A religious Jew has chosen jail over house arrest because he says the house arrest ankle bracelet violates Shabbat. I think this particular case illustrates what I've thought for years: If Gentiles left us alone, our own infighting would tear us apart. Case in point: The Haredi riots.
A haredi activist arrested for allegedly pummeling opponents during a violent turf war demanded an exemption this week from wearing a house-arrest monitor on Shabbat.
But a Jerusalem Magistrate's Court judge ruled that if the man does not wear the ankle bracelet monitor at all times, he must go to jail. As a result, Avraham Zarbiv, 24, who first made a name for himself in haredi circles by spearheading an angry and sometimes violent offensive against attempts to enlist yeshiva students in the IDF, was removed this week from house arrest and imprisoned because of his punctilious observance of the Jewish day of rest.
This man is definitely no angel. And yet, the Haredi are threatening riots if he goes to jail this weekend. This would be on top of the riot they threw when a security company arrived after he took the bracelet off.
Various rabbis have given their opinion on the legality of wearing a house arrest bracelet on Shabbat.
Rabbi Haim Kanyevsky, one of the most respected in the Lithuanian community, ruled by proxy that use of the monitoring system on Shabbat was prohibited.
Metzger, quoting Kanyevsky, Rabbi Moshe Yehuda Leib Landau, and Rabbi Tuvia Weiss, head of the Edah Haredit's Rabbinic Court, joined the opposition against the monitoring system. However, none of the rabbis explained why the Zomet Institute's halachic opinion was wrong.
In contrast, Zomet's Rosen explained why he permitted the use of the bracelet. "In the prisoner's house there is an electronic receiver that constantly receives broadcasts from the ankle bracelet," explained Rosen.
"The prisoner's movements do not activate anything. As long as the prisoner does not leave the perimeters of the house he remains within broadcast range of the electronic receiver and no alarm is activated. There is no difference between the ankle bracelet and any conventional battery-powered wrist watch."
I am far from an expert on Halacha, but it seems to me that in this respect, the Haredi don't have a leg to stand on. So to speak.
Good post, well put together. Thanks. I will be back soon to check out for updates. Cheers
I like your writing style genuinely loving this internet site .
As soon as I found this internet site I went on reddit to share some of the love with them.