In one of the stranger mayoral elections for Jerusalem, a secular Israeli, Nir Barkat is running against Ultra Orthodox MK Meir Porush.Porush's PR people decided he looked too "scary" in real life, so they chose a whimsical, SouthPark type cartoon character to represent him. I'm not sure I disagree with their assessment.
Meanwhile, I received the following from a reader today -- a flier reportedly being distributed in the Ultra Orthodox "Ezras Torah" neighborhood of Jerusalem.
Translation Below.
Unprecedented:
Rabbi Meir Porush has promised the Torah Giants:
All jobs in the Jerusalem Municipality will be manned only
by kippa wearing men and women with their hair covered
[ie, only Orthodox/Ultra Orthodox religious people]
Give your voice [vote] to an Ultra Orthodox Mayor
Yerushalayim is gonna love Porush,
from experience!!!
An Ultra Orthodox Municipal Council Majority is Possible!!
All jobs in the Jerusalem Municipality will be manned only
by kippa wearing men and women with their hair covered
[ie, only Orthodox/Ultra Orthodox religious people]
Give your voice [vote] to an Ultra Orthodox Mayor
Yerushalayim is gonna love Porush,
from experience!!!
An Ultra Orthodox Municipal Council Majority is Possible!!
Now, I don't know about you -- but this seems rather unfair.If Jerusalem is a large city with many sectors, why should single Jewish women who don't yet cover their hair be excluded from Jerusalem municipal jobs?
Why is Porush targeting single women and excluding them from the job market?
Expatriate Israeli, new French national and "citizen of the world" Avrum Burg (pictured at left) is supporting Porush. (Burg would probably also look better with a cartoon character when he decides to return to Israeli politics)
Perhaps this sort of exclusion is a French thing?
I'm baffled.
Wherever I am, my blog turns towards Eretz Yisrael טובה הארץ מאד מאד
Now I understand why, even after condemning Zionism and declaring himself an atheist, Amrum Burg still hasn't taken his [teeny-tiny] kippa off:
ReplyDeleteHe's hoping for a job from Porush...
It seems that Porush is making different promises to different sectors i.e. what appears in the Chareidi fliers is not what appears in the Dati Leumi Shabbat handouts is not what appears in the secular papers. I figure there won't be a problem reconciling them the day after - he'll simply break all of his promises.
ReplyDeleteAlso, the best comments about Porush's cartoon character posters all seem to equate him with some type of Chareidi Santa Claus.
The promise-breaking only has to occur if he wins, of course.
ReplyDeleteWhy should ANY Jewish women who don't cover their hair be excluded from Jerusalem municipal jobs?
ReplyDeleteJameel, now I'm sure most of your readers will take Porush to task for giving out jobs based on favoritism (then again, is there a mayor that doesn't do this?). I think we should take this sign to task for being near impossible! How can you realistically expect every new job to be filled by someone the mayor wants? Can he tell all of the already hired chiloni municipal workers that they can only hire dati people?
ReplyDeleteI mean really, where is their sense of realism! I don't think there is anyway he can practically carry this out if elected.
Eliezer: Even if the flier doesnt 100% reflect the actual views of Porush, whoever DID give it out is living in fantasyland.
ReplyDeleteAll rather depressing.
I'd say "good thing I don't vote in the J-lem elections", but my own yishuv elections are just as pathetic (if not worse)
All jobs in the Jerusalem Municipality will be manned only by kippa wearing men and women with their hair covered
ReplyDelete[ie, only Orthodox/Ultra Orthodox religious people]
Not only them -- frum Arab Muslim women, too.
Why is Porush targeting single women and excluding them from the job market?
I'm sure Porush will allow single women to have a job if they are willing to wear his party's official String Bridge hats and potato sacks...
Perhaps this sort of exclusion is a French thing?
ReplyDeleteNah, it's an elitist thing.
"I'd say "good thing I don't vote in the J-lem elections", but my own yishuv elections are just as pathetic (if not worse)"
ReplyDeleteexplain please.
i like to hear about local israeli elections.
LoZ: My local elections are simply awful. I'm not even sure I'd want to post about them since they are so slimey.
ReplyDeleteTruth is, I dont even know yet who Im voting for...and the election is less than 12 hours away.
Well thank G-d Barkat won. Now I can get a job in the J'lem municipality. :)
ReplyDeleteSeeing that I am single, and therefore do not cover my hair.
But if I were married, would definitely find some head covering that blends well with my normal wardrobe.
Hmmm...is a scrunchy considered a head covering?
Gila: LOL!
ReplyDeleteWhat job would you want (if you could chose any) in the Jerusalem Municipality?