Only a mink needs a mink! Wikipdia: "The shtreimel is usually made of genuine fur, from the tips of the tails, typically from Canadian or Russian sable but also from stone marten, baum marten and American gray fox." Are these animals kosher? Is it right to kill an animal so you can look good on Shabbat and impress your Hassidic friends in Shul (Synagogue) with your $1000 hat? This is animal cruelty! Stop it!

Not only is it of a very high standard today and almost indistinguishable from the real thing, but Haredi wigs are often made from quality synthetic fibres. I think Knesset time is being wasted on this legislation, the problem of mistreating animals for their fur should be dealt with by strong educational campaigns to convince the public not to buy products made of real fur.

Keeping kosher is wonderful, keeping Shabbos is wonderful, obeying the Torah is wonderful, but never did G-d order you to kill an animal and wear its fur to honor Him. I'm sure twisted minds will twist some phrase and justify killing animals for fur. It is the seriousness of taking an animal's life for sustenance, that we separate the eating of meat and dairy by several hours. No one in their right mind can justify the killing of an animal for its fur. B"H the MKs who sponsored this prevention of cruelty are to be commended. In her 20's my former sister set out a trap line that captured minks who often chewed off a foot to escape. I thought she was a cruel pig then and I have peace in not having spoken to her for over 40 years.

You don't live in an 18th century east European shtetl anymore so stop dressing like it. Your gear makes you look ridiculous, nothing else. Save it for folklore and cultural events and start dressing appropriate to the climate of our Homeland in which you're living.

I don't really care about animals rights – but if this bill f-ks hara-dims, I vote for it with two hands. Wollla!

In the Garden of Eden after Adam and Eve sinned, God sewed garments for them of ANIMAL SKINS. That lasted longer than the fig leaf garments Adam and Eve fashioned for themselves. So it must be all right with the Lord for people to kill animals for garments, since the Lord did that. Yep. He killed animals to provide clothing for His erring creatures. That does not mean God wants animals to be inhumanely killed. There are guidelines for killing animals that are merciful to the animal. It is people who violate those guidelines who are in error, not those who wear fur garments that God Himself ordained for people to wear. A law should be passed that animal furs purchased must be from companies that subscribe to the humane euthanasia of animals.

Most of them at least .

These people have no respect for animals. None whatsoever. I just don't get it. They go against everything that Judaism teaches us. What's wrong with fake fur? What's wrong with THEM? These Lunatics need to be dealt with properly and with a firm hand. There is no difference between this bill and another - if it's passed, they need to respect it. Or, they can piss off and go live in Iran, One more reason to dispise them.

suffering of the minks she set traps for? Did you suggest she raise minks on a mink farm where she could more humanely harvest the furs? I had a dancing teacher long ago whose kitten crawled into the clothes dryer and died when she turned it on, not knowing the kitten was in it. She was grieved by that. If she had not been, I would have seen her in a negative light. Your sister may have been unloading her grief at telling you what happened. Cutting her off may have been a mistake if she grieved and repented. My mother cut off my sister's finger when she slammed a car door on her hand. She was grieved by that. If she had not been, there would have been something wrong with her. Did your sister enjoy the suffering of the animals like a sadist? Or was it an awful part of making a living because her family did not provide for her and she could not make it other than to trap animals for fur? Why was she so destitute that she had to get into that business? Could you be at fault for not helping her get training in another field of work?

haredim get pretty smelly in the summer, dressing for a cold climate in the Middle East. They must be very uncomfortable, but change is difficult for those who want to walk the old paths that Jeremiah the Prophet said is the good way. Their garments are not the ancient paths, but Jeremiah said old paths, not ancient paths. 13th Century is old. Tanakh times are ancient.

He called chicken soup corpse broth! So he cared more for animals than for Jews and other humans Cruelty to animals is forbidden by the Torah but cruelty to humans is worse. I remember Ronald Regan may he rest in peace joking when he thought the mike was closed about outlawing the Soviet Union. Perhaps Tirosh should write a bill to outlaw the racist anti Israel text books used in PA schools, and another bill to outlaw using workers from the territories who have criminal background. After she protects the JEWS then she can worry about animals. She can also send a strongly worded protest to Obama for killing a fly so cruelly and sadistically in front of a TV camera

Species finds its species.

his prefered fish recipe gave some problems to a Belgian TV program .

The ultra-Orthodox representatives in the Knesset object to the law because it would cause economic harm to their voters - it is their right and, in fact, their *duty* in a democracy to do so. That said, synthetic fur Shtreimels are far more common in Israel than real fur ones, because the real fur ones are far more expensive. As such, I find that it won't cause as much harm to the ultra-Orthodox public as some MK's claim. What it *would* do is make many people in the fur products trade lose their livelihood, which is not to be ignored. The bill is a "fur is murder" bill, quite frankly. It bans an entire region's fur not out of considerations for cruelty to *animals* but rather of a consideration that animals deserve the rights accorded to human beings. That's entering PETA territory, and I'm not sure I like that at all. Unnecessary cruelty to animals is wrong, but so is thinking so highly of animals that you don't care much for cruelty to people any more - and that's exactly where the PETA and the numerous eco-terrorists organizations that have dual membership in it are.

