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Don' date Arab men: Rabbis wives to Jewish women
PTI
Last Updated IST

In a letter they asked Jewish women not to date Arabs, work in places where they are employed or volunteer for National Service with them.

This appeal comes close on the heels of a similar letter by Rabbis asking Jews not to rent apartments to non-Jews. The letter was distributed by the 'Lehava' organisation, which aims at "saving the daughters of Israel" from assimilation.

The group runs a shelter for Jewish women who have left their Arab partners and is calling for a boycott of a supermarket that employs Arab men and Jewish women.
Though parts of the letter refer to non-Jews in a generic way, other parts make it clear that the rabbis' wives are referring specifically to Arabs.

Prominent among the signatories include Esther Lior, the wife of Rabbi Dov Lior of Kiryat Arba, Nitzhia Yosef, the wife of Rabbi Yaakov Yosef of Jerusalem and daughter-in-law of Shas party's spiritual leader Rabbi Ovadia Yose.

"Don't date non-Jews, don't work in places where there are non-Jews, and don't perform national service together with non-Jews," the letter urges.

In some of the places where Jewish girls might work, like supermarkets or hospitals, "there are no few Arab workers who use a Hebrew name," it states adding, "Yusuf turns into Yossi, Samir turns into Sami and Abed turns into Ami. They seek your company, try to get you to like them, and give you all the attention in the world."

But the attention won't last, it warns saying, "as soon as you're in their hands, in their village, under their control, everything changes. Your life will never be the same, and the attention you sought will be replaced with curses, physical abuse and humiliation."

"Your grandmothers never dreamt that one of their descendent's would, by one act, remove future generations from the Jewish people. For you, for future generations, and so that you will never have to endure the terrible suffering, we appeal to you, begging, pleading, praying: Don't date them, don't work where they work and don't perform National Service with them," the Rabbis wives say.

The head of Israel's Reform Judaism movement harshly criticised the letter describing it as xenophobia.

"Israeli society is falling into a deep, dark pit of racism and xenophobia," Rabbi Gilad Kariv, who two weeks ago also vocally condemned a move by leading rabbis ruling to forbid the rental of homes to Arabs, said.

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(Published 29 December 2010, 19:14 IST)