser, and on the other you have a 60 yr. old chiloni, anti-jewish, secular zionist scum. One thing they had in common– they were both looking for a fight.
The woman had no right sitting in the front if it is designated for men, I dont like the rules either, but I wouldnt disobey. If I dont like it I dont ride that type of bus service. If she sat there because she had problems walking to far to the back, then she could have asked permission to sit there. But it is not the boys place to tell her off. That is pure chutzpa and he completely missed the point of segregated seating for tznius reasons and made a huge chilul Hashem. (though he doesnt deserve pepper spray, maybe a zets would have been better haha)
No.17&no;.28 are totaly right you americans dont seem to get it if there is a rule calling to separate the bus because on the other busses you have these israely biches going around siting davke next to chasideshe boys so when you finally have such a rule you try to support it not the other way around
Elderly women carry pepper spray in case they get mugged by a thug – which she did.
This is the first story on VIN that made me smile today.
All those who agree with this young punk should be given a one way ticket to the place they belong—Afghanistan.
I wish she would have sprayed him with a hungry pit bull.
It was a bus strictly designated for seperate seating and the woman came there looking for a fight. Otherwise on request she would have moved. The young man did first speak to her politely and she refused.
What would you say if a 60 year old woman came to the men’s side in a shul. or at a wedding or at the Kottel or at a levayoh and refused to move. She asked for it She got it. She was the Chatzufoh and the young man was right. This is the only language these Israeli chatzufos understand.
When these religious men are out in public do they have separate sidewalks?? Nobody is going to make way for them!! They are just other men wearing pants who happen to be religious!! If they want a charedi bus and an old lady sits down in the wrong place, TOUGH!! She is 60!! The kid is 18, still wet behind the ears, and still has to learn the manners that he was no taught at home!! If she sprayed him, chances are, she was treated like that before, and did not want to be manhandled again!! Yes she sure is the Jewish Rosa Parks!! Kol HaKavod!! She also is trying to tell the charedi community to STOP manhandling OLD LADIES!! Her method may not have been the best, but what was she supposed to do?? Put yourself in her shoes!! I hope VIN posts this!!
They were both wrong. She came looking for a fight and the big baby wanted to have one. He should have told the bus driver but whatever. When I go on the Monsey bus, the men bump me through the curtain. I think the men should sit in the back and the women in the front. The day we start that there will be no more problems. Such a simple solution.
First I think this whole separate buss issue is nonsense my parents and grand parents came from Munkahz and they never heard of such a a think. Even the weddings were not as segregated as today
why don’t the men sit in the back?
Also why not make a few sits in the front mixed for the elderly, the front is easier to get on and off than the back.
If I had to go to the back I would want a discount.
I had the dubious honor of riding a bus from Y’lem to Bnai Brak for the Naroler Hacnosas Sefer Torah. Boarding the bus we were crowded out by the most thuggish hoodlums ever seen, all in the clothing of frum people.
Unless you experience these behemahs first hand you can not understand what made this lady use the mace spray. I imagine I understand.
I rode the bus from Jerusalem to Tzefat and this Yid was hyperventilating that he didn’t want to sit “between two women” meaning, there was a woman in the row in front of him and in the row behind!
I agreed to change seats with him at the rest stop since we were all getting off the bus anyway, but I made him carry my laptop to the other seat.
Being myself a 60-year-old Bubbie, if some grubber yung started cussing at me I would cuss back, and then maybe beat him with my cane.
Who said he is 18 maybe he is 45 and she is 55
Besides we don’t know for a fact that he cursed her its only her words
But I have soon a person 50 year old cursing at woman for going in from the front door so I know it can happen
this nonsense both ways needs to stop
we need mutual respect and if these buses are going to exist ( i personally think its a terrible idea) then the driver needs to enforce the regulation and not drive until the issue is resolved of who sits where..
on the other hand if these arrogances continue and i suspect they were both arrogant.. then things will escalate and next time the grandma will pull out a firearm to protect herself .. this needs to be prevented.