After Mishpacha Magazine published a picture of Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton on the front cover of its English edition, Hamodia Israel, wrote an editorial,
Israelnationalnews
Traditionally, haredi news outlets do not publish pictures of women, as doing so is not considered modest.
"True haredi newspapers never have and never will publish pictures of women, even if they are in leadership positions," wrote Hamodia in their editorial. "Jews have their own view of everything that happens, especially when the subject is as important as elections. In the eyes of Jews, the US is definitely a 'kingdom of kindness' in our days and deserves recognition and appreciation for that."
Hamodia also claims the US government is doing as much as it can to ensure that political standings are in accordance with Jewish law.
"They understand that the fact we won't publish a picture of the Democratic candidate on the front page of haredi newspapers does not mean we don't support her, but rather stems from the fact we keep Jewish law," said Hamodia.
Last Thursday, Mishpacha Magazine published a picture of Hillary Clinton on the front page of their weekly English-language magazine. Even though the picture was a slightly shadowed profile, it angered the rest of the haredi media, since Mishpacha is considered to be a haredi publication. Its American edition is not the same as the Hebrew one that appears in Israel and has a different editorial board.
Mishpacha's English staff responded, "The Mishpacha English magazine follows the spiritual guidance of important haredi Torah figures in the US. Every decision is made after speaking with the spiritual committee of communal rabbis in America, and that is why we decided to publish the picture in the fashion we did."
Except, of course, that despite what many chareidim say, not publishing a picture of a woman is a chumra, NOT halacha! Hamodia can jump up and down and dance until the moon falls from the sky, but it won't change the fact that a chumra is not halacha.
ReplyDelete