It might be a good idea if the Haredim would boycott all the public transportation throughout the country and let people get on with their normal everyday lives.

You may be right to draw a line here, but a slippery slope argument is not, and never is, persuasive. The issue here is efficiency. What is the light rail aiming to achieve and will it achieve more of it if its segregated, whatever that "it" is? Not sure? Run an experiment with both options and see. Everything else is just politicking.

as a traditional jew i oppose to this segregation and will not afford if so ; men and women live together they are not 2 worlds that meet just in the bedroom to procreation ; silly people

Well delivered and logical. Quality writing.

Tali is quite right to feel discomfort at the idea of forcing gender segregated train carriages on the public rail system. The separation of genders during orthodox Jewish prayer is an ancient custom, although the powerbrokers at our Kotel have gone too far with this custom, to the detriment of the female worshippers and the connivance (or weakness) of the civil authorities. And on a lighter note, where do transgendered and re-assigned gendered persons sit? That should keep the Haredi Humra Machers busy for a while!

Religious imposition has no place in public facilities. Banning women from the Kotel on Shavuot night was a disgrace.Their zealous fanatical behavior desecrates G-d's name more than it sanctifies it. If the haredim badly want to implement sex segregation, they should either start their private transportation or they can get a car or take a cab.Public transportation lines are not obligated to accommodate them in any way.

Question is , where will it all end? Next they will be forcing segregation on tel avvi buses.

This cult is taking over Judaism. It has warped Judaism and turned a beautiful religion into something ugly. Now is the time to stop it.

If the haredim don't like it, let them walk.

There are times and occasions when gender segregation can protect women's rights. Molestation of women and girls on overcrowded public buses is something no one discusses, but it happens all too frequently. If it hasn't happened to you, count yourself lucky. Also, if a women's section were not designated at the Kotel, how many women would ever get anywhere close to it at all? I would not want to compete with men for the space and have to push and shove and be stepped on. The real problem as I see it is overcrowding. I hate being forced to mesh bodies with strange men in crowds. Jerusalem was not built to accommodate so many people.

It would suit you better to live in ELAT!

Chumros (legal stringencies) are not meant to be imposed on everyone. They are something that the individual can accept on himself/herself; but not at the expense of everyone else.

remember the life of Queen Esther and Ruth

Segregation in a two train cars for those that religious that choose not to sit together is reasonable. The train carries alot of cars so you can have one women only car and another one for men only and the rest are mixed. I can certainly understand them not feeling comfortable sitting next to members of the opposite sex on a plane but thats an issue for them to take up with the airline not the passengers who are sitting in the seat they want. ELALwith its online booking service might consider to offer a service offering a segregation thing like this where possible, give the passengers what they want and they will come back. Gender segregation at holy place of course has to be allowed as long as it is possible for everybody to actually reach the holy site itself. Some of these segregation issues are fine but the problem is a minority of haredi ( not all haredi ) are taking segregation to the extreme. Your always going to have extremists when it comes to religion. The Taliban do not represent mainstream islam. Hardcore missionaries who think they convert you at any price do not represent mainstream Christianity. Same with Judaism most religious Jews accept the limitations on the control they have on public services. If they can the would like to have segregation on busses and traians which is not such an unreasonable request and should be done where practical. They do not though start looking for segregation in the streets etc. Thats a small number of hardcore extremists who in some areas are more influence than others. Whats needed is for the local authorities to say clearly we are willing to work with you on some issues to try find compromises if the issue is a reasonable one but on others its a non starter so don't even waste our time. When it comes to religious issues your not going to change people so sometimes try come half way where practically possible.

If you don't like the idea of treating fellow human beings as equals regardless of race, gender or creed, then walk, bike or drive instead of taking the taxpayer-funded bus or train! Why should Israel bend over backwards to accommodate superstitious bigotry?

When I did teshuva, I became a "charedi"... Thanks G.d, I did teshuva again, I'm now a Jew... Till they ignore what is ahavat Israel, till they ignore what is tsniut, till they ignore what is education and till they ignore what is anava, charedim can not be consider like religious, just poor people who have in this case, again, more sexual problems than Torah... and it's so sad...

Look at the screaming weirdly black-garbed crowds screaming invective, women no-where in sight at these gatherings, must be film of Teheran. Oh no! It's the ultra-orthodox cult in Jerusalem. We must not let them dictate to us.

It would suit you better to live in ELAT!

Even though I am a religous Jew, I am against segregated seating. Once you let extremism start in one area, it spreads with no control, and that is what Tali is witnessing in Jerusalem. The issue is more of a political nature, than a relgious one.

The government should not give in to the Haredim and should stop this nonsense. Next they will ask EL AL to do the same!

I guess Tali doesn't use public transportation a lot, otherwise she would love the idea of a separate place for women. I still remember myself being non-religious and harassed by males on a bus. So please get your attention from men in other places! Try it maybe on today's parade in TA;) Why nobody asks the women on the buses what they prefer?

Avi It is possible to reach compromises A train with its many cars is capable of having one car for men, one for women and the rest mixed. Something like that is harmless enough because the people riding the train still have a choice of where to sit.. Just need to know when to compromise and when to agree to compromises and when to say no deal. Its also only a small number of haredi sects that are so extreme. The problem is there are so many sects, they all dress the same pretty much so people take the attitude of a haredi is a haredi and they are all trouble.

If the outcry was coming from women who feel physically threatened or abused there may be more justification (of course such perpetrators should be arrested and prosecuted). But when it is simply "religious" men who don't want to be defiled by proximity to a woman, public money should not pay. Let them use their own transportation.

Soon the GAY PARADE in Jerusalem Gender segregation to increas same sex "familiarity".........

It should have been entitled: "a parody on a rhetorical dialectic about chasing your tail"'. I'd be embarrassed if my 9 year old came home from school with such a biased, prejudiced and mindless paper that showed such ignorance and an inability to Argue a point with NO foundation or coherence. Face it: the author is "open minded": a pollution catcher with zero tolerance for anything outside of her comfort zone. Yeah...guess one car with a mechitzah is a gateway to stoning people to death. How stupid. Next

In Mexico entire trains are designated, only for women,they must have a good reason.