He was not from a stetl

Not only do I have to protect the haredim because they refuse to serve in the army, and support them because they refuse to work, now I have to tell my wife (who also works and served in the army) to go sit in the back of the bus so as not to offend their sensibilities. Have you no shame?????????????

I will not ride in one! I am disabled, it is painful to stumble to the back like a cattle. If they split the bus down the middle, men on left, women on right, that might be a better solution. There is nothing in halacha, tradition or Jewish history that requires public transportation to separate men and women.

means everybody and you can seat where you like! Private means you do what you want but you finance it!!!!!!!!!

just because one group of your religion decides to dress funny and play their own games the others should'nt be forced to play with them. If you like to play who is sitting where on a bus...buy your own one.

Here in Elat, almost every hotel has a Shabbat elevator. Religious people can take the Shabbat elevator on Shabbat while the seculars take the normal elevator. Egged could have a religious bus running on normal lines. The bus could be of different color (black for example). If you are religious and do not want to sit with secular men and women, you'll have to wait for the black religious bus. If you are secular you wait for a green bus. Do not forget respect goes both way. Religious have to respect seculars and vice versa.

There is no such thing as a private bus line that picks up random passengers. By definition, a bus line that picks up members of the public is PUBLIC. If individuals wish to set up a service specifically for those persons it is fine but Mehedrin buses are not that. If you allow a person on the bus and take their fare, you are a public bus! You cannot then discriminate against them, no matter how many in a sect disagree or are "happy" with the outcome.

If haredi men and women want to be segregated -- that is fine with me BUT it should not be on Israel's National Bus line. If they arrange their own private bus line for this comfort that is great. The problem arises because they are using a public/national bus line. Just because some of these buses run in haredi neighborhoods does not make it okay to expect every woman abide by their extreme needs. This is not Iran and never will be.

Why can't you respect how other people want to live their life. Quit complaining about being public transportation, using your taxes or comparing them to the Taliban. Your problem is that you cannot and never learned to live in MODESTY, It is their way , mind your own business and stop forcing others to live like you want to.

There is a private bus line~SuperBus. The segregated Egged Bus routes are not in the secular areas, rather they are in the religious areas. What part of that don't people understand. Nobody is asking the secular world to become religious--we just ask to be aloud to adhere to the mitzvot in Israel, after all, it is supposed to be a Jewish state.

If public, the seating should be open access to all. Now if they wish to buy and operate their own vehicles. I imagine that they could have the women sit bacwards, in the rear, with blindfolds.

What is the problem with understanding this lady's point of view? Personally, as a woman I would prefer that segregated buses be partitioned down the middle, as I don't travel well and prefer to sit closer to the front. I don't like having to sit near the back. But that is my opinion. However, when talking about respecting human rights, equally the rights of haredi people with their needs for modesty have a right to be respected. That is what the writer of this article was sensitively explaining. So let the haredim have their own bus lines. I am sure the hareidi community could pay for these to be set up and maintain them financially through the busfares paid by the many people using them. They should be allowed to do so. Those who do not wish to use segregated buses don't have to do so. Those who do use them need to respect the majority using them who do wish to maintain certain standards of modesty. After all, that is what democracy means - the rule of the majority. Those who criticize the writer of this article negatively perhaps should do some personal stocktaking as to their real motives for doing so, and whether they truly respect human rights for all, including those of the hareidim.

Aryeh- The 418 from BS is not only a charedi line. An 18 y/o woman here for the year to learn GTorah was accosted verbally & emotionally for sitting up front. You want to sit separately? Buy a car. You're going to live in society? Learn to control your manly self.

i think that the haredi community has tried to create their own bus lines but the monopoly of egged won't allow it. segregation certainly shouldn't happen on public buses but if these buses are between haredi communities and someone outside those communities is riding them, why create a fuss? on a regular jerusalem bus it does create a big problem with people standing in the aisles refusing to sit in an empty seat next to a man or woman, making a balygan in the aisles. Of course egged would lose thousands of customers if there was a separate haredi line. Maybe Egged would be forced to improve their service. !!

