Hasidic Buses: What Is Critics' Real Motive?

First published in Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Oct. 25, 2011 BROOKLYN – Earlier this week, the media discovered that a private bus line (although one with a public franchise) between Hasidic Williamsburg and Hasidic Borough Park maintains separate seating for men and women, with women relegated to the back of the bus. To those who are familiar with the Hasidim and the ultra-Orthodox (as opposed to those who consider themselves "modern Orthodox"), this is no surprise. According to the halachic (traditional rabbinic) interpretation of the Torah, men and women must remain separate for two weeks out of the month because a woman is considered "unclean" during her period. This often is reflected in actions that would be considered extreme by the outside world. For example, in many Hasidic communities a woman who is having her period cannot sit in the same car seat as her husband. She can’t even pass a salt shaker to her husband at this "time of the month" – she must put it down on the table, and then he takes it. One of the reasons for separation between men and women in the public sphere, such as on this bus, is that a man might inadvertently come into contact with a woman who is having her period. The other is that any contact between men and their wives or close female relatives is considered a temptation and an invitation to adultery. This is reflected, for example, in the long dresses and long-sleeved blouses that Hasidic women must wear – this is called snius (modesty). Many ultra-Orthodox (or "black-hat Orthodox") and Hasidim won’t even listen to a women’s voice singing lest it arouse passions – the term for this is kol isha ("the voice of the woman"). Personally, my interpretation of Judaism is much, much more liberal than that of the ultra-Orthodox, and I more or less agree with Mayor Bloomberg that because the bus has a public franchise, its operators should follow city law and let men and women sit together. However, the reaction from the non-Jewish world (and some Jews) on the blogosphere is somewhat disconcerting. Like the controversy over circumcision in California, many people who just don’t like Jews, hate Israel or hate religion in general have seized on this issue like a dog seizes a bone. They say, more or less, "See, how primitive Judaism, and religion in general, are! These primitive people shouldn’t be subsidized. Indeed, no one can be an intelligent person unless they reject religion and nationality!" The trouble is, however, that you don’t hear much of those arguments about Islam (women sit separately in the mosques, and the religion has rather prescribed roles for women), the Amish (in whose churches women also sit separately) or any number of other religious sects that have similar beliefs. No, it is only Jews who are asked to give up their beliefs or customs in the name of "universalism." I myself belong to an egalitarian congregation with a female cantor, and I would be thrilled to death of a group of Hasidic women started a movement to give them more equality in religious life. I would support it wholeheartedly. But this movement has to come from within – not from what they perceive as a hostile world. So, maybe it’s time to stop being so self-righteous about the Hasidim and their buses. Multiculturalism is for Jews, too!