The Sikrikim or Sikarikim (Hebrew: סיקריקים) are an extremist group of radical
Haredi Jews
Haredi Judaism ( he, ', ; also spelled ''Charedi'' in English; plural ''Haredim'' or ''Charedim'') consists of groups within Orthodox Judaism that are characterized by their strict adherence to ''halakha'' (Jewish law) and traditions, in oppos ...
based mainly in the
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
i Haredi neighborhoods
Meah Shearim
Mea Shearim ( he, מאה שערים, lit., "hundred gates"; contextually, "a hundred fold") is one of the oldest Jewish neighborhoods in Jerusalem outside of the Old City. It is populated by Haredi Jews, and was built by members of the Old Yish ...
in
Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
and in
Ramat Beit Shemesh
Beit Shemesh ( he, בֵּית שֶׁמֶשׁ ) is a city located approximately west of Jerusalem in Israel's Jerusalem District, with a population of in .
History Tel Beit Shemesh
The small archaeological tell northeast of the modern city wa ...
. The
anti-Zionist
Anti-Zionism is opposition to Zionism. Although anti-Zionism is a heterogeneous phenomenon, all its proponents agree that the creation of the modern State of Israel, and the movement to create a sovereign Jewish state in the region of Palestine ...
group is thought to have roughly 100 activist members.
The Sikrikim gained international attention for acts of violence they committed against
Orthodox Jewish
Orthodox Judaism is the collective term for the traditionalist and theologically conservative branches of contemporary Judaism. Theologically, it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah, both Written and Oral, as revealed by God to Moses on M ...
institutions and individuals who would not comply with their demands.
Name
The name ''Sikrikim'' comes from ''
sicarii
The Sicarii (Modern Hebrew: סיקריים ''siqariyim'') were a splinter group of the Jewish Zealots who, in the decades preceding Jerusalem's destruction in 70 CE, strongly opposed the Roman occupation of Judea and attempted to expel them and th ...
'', a group of Jewish
Zealots
The Zealots were a political movement in 1st-century Second Temple Judaism which sought to incite the people of Judea Province to rebel against the Roman Empire and expel it from the Holy Land by force of arms, most notably during the First Jew ...
who attacked Romans and their Jewish sympathizers during the Roman occupation of
Judea
Judea or Judaea ( or ; from he, יהודה, Hebrew language#Modern Hebrew, Standard ''Yəhūda'', Tiberian vocalization, Tiberian ''Yehūḏā''; el, Ἰουδαία, ; la, Iūdaea) is an ancient, historic, Biblical Hebrew, contemporaneous L ...
using concealed daggers, ''sicae'' in Latin.
History
The Sikrikim began to appear in
Haredi
Haredi Judaism ( he, ', ; also spelled ''Charedi'' in English; plural ''Haredim'' or ''Charedim'') consists of groups within Orthodox Judaism that are characterized by their strict adherence to ''halakha'' (Jewish law) and traditions, in oppos ...
neighborhoods in 2005. In
Meah Shearim
Mea Shearim ( he, מאה שערים, lit., "hundred gates"; contextually, "a hundred fold") is one of the oldest Jewish neighborhoods in Jerusalem outside of the Old City. It is populated by Haredi Jews, and was built by members of the Old Yish ...
they are called the "Mafia of Mea Shearim" by some residents of the neighborhood.
They are considered to be loosely affiliated with the
Neturei Karta
Neturei Karta (Jewish Babylonian Aramaic: , , ) is a religious group of Haredi Jews, formally created in Jerusalem, then in Mandatory Palestine, in 1938, splitting off from Agudas Yisrael. Neturei Karta opposes Zionism and calls for a "pea ...
.
