Eidah Hachareidis to Ban the Burka

The JC.com reports:

Now, the Eidah Hachareidis is about to apply its clout and try to quash the trend. The Eidah Hachareidis will soon release a statement condemning the practice of the Beit Shemesh women, Reb Shlomo Pappenheim, longtime spokesman of the Eidah Hachareidis,said.

The move was prompted by the husbands of some of the burka-wearing women, who last week asked the Eidah to take a stand.

The Eida’s decision coincides with a raging debate about banning the burka in Europe. Politicians in Belgium and France have voted in favour of bills to ban it, and other countries, including Italy, are considering similar legislation. In Britain Conservative MP Philip Hollobone has said that he would refuse to hold meetings with constituents if they attended in burkas.

There is also some interest in bans in the Arab world - Syria has just declared its universities burka-free zones. In Israel, Kadima MP Marina Solodkin is to introduce a proposal for a ban to Knesset.

Rabbi Pappenheim described the Jewish adoption of the burka as part of an “obsession.”

“We have got a Torah and we have got a tradition and these things were never allowed or demanded,” he said. “Cover the body, fine, but you would think them a sack of potatoes.”

The Eida is worried about the dynamics that result from face-covering and multiple-layering, added Rabbi Pappenheim.

“The Eida Charedit is very against it and sees in it a real danger that by exaggerating you are doing the opposite of what is intended…”

{The JC/Matzav.com Newscenter}