...of being spared the humiliation of men's inquisitive looks. And i'm sure they agree that it's safer for them to stay indoors or to be accompanied by men when they go out. As for being forbidden to study, it's for their own good, isn't it? I loved the part where the authors says that ordinary women don't understand the discomfort of rubbing up against men. Riiiiight, so you think non-haredi women enjoy that kind of proximity? That they don't mind because they are all sinful anyway? Oh, and sitting in the front of the bus, humming, or accidentally touching someone is a provocation now? The author actually equates that with breaking into an IDF base! This article is unbelievable. You can describe these segregated buses any way you want, but a rose by any other name is still a rose.

BUT on the other hand, come the summer....oh yes, i would certainly rather travel seperate from the haredim!...Please dont turn us into an islamic type state!

Both have in common that the females subjected to these degradations by men, claim to feel "So happy and safe" which is complete and utter nonsense spoken by surpressed and dependent individuals that lack spiritual strength.

just for a minute, let's compare this situation with slavery. if i were to find a few "happy" slaves, who actually liked to be kept apart from their masters, and who told me they were treated well, would that mean that slavery was not a violation of human rights? because of the possibility of coercion, "normal" western societies do not allow a person to "voluntarily" give up their basic rights, or consent to basic wrongs. and just because the torah permits and condones slavery, does that mean that the hareidim can keep slaves, so long as they stay "within hareidi areas"? clearly, segregated buses aren't as extreme as slavery, but the principle remains the same: the laws of the state of israel also apply to the hareidim. (especially in matters that are funded by the state of israel.) "dina d'malkhuta dina"!

Why must it be Your way and only your way? You think you have a "clear thinking and normal functioning brain"? I think you have a very small box for a brain - VERY small.

Anorexic women are also brainwashed and in a far more dangerous way, and most of them are NOT Charadi. Your post is hateful, not thoughtful.

Has been stated by the author."..the Haredi want to live within their own boundaries"...Does that mean their own state?? Should secular Israel should support them because they are "holy" and when it comes time for loyalty or army service, forget it? The future of "One Israel" seems very much in doubt...

I am an Orthodox women, although I don't fall under the umbrella "Chareidi" If you saw me on the street there would be no doubt in your mind that I am Orthodox. That being said the situation with the buses today ( and for awhile) is and has been deplorable. I avoid the #1 bus in Jerusalem like the plaque. I don't sit in the back, I can't sit in the back ( I WILL get sick all over you if made to sit in the back) Since when does someone have a right to decide they can't control themselves so they can't look at me. Get blinders for those men who can't look. Many so called Chareidi buses are also in areas where normal Orthodx and secular also need to go. I am tired of being looked upon as second class. Torah didn't, until recently the biggest problem with these buses were the MEN bus, shoving and elbowing their way past everyone and anyone. THEN it was okay for me to be touched in inappropriate places, now I can't sit in the front. There is a big problem in Israel and it needs to be stopped NOW!

Go ahead you silly fools. argue about the back of the bus. Meantime Iran is plotting to radiate all of you, front, back, and middle of the bus. You should be using all your energy to pressure that small leader of yours to use your ultimate weapons to stop the Iranians. Then you can argue about front and back of buses. The nazis had segregated gas chambers. Stop the Iranians now.

If the haredi want separate buses, LET THEM PAY FOR IT! Are men going to drive the mens' buses and women drive the womens' buses, too?

Devorah was a judge in Israel and women are mentioned in the Torah in the highest esteem.

I don't object to any belief an adult adheres to as long as he is doing it from his own free will. The problem is when brainwashing starts at a very young age and in reality, those living in the community have very little free choice. The Haredim are welcome to live, dress and behave as they did 200 years ago in Poland. They can reject any Israeli services as far as I am concerned and use their own hospitals, bus systems and electric companies. They do not have the right to impose their beliefs on me or anyone else living in a democratic country. Susan

Start your own bus line! Then you can make Haredi women sit on the roof if you so choose.

when I ride on a bus and I'm told get to the back, all the men sitting in the back taking up the seats should be forced to move to the front. If I'm sitting with my husband I should be left alone. And either way, I should be left alone because this is chumra NOT halacha. These are not 'charedi' boundaries.

It seems to me that a lot of controversy could have been avoided if they simply would have put the MEN at the BACK of the bus, and not the women.

Have you ever heard that it takes one bad apple to corrupt the whole barrel? Ever wonder why such people wants to promote hate? In most cases I would think it is to place yourself as an icon(3rd definition); recognition by using other's standard of living in this case. Using the tool of women v/s men to life her name in lights really didn't work for her. Sorry! Take a car next time.