Rabbi Eliashiv declared war on the deaf!

[tddpirate]

Rabbi Eliashiv, an Haredi rabbi, issued a ruling forbidding schools under his control to admit children, whose parents are using non-"kosher" cellphones (cellphones with intact ability to use SMS, Internet and video).

This ruling adversely affects deaf people, who need to be in contact those parents due to reasons like:

1. They work with those parents

Comments

[anonymous]

Surely this dolt is contravening the Disability laws with this illegal "ruling" ?

http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts1995/Ukpga_19950050_en_4.htm#mdiv19

Yes, I know the above is a specific UK law BUT you must surely have something similar in force. He should be prosecuted for this.

A M

The situation is even worse

[tddpirate]

According to http://www.nrg.co.il/online/10/ART1/539/232.html, one of the criteria for being Haredi (ultra-orthodox) Jew is now avoidance of cellphones with functional SMS.

In other words, a deaf child born into an Haredi family will have to leave his community - he will be 2nd class citizen there, not only in his inability to participate in religious ceremonies, but also in his ability to lead a more or less normal lifestyle, to have a job, to have social life.

In addition, non-Haredi deaf people will have to avoid dealing with Haredi people in any way, which might require cellphones to be used.

This is akin to the hypothetical case of Jews, who were born with some metabolic deficiency requiring them to eat pork in order to survive. They personally would get an exemption due to "pikuach nefesh" and be able to eat pork. But they would face adverse responses from their surroundings, they would not be able to eat with their relatives and friends, they would not be able to cook for and invite their friends over for dinners.

Alexander Graham Bell was a Haredi Rabbi!!!

[anonymous]

Not only does this prove that Alexander Graham Bell was a Haredi Rabbi, but he also hated Deaf people- that's why he invented the telephone

Re: Alexander Graham Bell was a Haredi Rabbi!!!

[tddpirate]

I'll start with replying to your last line. It would be much more difficult for me to get a life if accessibility to jobs and social life is reduced due to difficulty in keeping in contact with people, who refuse to use text messages due to religious reasons

Re: Alexander Graham Bell was a Haredi Rabbi!!!

[anonymous]

Firstly, as I said- anyone can send text messages to a standard bezeq phone and have the messages read to them so you can still write your messages to a hearing Haredi boss, colleague, relative, or employee

Re: Alexander Graham Bell was a Haredi Rabbi!!!

[tddpirate]

Your arrogant reply overlooked or failed to address the following issues:

1. There are no Hebrew language TTYs.
2. What if the Haredi person is the one who needs to send a message to his deaf boss/co-worker/employee?
3. Even if a waiver is obtained for Haredi person in regular contact with a deaf person, what about the situation in which a random Haredi person needs to be in contact with a deaf person, due to one-time business or help or job search?
4. Even if an Haredi person gets a waiver, how will his children's Haredi school management know that the waiver is genuine and that his children are not to be thrown out of the school?

Bear in mind that my original posting was in response to Rabbi Eliashiv's directive to schools under his control not to accept children, whose parents use cellphones with SMS capability. No procedure for obtaining waiver for parents, who need to be in contact with the deaf, was publicized.