[Amoni, P. ''An Interview with Rav Shlomo Pappenheim''. Ami Magazine, September 2011]
Incidents
Use of Holocaust symbolism
On 31 December 2011, several hundred
Haredim
Haredi Judaism ( he, ', ; also spelled ''Charedi'' in English; plural ''Haredim'' or ''Charedim'') consists of groups within Orthodox Judaism that are characterized by their strict adherence to ''halakha'' (Jewish law) and traditions, in oppos ...
demonstrated in Jerusalem's
Kikar HaShabbat
Kikar HaShabbat ( he, כיכר השבת, lit., "Sabbath Square"), known in the Haredi community as Kikar HaShabbos, is a major intersection joining five streets in Jerusalem, Israel, between Mea Shearim and Geula: Yehezkel Street from the north, ...
(Sabbath Square), protesting against what they call "the exclusion of Haredim" from society. They specifically accused the "secular media" of bias in their coverage of both violent and non-violent acts of protest by Haredim with regard to allegedly immodestly clad women in public. They made use of Holocaust imagery, with some of the protesters wearing
yellow badge
Yellow badges (or yellow patches), also referred to as Jewish badges (german: Judenstern, lit=Jew's star), are badges that Jews were ordered to wear at various times during the Middle Ages by some caliphates, at various times during the Medieva ...
s, while others, including children, dressed in
concentration camp
Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simply ...
uniforms, claiming by way of analogy that they are being persecuted in Israel by the secular majority. At the same time, the protesters expressed their solidarity with Shmuel Weissfish,
a leading Sikrikim activist sentenced to two-years imprisonment for rioting, extortion, assault and grievous bodily harm,
whose sentence was slated to begin on 1 January 2012.
The use of Holocaust symbols at the demonstration made headlines in the international media, and was condemned by Israeli politicians.
Orot Banot Girls School
In September 2011, the
Religious Zionist
Religious Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת דָּתִית, translit. ''Tziyonut Datit'') is an ideology that combines Zionism and Orthodox Judaism. Its adherents are also referred to as ''Dati Leumi'' ( "National Religious"), and in Israel, the ...
Orot Banot Girls School opened in
Ramat Bet Shemesh. Many Haredim opposed the school's location and position on religion. Groups of Haredi men believed to be Sikrikim regularly stood outside the school on school days and taunted the students,
throwing eggs and rocks at them while claiming that the girls were immodestly dressed. The incidents attracted wide attention in Israel and became an international news story after an Israeli television channel reported about harassments against one of the girls.
Zisalek ice cream parlour
In October 2011, the Sikrikim vandalised a store selling
ice cream
Ice cream is a sweetened frozen food typically eaten as a snack or dessert. It may be made from milk or cream and is flavoured with a sweetener, either sugar or an alternative, and a spice, such as cocoa or vanilla, or with fruit such as str ...
in a Haredi neighborhood in Jerusalem. The store had set up signs asking men and women to be seated separately, and not to eat in public. The Sikrikim asserted that licking ice-cream cones was "immodest". They broke in one night and vandalised the store.
Or HaChaim bookstore
The Or HaChaim Bookstore in Meah Shearim, or "Manny's" as it is known in the neighborhood, was targeted in a series of vandalism incidents in which the Sikrikim took credit via posters hung outside the store. The posters opposed the bookstore's selling of "Zionist" material. The store's windows were smashed several times, and members of the group put glue in the store's locks and dumped bags of human excrement inside the store.
Rivalry with the Gerrer Hasidim
The Or HaChaim Center belongs to a chain of stores partly owned by Yaakov Bibla and
Yaakov Litzman
Yaakov Noach Litzman ( he, יַעֲקֹב נָח לִיצְמָן , born 2 September 1948) is an Israeli politician and former government minister. A follower of the Ger Hasidic dynasty, he heads Agudat Yisrael, part of the United Torah Judais ...
, both
Gerrer Hasidim,
with whom the Sikrikim have an ongoing rivalry in Jerusalem.
Gerrer Hasidim from the
Batei Warsaw neighborhood near Meah Shearim reported widespread harassment that had almost escalated into a street war, with people from Ger attacking Sikrikim out of vengeance.
The underlying issue seemed to be the large involvement and support that the Ger give to the state and government of Israel.
