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Religious Violence 75

Desecrating the Shabbat in Order to Sanctify it

Ultra-Orthodox demonstrations in Jerusalem fit into a larger pic­ture of violence by members of that community. Although such violent demonstrations are evidently in pursuit of political and material gains, leaders of the Ultra-Orthodox community always adduce the halakhic concepts of preserving the Sabbath and observing the Torah to explain them.

Does halakhah really sanction such violent demonstrations? To answer this question we must clarify whether demonstrations by the ultra-Orthodox themselves constitute desecration of the Sabbath . If they do, we must determine whether it is permitted to desecrate the Sabbath in order to preserve its sanctity and whether these demonstrations expand the circle of Sabbath observance among non-Orthodox Jews .

Unfortunately, there is no escaping the conclusion that the ultra-Orthodox campaign to defend the Sabbath in Jerusalem and elsewhere in Israel involves public desecration of the Sab­ bath . The battle to increase Sabbath observance has actually increased Sabbath desecration. Violence has become an insepa­rable part of the Sabbath demonstrations and a normal method of applying massive pressure to achieve the objectives of the ultra-Orthodox leadership with regard to many other issues. On | weekdays, too, there have been violent disturbances over archae­ological excavations or“pornographic” pictures on bus shelters, | assaults on peaceful citizens who were minding their own busi­|1ess, and even the desecration of graves.

| Asurvey of the media indicates how deeply rooted in these

| circles is the use of violence as a means of persuasion. Bottles and |Tocks have been hurled at policemen in downtown Jerusalem

| from time to time; the“sport” of stoning traffic on the suburban

| Ramot road went on for four full years. Nor has this Sabbath

! Violence been limited to the capital. On the mall in Haifa , too, a large group of ultra-Orthodox ruffians beat up three journalists Who had come to observe a mass prayer rally.

In the spring of 1984, the chief rabbi of Petah Tikvah , speaking at the end of a mass rally on behalf of Sabbath observance, called for action against the public desecration of the Sabbath by a local

| coffee house. The result, according to media reports, was that ultra-Orthodox demonstrators, led by their rabbi,“ripped off the Metal door and forced their way inside. Fistfights quickly devel­