He tried to interview the usual Neturei Karta crowd, who refused to speak to him because they didn't want to speak into a microphone on Shabbat. (Their leader told him this...on the microphone.)
.png)
I was more interested in their signs.
Carrying anything outside an "eruv" (enclosure) on Shabbat is strictly prohibited, but wearing clothing is permitted (obviously.) They "wear" the signs as if they are ponchos, with a hole in the middle for their heads.
.png)
Almost certainly not. No one would consider signs to be real clothing, even if "worn," and clothing is only permitted when it is used for the normal purposes of clothing: protection/warmth, decoration or modesty. "Decoration" is for jewelry and the like. These signs cannot be considered decoration, as no normal person wears anything looking like them.
So I cannot see a possible leniency that would allow these "religious Jews" to publicly profane the Sabbath. They are doing the equivalent of carrying something by putting it on a string, typing it around one's neck and calling it a "necklace" just to be able to carry it.
A more interesting question is the one Friedman asked them - how they came to Manhattan. They almost certainly didn't walk from Williamsburg, and in fact they probably couldn't cross the bridge on Shabbat. This means that they are staying in hotels or rent an apartment in Manhattan, both of which are quite expensive. So who is bankrolling them?
Given their meetings with the leaders of the Palestinian Authority, Iran, Hamas and Hezbollah, it seems likely that at least some of their funding comes from antisemites.
|
"He's an Anti-Zionist Too!" cartoon book (December 2024) PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism (February 2022) |
 |
Buy