JERUSALEM (VINnews) — A secular Jew by the name of Guy Dobrowski shared a post on Facebook describing his horrific experience when he went for the first time in his life to participate in Yom Kippur prayers at Dizengoff Square.
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“With trembling hands and a heavy heart, I’m sorry to have to describe the experience I had this evening, on the eve of Yom Kippur at Dizengoff Square, less than 100 meters from my home.
“In the afternoon my wife and two daughters aged 4 and 1.5 dressed in festive white clothes to participate in the first Yom Kippur prayers of our life. We conduct a totally secular lifestyle, we have never been in a synagogue, but we wanted to experience the special atmosphere of Yom Kippur and to allow our girls to broaden their horizons. We are a liberal, secular family, against religious coercion and the first to wave the Israel flag and pride flags at the Kaplan street demonstrations.
“Already on the way to the square we heard shouting. We knew that there had been a storm over gender separation and were happy to hear that even though the organizers tried to make an (illegal) separation, people had taken it down and we could now sit as a family. Unfortunately, despite removing the partition which caused the dispute, the event became more violent.
“As we were sitting on plastic chairs waiting for the beginning of the event, the antagonism of those opposed to the prayer service began boiling over- shouting, whistling, drums, verbal abuse, cries of ‘shame’ and demands to find another place for prayer- all designed to disrupt the event.
“Behind us sat an elderly couple wearing a kippah ,and one of the hecklers came up and told them that they are burning children and why are they not ashamed. One woman called to throw the siddurim in the fountain and without compunction, she went over to the table and threw them off it. At this point the mob seemingly received an order and began gathering up all of the chairs in the square, thus preventing those who wanted to sit from taking a chair and joining the ceremony.
“The level of animosity in the air rose to new heights. Girls who came to pray with their families started crying and at this point my wife took my girls home- we didn’t expect this kind of experience. I stayed on the chair- silent and hidden in the crowd, thinking about the wanton hatred and fraternal hatred, how symbolic and sad was the vision I was seeing in front of me.
“I have never prayed. I have never fasted. I have never kept Shabbat, but when a small group of youths- boys and girls – came up to me and asked me to complete a small minyan they were organizing, I immediately agreed. I felt a perpetual solidarity with these frightened but courageous people. I felt tremendous shame for my own, ostensibly liberal camp, which was sowing panic among the young people.
“Despite the ‘kosher’ tag of the minyan, small and without a partition, the mob did everything to disturb and to insult us. We had people coming into the prayer circle shouting and dancing obscenely, e-bikes and other bikes in the circle, a young woman who came with two dogs and said that she wouldn’t attack us but her dogs attacked us as people laughed nearby.
“During the prayers, I stood by them, like a lulav. I didn’t know which page we were on, I didn’t know the movements and words but I experienced everything. I thought about how my ancestors had fought and risked their lives to pray and to perform their Jewish acts and how now it was my turn to undergo this in order to pray.
“Attempts to talk with the crowd were met with loud calls of ‘shame’, they shut me up and prevented me from saying that I am like them but that this time you have exaggerated big time.
“There wasn’t real physical abuse, but as long as I wore the kippah people trod on me, hit me ‘by mistake’ with bicycle handles and I felt that I had been abandoned to the whims of the crowd.
“September 2023. Less than 100 meters from my home I was verbally and physically abused because I wanted to pray with my family on Yom Kippur. I don’t want to blame anyone but if this post makes us look in the mirror and everyone improves a bit himself and his way of treating others- I have accomplished my goal.”
I don’t think that some of the American posters understand the depth of the hurt.
I also wouldn’t daven in a place where I was not welcome and I wouldn’t have davened in Duzengoff. I can even understand reporting and fining the organizers.
The hurt is that a Jewish government specifically made these rules and that people found it within themselves to be so hateful against tefilla on Yom Kippur.
They used to talk about the Shomer Hatzair’niks who would eat in front of shuls on Yom Kippur. I always wanted to believe that it wasn’t true.
Why is having a mechitza illegal in the Holy Land? Is Israel’s religion Judaism or egalitarinism? It seems to be the latter. Israel needs to get rid of its cheit ha’egal(itarism) and be a Jewish state.
I wonder how many of these attackers are actually Jewish according to halacha. Maybe they are the erev rav.
A religious Jew is not allowed to tell a secular Jew what to do, that is religious coercion! However a secular Jew is allowed to tell a religious jew how to practice their religion,this is not religious coercion!
Religious Jews should stop mixed seating concerts! They can tell us what to do why can’t we tell them what to do?
This is a democracy, majority rules. Yeah,yeah, tell that to the supreme Court they will be laughing in your face.
I fear the day might come if Lefties get power that Jews might need to travel to Muslim countries to practice Yom Kippur!
This Yom Kippur war was against Eretz Yisroel spiritually. There needs to be a spiritual response of teaching Torah and doing mitzvos with those who want to attack.
Instead of complaining about the secularists, why don’t religious Jews move to Eretz Yisroel and vote in religious governments. I know the expected answers. We can’t do this until Moshiach comes, etc. Is this the real answer, or is it that is very comfortable living in America and you don’t want to leave. Look into your hearts and tell me the real answer.
Revenge will come one day. The religious will out-populate the secular. And then the karma will strike.
It is not against the law to have a mechitza.
so sad to hear such anti Jewish people in our Jewish homeland. seems like Jewish antisemites, such self hating Jews.
Maybe they will do tshuva, or maybe they will move to USA so their kids can marry non Jews.
HaShem should help all of his Yidden.
Headline failure. The writer is explicitly secular but not “secularist.”
He doesn’t sound like a secularist, just someine who doesn’t observe mitzvot yet.
This is the Zionist way.
They are evil cruel.
be careful there is not a civil war in Israel, G-d forbid. RABBI DR. BEERMHARD ROSENBERG
Fundamentalism at its worst. Who are these maniacs to decide who can pray and how they should pray? Live and let live. And the way, by destroying this service who knows how many Jews were turned off and will never go to any service again. Chaval.
By the way, regarding the haters of Zionism, how do you know that Maschiach has not yet arrived? We are seeing the miracles described in the Naviim. Maybe it is time to embrace the medinah, and let history take its course.
We need more people practicing the Bein adam lechaveiro laws.
No more public prayer. Keep it inside and Men only if the judges are so hateful.
Who taught them how to disturb Davening like they did?
Me thinks it was the Charedim at the Kotel.
“The chickens have come home to roost”
Once people do whaever they want on public property, then what kind of society will we end up with? However, it was the police that should have upheld the protection of public property and not other people. It is not the publics duty to do so.
How about penning an article. from the other sides point POV.
If it is so bad and it it truly is hurtful. Then just follow the rules and you are good to go. It is like the guy that shoplifted and then cries why jail is so hard.
If I wanted to block 13 Ave to hold some kind of parade, and was not given permission, not just that the court ruled I cannot do so for whatever reason, and I did it anyway, am I not shedding crocidile tears.