The "Haredi burqa sect" (Hebrew:נשות השָאלִיםNeshót haShalím,lit. 'shawl-wearing women') is a community ofHaredi Jews that ordains the full covering of a woman's entire body and face, including her eyes, for the preservation of modesty (tzniut) in public. In effect, the community asserts that a Jewish woman must not expose her bare skin to anyone but her husband and immediate family. The garment in question, known as ashal (שָאל,lit. 'shawl'), is also referred to as afrumka—a portmanteau of theYiddish-language wordfrum and theArabic-language wordburqa.[citation needed] The Haredi burqa sect, with an estimated population of several hundred people as of 2011[update], is primarily concentrated inIsrael, and particularly in the Israeli city ofBeit Shemesh. TheseHaredim rarely leave their homes; the married women who do come out in public are accompanied by their daughters, who also don long robes.[citation needed]
In both Israel and theJewish diaspora, the Haredi burqa sect is controversial, even among the broader Haredi community itself. Several notable Haredi religious organizations, including theJerusalem-basedEdah HaChareidis, have issued strong and vocal statements condemning the burqa sect's radical tenets with regard to women's clothing.
Thefrumka as a mode of dress for Haredi women was initiated by Bruria Keren, an Israeli religious leader who taught a strict (byOrthodox standards) interpretation of Jewish scripture for female adherents. Keren, who covers herself in several layers of clothing, claimed that covering women was originally a Jewish tradition, and that she had seen a 400-year-old picture of Jewish women covered from head to toe.[1] There are alsoSephardic women who claim that their mothers covered their bodies entirely, so that their figures could not be discerned. One sect member is reported to have explained that she was "following these rules of modesty to save men from themselves. A man who sees a woman's body parts is sexually aroused, and this might cause him to commit sin. Even if he doesn't actually sin physically, his impure thoughts are sin in themselves." The religious group, which was estimated to number around 100 in 2008 and may have grown to several hundred as of 2021[update],[2] is concentrated inBeit Shemesh, but also has followers inSafed andJerusalem. The majority of the women came fromsecular backgrounds.[3][4]
Keren does not speak in front of men, and has taken on variousascetic practices. During her prison term, she was hospitalized several times for malnutrition and other maladies as a result of her refusal to eat provided food.[5] Some members of the group reportedlydo not believe in vaccination or modern medicine. On February 8, 2013, one woman's baby allegedly died from untreated flu, with the parents then fleeing the law. On another occasion, a newborn baby had to be taken to a hospital by force, after the mother refused to go to a hospital to give birth to avoid contact with hospitals and physicians.[6] Other cases ofchild abuse and neglect have been reported within the group.[7]
TheIsraeli press has adopted the informal epithet "Taliban mothers" to refer to the followers of Keren's teachings on modesty.[8] According toMiriam Shaviv, the estimated 100 "gullible and needy" Jewish women, for whom Keren was a holy woman, were not forced but convinced by Keren "that the ideal for a woman was not to be seen in public (and not even to be heard – she used to stop talking for days on end). Negating themselves, she was telling them, making themselves invisible, was the height offrumkeit, while, in fact, it has no basis whatsoever inhalachah".[9] TheIsrael National Council for the Child has requested that theWelfare Ministry and Social Affairs investigate the matter and ensure this behavior is not harmful to the girls.[3]
The response by otherUltra Orthodox schools has been stronger than the rest of the public, and is characterized by consternation, particularly against theshal garment.[3] An anonymouspashkevil condemning the "cult" of "epikoros" women was posted inJerusalem in September 2011. TheEdah HaChareidis issued an edict declaring the act of wearing the shawl to be asexual fetish as deviant as scant clothing or nudity. "There is a real danger that by exaggerating, you are doing the opposite of what is intended, [resulting in] severe transgressions in sexual matters", explains Edah member Rabbi Shlomo Pappenheim. The religious court ofBeit Shemesh issued a sharp condemnation of the group, and warned Jewish women and girls not to be drawn after them or follow their customs.[10]
People in Beit Shemesh, including some of the most religiously radical ultra-Orthodox sects, themselves considered this sect to be zealous to the point of ridicule.[4] EvenSikrikim came out against the phenomenon of wearing veils, which they consider extreme. The women were regularly ostracized and humiliated by localHaredim because of their clothing. "We pulled them off buses and yelled at them, 'Desecrators ofGod's name!'", one inhabitant said.[4] The movement has caused severe distress among the women's husbands and relatives, though most husbands endure it. Some men accuse the covered women of being immodest, because they draw more attention to themselves with their unusual dress.[1][3] One man pleaded with arabbinical court for a ruling to force his wife to stop wearing the burka. The court instead ruled the woman's behaviour so "extreme" and ordered the couple to undergo immediatereligious divorce.[10]
In 2014, Israeli police shot a member of the sect after she had walked into theWestern Wall area without stopping at a security checkpoint. She survived, and was taken to hospital for treatment.[11]
Yair Nehorai, an Israeli lawyer who has represented individuals involved in the "Taliban Mother" case and other ultra-Orthodox extremists, has written a book loosely based on the real-life "Taliban Mother" case.[12] The book,Taliban Son, has been released in Hebrew and in a German translation.
Another Haredi group which requires female adherents to wear Islamic-style veils is theLev Tahor cult ofIsraeli-Canadian rabbiShlomo Helbrans.[13] However it is not a "burqa" sect in the strictest sense as its women instead wear thechador and show their faces. AMessianic claimant andfaith healer fromTel Aviv namedGoel Ratzon reportedly lived with 32 women who neighbors said "wore modest clothing that neighbors likened to those of religious Muslims" before he was arrested.[14]