'Speak quietly': Ashdod rabbis call for restrictive rules for women on public transport

Haredi rabbis in Ashdod put up fliers across the city, calling to introduce new rules for women in the port town with an emphasis on modesty, N12 reported on Tuesday.

The fliers stated, "In these hard times when we need the grace of the heavens to protect us from our enemies from within and without, we wish to raise concerns regarding women's behavior and the laws of modesty."

רבנים ואדמו"רים באשדוד: "אסור לנשים לדבר בקול בתחבורה ציבורית"https://t.co/bzdH0EuCT1 | @avivitmy pic.twitter.com/8H5umHu78o

— החדשות - N12 (@N12News) August 13, 2024

In their statement, the rabbis wrote and signed three new rules. The first rule stresses that a woman above the age of nine is prohibited from using scooters, and electric scooters in particular, citing that such conduct is immodest.

In the next rule, the rabbis urge establishment owners to comment on a woman's clothing and to condition employment with haredi-appropriate modest clothing.

Finally, the rabbis complained about women talking loudly in public areas and wished to remind them that in public places with other people, they should maintain modesty and speak more quietly.

Response from haredi feminist activist

Haredi women's rights activist Tzippy Lavi, Head of Government Relations for Nivcharot condemned the letter on X, formerly Twitter.

לזה קמו נשות אשדוד הבוקר,אחרי שאמרתם שרק קיצונים באים לצעוק על קופאיות במכולת, אחרי שכבר דחקתם את הנשים לירכי האוטובוס, אחרי שכבר אסרתם על נשים לנהוג ברכב (כמובן כל אלו - בלי שום הצדקה הלכתית)הנה בא מכתב רבנים ולוקח את כל זה צעד נוסף אחורה: מהיום אסור לנסוע גם לא בקורקינט או… pic.twitter.com/rqk04mw0oa

— ציפי לביא (@tzippylavi) August 7, 2024

"After you said that only extremists shout at cashiers in the grocery store, after you already pushed women to the back of the bus, after you already banned women from driving cars (of course, all of this without any halachic justification), here comes a rabbinical letter taking it a step further: From today, it's forbidden for women to ride scooters or go-karts, they are not allowed to talk on the bus, not even in the back, and shop managers? They have to fire the "immodest" female employees," Lavi stated.

"Processes. Escalation. This is how it happens," she added.

Nivcharot is the first and only haredi feminist organization in Israel. It aims to promote the status and rights of ultra-Orthodox women and their inclusion in political processes and positions of power, according to its website.

In the past, similar notices have been published in Jerusalem and Bnei Brak, that women cannot ride at the front of a bus.