'Taking party in mitzvah' (archives)
Photo: GPO
Donate $35,000 to become godfather
Ad offers right to sponsor newborn during circumcision to person willing to make donation to extreme haredi group promoting sex segregation
Want to be the godfather at a newborn's circumcision ceremony? All you have to do is donate $35,000.
"A rare opportunity to become a godfather and say blessings for a fee – a unique charity mitzvah," the ad said, noting that the donation can be split into as many as 70 payments.
An ad published recently in ultra-Orthodox newspaper Hamodia offered the right to become a godfather to the person willing to make a donation to the Committee for the Purity of the Camp.
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"We at the committee engage in the purity of the Land of Israel, and observe the great mitzvah of saving Jews," one of the people behind the ad explained. "Whoever makes the donation will be able to take part in the mitzvah, serve as a godfather in the circumcision ceremony and say the blessings for the baby."
What does your organization do?
"In the past there were immoral posters on all bus stops, and we managed to put an end to this phenomenon across Israel – and this is just one example."
A Yedioth Jerusalem inquiry revealed that the Committee for the Purity of the Camp engages in modesty issues and is considered one of the most extreme bodies in the haredi sector.
In recent years, the committee has been promoting sex segregation on certain bus lines and the creation of separate routes to the Western Wall for men and women, and fighting against the opening of businesses in haredi centers in Jerusalem after midnight.
