Yiddish Signs cause stir in Hasidic Community in Williamsburg - ABC7

WILLIAMSBURG, Brooklyn (WABC) -- Look hard enough and you will find signs in Yiddish placed on trees in Williamsburg's sprawling Hasidic community.

"It's the most visible spot. They just want people to see it," said Hersey Deutsch, a resident.

First though: the message translated.
"Dear Jewish daughter, please move aside when a man approaches," said Deborah Feldman, author, "This to me, to step aside for a man is instinctive behavior for me as a child, no one had to remind me."

Having grown up in the Hasidic community of Satmar and intimately knowing its religious customs and traditions, Deborah Feldman decided to leave.

It was an extremely rare choice two years ago.

Her upcoming memoir, "Unorthodox: The Scandalous Rejection of my Hasidic Roots" will soon come out.

"There is definitely more rebellion. There is definitely more young Hasidic people looking around and seeing they don't live like us, 'why do I have to live like this?'" Feldman said.

Thus a move by some, she thinks, to reinforce religious traditions, now with signs.

"I find that insulting. It definitely stings," Feldman said.

Hersey Deutsch has seen the signs.

"It's just an extra precaution. It's nothing. Somebody's taking things into their own hands, it doesn't speak for the community," Deutsch said.

Regardless of what the sign says, the Parks Department points out you cannot simply nail a sign to a tree. But the signs were not just nailed; they were bolted to the tree.

The Parks Department has taken some down, but others remain.

Sometimes they are barely noticed in the rush of life.

http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=news/local/new_york&id=8387729

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[USERNAMEfieldempty]

@Irritandarts I couldn't agree more. If one (and only one) of these groups of cranks really does have an exclusive, supportive, super-powerful God on their side, why do they all look the fucking same???

[Irritandarts]

@lazerbillin1 Oh yeah, because as long as YOU ONLY oppress the women and children of YOUR community everybody should be fine with it?

At least call it customs of oppression and be honest about it.

And that kitchen of yours, well too bad, it's on US soil and thus the constitution grants women equal rights to yours.

So no matter what language it's written in, I'm personally very offended by it!

[Irritandarts]

@USERNAMEfieldempty There should be one island where they should put all extremists of ALL religions together and just let them sort things out with each other, thus leaving everybody else the fuck alone and in peace!

[upuup]

@USERNAMEfieldempty Exactly.

[USERNAMEfieldempty]

If US muslims had put up a sign like this, FOX would have had the world's biggest aneurysm, but because these religious bigots are Jews, not Muslims, that's fiiiiiine.

[lazerbillin1]

It is written in yiddish to remind Jewish people that is why it is written in yiddish so not to offend anyone. Devorah (aka Sury Berkowitz) you are jewish but don't want to keep our customs that is why it is offending you. Stay out of Williamsburg, if you can't take the heat stay out of the kitchen.

[tellner]

Satmar give inbred, woman-hating, bigoted Bronze Age fucksticks a bad name