What religion this guy follow??? As far as I know fur hat don't have any special (important) value in any officially recognized religion. Maybe he confused religion with tradition, they should send him back to yeshiva to study more.

Animals of the world unite.

what is so special about the funny hats being made of real fur? The expenses- showing off ones financial status? No? Synthetic fur then...if you must keep the hat. Civilized women in the West have stopped wearing animal skins (except new rich Russians in Spain...)- . So why do religious people still hold on to 'old hats',?pardon the pun! There is nothing prestigious nor particularly noble about wearing a dead animal on your head- in a hot country especially. Why is this a 'religious symbol' that should be exempt? Allowing import of fur for religious use? Did Moses or Abraham wear a fur hat- a fur coat?

Synthetic streimels are far more common , you wrote . Some sentences later : It would leave many people without their livelihood , you too wrote . If synthetic are far more common , for whom are those "many" working ? Can't they use synthetic furs instead of true ones ? And please , give the numbers of those "many" , with serious references .

I can understand someone in Alaska or Siberia wearing real fur because it really does keep them warm in a very extreme climate. Anthing else is just conspicuous consumption. On the other hand, I used to know someone in Israel whose family made a lot of money in the fur coat business, although I don't know people in Israel who wear fur coats. Would they be put out of business if this bill passes?

The number of Ashkenazi ultra-Orthodox Jews who can afford the real fur Shtreimel (whose costs range from $1000 to $2000 on average). The costs of the Spodiks worn by some Hassidic Jewish groups are of a similar cost range. I'm afraid I don't have figures on the Shtreimel trade - I doubt anyone does. It's just that it's not quite an industry (at least not until the last two decades), and doesn't have a non-Jewish clientele at all. As such, it's a market where both the buyers and the sellers are from the same ultra-Orthodox community. The whole point of the Shtreimel was that it was meant to be worn on special events - Shabbat, holidays, weddings, brit milah... It's a special item, carefully kept and cherished for decades. The main reason many in Israel buy fake fur Shtreimels in Israel is because they're cheaper, and most can't really afford the real deal... but the market is alive, because it's a specialty market, and those who can afford them rarely compromise on quality when it's an item meant to last out your life. Banning furs from the East would double or even triple the cost of an already expensive item - which means fewer people will buy them, and which will in turn create huge losses for the people in the Shtreimel and Spodik trade among the ultra-Orthodox. How many people in total? Not sure...

It's incomprehensible why ultra-Orthodox Jews chose this particularly hideous form of dress inasmuch as it was taken from the Polish nobility of centuries ago. If they wanted to be true to their religious traditions, shouldn't they be dressing more like the biblical patriarchs...especially in a country like Israel where it can sometimes get hot as bloody hell? Not only that, the most important thing is that innocent animals wouldn't have to die in order to give their lives to religious fanatics who make themselves the object of ridicule and, by extension, often make the rest of us look bad. I can't tell you what a negative effect it has on Israel, a modern progressive country, when the media shows these Haredim wearing fur hats and knickers. And how ironic is it that some of the most ludicrous looking ones are rabid anti-Zionists who don't even recognize the State of Israel? It's just too bad there isn't a law in Israel that made it a punishable offense to photograph them.

First of all, they can use synthetic fur... it looks almost like the real thing. Second of all, it really isn't a Jewish custom. After all, did Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and our other biblical forefathers wear streimels, knickers, suit jackets, etc.?

The same as your "estimates" on the roads . If synthetic furs are MORE common , what is then the quantity of "true" ones ? Big losses in livelihood ? Come with serious arguments . I know when they are wearing them .

So for a country to be defined as "modern" and "progressive", everyone must dress, look, act, and think the same? And of course, everyone must also hold the same beliefs, which must also be "modern" and "progressive". Tell me, for a person who holds only a passing familiarity with the English language (knickers are what British English speakers call *underwear*), perhaps you've heard the expression "Pot calling the kettle black"? Familiarize yourself with it when you get the chance.

are adapted to our climate ? No , not everyone must dress in the same way , but must at least not wear clothes designed for strong winters , and not for our hot summers . You had a "greast" argument here : a English word . Very poor Where did Animal Lover show human hate ? by telling that amongst those people there are rabod anti zionist ? Give serious arguments , not estimates or many and so .

If its not about animal abuse or enviromental issues and only about screwing your fellow Jew well theirs a name for that Alex its called a self hating jew or antisemite at worst it also means you dont care about the world in general that makes you a bad person WALLA AGI ya idiyot arss

history book, don't expect me to feed you the info by spoon. But that's not the matter at hand, is it? The matter at hand is a specialty market that isn't exactly a prime target for professional market analysis and statistics. You expect me to bring you information that simply doesn't exist! You want to know how many people make and sell Shtreimels and Spudiks? Go to ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods and start looking and asking around.

so a few people would lose some business, is this the reason why there is so much opposition? Well, it happens that certain things become obsolete because other things take their place- so what? Is this a reason to hang o to it? We have cars instead of donkeys.... we fly instead of taking a ship.... I have not read one single argument that really makes sense or has any proof. And using the old 'you are anti haredi' just stops the discussion it is NOT an answer, LOL.