Israel – Female Volunteer Removed From Circus Stage After Haredi Woman Protests

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    The Shambuki Show (Photo credit Facebook)Israel – A female audience member who was invited to participate in a circus performance in Modi’in on Sunday was removed from the stage after a religiously observant viewer complained.

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    Rafi Vitis, an acrobat and host of “The Shambuki Show,” at the city’s Anabe Park, consented to the request of an ultra-Orthodox woman who found the participation of women offensive. He invited a male volunteer to replace the teenage girl, but was forced to suspend the show for a few minutes because other members of the hundreds-strong audience objected to the switch.

    “During the show, a Haredi woman approached me and asked me, very politely, if I could carry on without the girl, out of consideration for the feelings of most of the people watching,” Vitis told Haaretz. “I decided to continue the act with a male volunteer. I was trying to do my best to show consideration for their sensibilities and didn’t mean to hurt anyone’s feelings.”

    Avi Elbaz, chairman of the anticlerical association Free Modi’in, said the city must not condone the exclusion of women. “The incident with the acrobatic show didn’t take place in Modi’in Illit, Ramat Beit Shemesh or another Haredi city. If it doesn’t suit you to see women on stage, don’t come. It’s unbelievably rude to go to a show in a secular city and make these demands. This place is not owned by the Haredim,” Elbaz said.

    The Modi’in city council said in a statement: “As soon as the incident was brought to the attention of the director of cultural activities he rushed to the scene and gave a specific order that it was unacceptable and that the show would go on as usual. Afterward we circulated specific instructions that all changes to shows at Anava Park cannot be approved by anyone other than the city council.”


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    23 Comments
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    11 years ago

    Nothing wrong. If the people there were ok with it who are we to mix in? Didn’t effect any of us, did it?

    nyker
    nyker
    11 years ago

    I hate to say it but if you want to shield your children from seeing women at these places just dont go. I cant see whats wrong with a girl assisting with a circus. Even if she isnt properly dressed how is it any worse than your children seeing her on a bus on their way to school. but I must say I give credit for asking nicely and to the magician for trying to accommodate.

    11 years ago

    All this trying to prevent genders from seeing one another is unnatural and going to create a pressure cooker dangereous situation, that I don’t want to discuss in a family site such as VIN. R’L

    Vasserman
    Vasserman
    11 years ago

    If you are offended by the presence of women then stay home under your blanket.

    Shlomtzy
    Shlomtzy
    11 years ago

    Wait a minute here: I am not usually supportive of gender separation, but the article said that the Haredi audience member asked politely. The performer agreed to switch volunteers. What is so terrible about that? And if the performer would have disagreed, life goes on. It can’t hurt to ask, no? It’s not as if the Haredim protested, screamed, caused a Chilul Hashem, whatever…… they just requested. Why is that terrible?

    The comments here are so often ant-Chareidi it’s a shanda.

    proudhareidy
    proudhareidy
    11 years ago

    he headline “Hareidy woman protests” is misleading at best! the article says clearly the woman “very politely asked”, & the producer decided to listen to her.

    There is nothing wrong with 2 people mutually getting along in a polite way. Its disgusting that the city council felt they need to be involved.

    shredready
    shredready
    11 years ago

    then guy should have ignored her and say please kol isha do not speak to me

    oiber-chacham
    oiber-chacham
    11 years ago

    and then you wonder how come the chilonim hate frum jews,this is a perfect example how us frumacks are obnoxious,self centered, selfish,etc.etc.
    GEVALD, if you don’t want your children to see women,then just don’t take them to the circus,why ruin it for the rest of the 95% of the crowd that has no problem with it.
    Frumkeit and torah without common sense and DERECH ERETZ is absolutely worthless,
    when CHAZAL taught us that TORAH is SAM CHAIM and sometimes could become SAM HAMOVES,this is exactly what they had in mind,these insane so called frumies use the TORAH as an excuse to hate their fellow jews and to spread poisonous hate and misery and SINAS CHINOM

    kjbjgirl
    kjbjgirl
    11 years ago

    I wonder if there was mechitzes which I doubt there was and I guess she still sat there. But a girl performing was her problem. U don’t like it don’t come. It is what it is. I think she should go around to all tethers and let them know its uneccepteble

    11 years ago

    If this woman’s husband, chas v’shalom, had a heart attack, and the first paramedics to arrive on the scene with life saving equipment were females, would this same person request that they don’t “touch” her husband? Please!

    Aryeh
    Aryeh
    11 years ago

    Religious people ought not to attend circuses b’klal. Low class, and goyishe kup.

    FredE
    FredE
    11 years ago

    The real problem is the inability for many in the frum community to see women as anything but temptresses. For this we should tear kriah.

    As far as the “asking politely” argument, the problem is that the request is inherently sexist and unreasonable. Just imagine for a second that the audience member instead had been African-American, and someone asked, politely, that black people be excluded to avoid “offending sensibilities”. This is no different. Civilized people do not behave this way.

    monseyfan
    monseyfan
    11 years ago

    Imagine if this article would have been in USA Today, or any newspaper of your choosing, but instead of it being about Jewish people it was Muslims who didn’t want a woman on stage…. One day the world will wake up and decide that we are not treating our women any differently then the radical Muslims.

    shlomozalman
    shlomozalman
    11 years ago

    It was totally unacceptable for this so-called polite woman to request a change in the show. She is not the owner, directior or producer of the show. She is not entitled to request anything. If she doesn’t think the show is for her, she can get up and leave. By her asking “politely” to insert someone else, she is “politely” treating the show if it were her own private performance. It was not.

    The chareidim have a way of “politely” running other people’s lives, and I have seen this behavior numerous times. It’s nothing more than a planned and calculated manipulation. Don’t buy into it.

    HappyOlah
    HappyOlah
    11 years ago

    I am on the Modiin email list and you should know what a chilul hashem this caused. The show was FREE, paid for by Modiin taxes, but many Modiin residents were unable to attend because of the very many outsiders who came from Kiryat Sefer. Then, one outsider disrupted a show for which she did NOT pay for, embarrassing both the teenage girl and many audience members. On Sukkos, there were a slew of complaints at the garbage strewn in the Modiin park following a chol hamoed full of Chareidi visitors. Once again, I, a frum woman, cringed in embarrassment. We have an obligation to inspire our secular brothers – not turn them away from a Torah life!

    Stickpick
    Stickpick
    11 years ago

    To #10 , look at the pic most attendees are secular and this took place in a secular community of Israel. If the haredi woman decided to be different and attend then she shud accept wats coming. I personally wud not have agreed to switch and pit her on the spot by telling her to either take it or lump it or get the h**** outa here.