Response
The group has been denounced by several members of the
Knesset
The Knesset ( he, הַכְּנֶסֶת ; "gathering" or "assembly") is the unicameral legislature of Israel. As the supreme state body, the Knesset is sovereign and thus has complete control of the entirety of the Israeli government (with ...
, including
National Union Knesset Member
Yaakov Katz, who called them "terrorists".
When asked to comment or condemn them, Ramat Beit Shemesh Haredi rabbi
Chaim Malinowitz refused, saying that by issuing a public condemnation it would make it look as if they are connected, when "No man in his sane mind wouldn't condemn this, just like you wouldn't ask me to condemn
Madoff".
The group and its supporters were criticised by a number of Israeli politicians for using Holocaust symbolism (including yellow badges and
Concentration Camp
Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simply ...
uniforms) to call attention to what they call the exclusion of Haredim from Israeli society.
[ ]
Shas
Shas ( he, ש״ס) is a Haredi religious political party in Israel. Founded in 1984 under the leadership of Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, a former Israeli Sephardi chief rabbi, who remained its spiritual leader until his death in October 2013, it primarily ...
' spiritual leader
Ovadia Yosef
Ovadia Yosef ( he, , Ovadya Yosef, ; September 24, 1920 – October 7, 2013) was an Iraqi-born Talmudic scholar, a posek, the Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel from 1973 to 1983, and a founder and long-time spiritual leader of Israel's ultra-Orthodo ...
criticised the Sikrikim, saying that they "discredit the Torah".
Edah HaChareidis
The Charedi Council of Jerusalem ( he, העדה החרדית, ''haEdah haCharedit'', Ashkenazi pronunciation: ''ha-Aideh Charaidis'' or ''ha-Eido ha-Chareidis''; "Congregation of God-Fearers") is a large Haredi Judaism, Haredi Judaism, Jewish comm ...
, which has been accused by anti-Haredi activists of supporting the Sikarikim, routinely condemn them over their activities.
Arrests and trials
In January 2011, Shmuel Weissfish, a leading activist of the Sikrikim, and one of the assailants of the Space electronics store owner in Geula was sentenced to two years imprisonment for rioting, extortion, assault and grievous bodily harm by the Jerusalem
District Court. The sentence was upheld by the Supreme Court in November of the same year.
Hundreds of Haredim protested against his condemnation.
In September 2011, one of the heads of the Sikrikim considered responsible for harassing and vandalizing the Ohr HaChaim Bookstore was arrested by the police.
In November 2011, Yosef Meir Hazan, a member of the Sikrikim, was arrested in the
Geula
Geula ( he, גאולה lit. ''Redemption'') is a neighborhood in the center of Jerusalem, populated mainly by Haredi Jews. Geula is bordered by Zikhron Moshe and Mekor Baruch on the west, the Bukharim neighborhood on the north, Mea Shearim on ...
neighborhood by the Jerusalem Police on suspicion of causing public disturbances, damaging property and assaulting a police officer attempting to arrest him. In a video posted to YouTube, he is shown directing various demonstrations and violent activities against the Ohr HaChaim Bookstore in Meah Shearim and the Batei Warsaw complex in Geula, the focus of a violent struggle between the Sikrikim and the neighborhood's Ger Hasidim.
He was indicted and charged with one count of aggravated assault, one count of aggravated assault against a police officer, and rioting. The 21-year-old Hazan was released to house arrest at his aunt's residence, and was placed under the supervision of his aunt, his mother, and a rabbi.
References
External links
The attack on Manny's bookstore in JerusalemPolice move against SikrikimBeit Shemesh Anglos turning to Courts to Halt Haredi HarassmentBeit Shemesh shows Israel at a CrossroadsVideo of a fight breaking out in Meah Shearim with Sikrikim protesting Haredi involvement in government on Remembrance DaySecurity camera footage of some of the book store vandalism
{{Authority control
Haredi Judaism in Israel
Street gangs
Gangs in Israel
Jewish anti-Zionism in Israel
he:סיקריקים (קבוצה חרדית)