A couple of news items over the last few days have cast some interesting light on the similarities between Wahhabi Muslims in Saudi Arabia and Haredi Jews in Israel. Bnei Brak has one of the largest concentrations of Haredi ultra-orthodox Jews in Israel and the shopping centre, which has been purposely designed without coffee bars or a cinema, bans men from its second floor.
Clothes in the women-only department store upstairs carry "kosher" certificates, "declaring them sufficiently demure for ultra-orthodox women", the Times reported. All the mannequins are headless and there is a dearth of in-store posters because of the Torah's edict against any likeness of the human image. On the packaging for women's tights the human form has been discreetly hidden behind strategically placed stickers. The bedding department has only single beds because even married ultra-orthodox couples must sleep separately and refrain from sex at certain times of the month.
The lingerie section is also discreetly tucked away at the rear of the store and stocks colours no more racy than black, white or skin tones. There were complaints when one shop stocked pink-ish bras. The Times quoted one satisfied customer - a year-old woman - as saying: "I went to another Tel Aviv mall with my husband for the first time last week and there was so much sex.
It was horrible. My husband was shocked. It was the first and last time. We're delighted they finally opened a proper mall here. All this will sound remarkably familiar to residents of Saudi Arabia, where the authorities have spent decades trying - with varying degrees of success - to keep the sexes apart. One recent and amusing example is the account by Donna Abu-Nasr, a female reporter for the Associated Press, of her dining-out experience in Riyadh.
The inanities of the Saudi system certainly invite ridicule but somehow I can't imagine the Associated Press ever publishing a similarly mocking report about life in Bnei Brak. The difference, of course, is that in Saudi Arabia the Wahhabis have a "morality" police force to impose their lifestyle on everyone else, while in Israel the Haredis often run into opposition from more secular Jews. There were furious arguments recently when they tried to alter bus routes because of "the spiritual dangers" that might result from driving past Bar Ilan university.
