Beis Yaakov Punishment: Say Tehillim.

One important position on my blog that I adopted last year was that I promote aliya, regardless of a person's individual stream of religious observance. I have Hareidi friends, feel comfortable walking around Mea Shearim, and while I don't own a black hat anymore, it certainly doesn't bother me.

There are many aspects of Hareidi, "ultra" orthodoxy that I admire.

However, the following story sent me to (hat-tip; Marcy) leaves me scratching my head.

Seven pupils at a Beit Ya'akov school in Netanya were punished after they stood up for the siren that sounded Monday in honor of Holocaust Memorial Day (Monday), Yediot Aharonot reported.

According to the report, the school principal removed the girls from their classroom and forced them to stand up for the rest of the day and read psalms.

In Haredi circles, using sirens and "moments of silence" to mark memorial holidays is considered a gentile custom and is discouraged.

Haredi rabbis often encourage their followers to recite psalms or other prayers silently during the siren.

These girls may have been saying tehillim quietly...but the fact that they stood up for the siren (Zionist adoption of "gentile practice") is why they were punished.

And their punishment? They were forced them to stand up for the rest of the day and read psalms...is that the sort of punishment/negativity about tehillim that Beis Yaakov wishes to impart to their students?

There are many ways the school can educate students about their philosophy of not standing up for a siren on Yom HaShoah, but to use tehillim as a punishment and "punishing" them in the first place will only make them want to rebel, adopt a negative attitude towards tehillim, and worst of all -- they will probably stand quietly again next year.


PS: A shout-out to Annie, who's brother is sitting next to me.

Wherever I am, my blog turns towards Eretz Yisrael