‘Haredim arrested for telling woman to sit in back of bus; riot ensues’

This really is the sort of thing that gets Judaism a bad name even though I feel sure there are plenty of admonitions against such behaviour in the Torah and elsewhere.

But it might be instructive at this point to make comparison between this incident concerning Israeli-Haredi interaction and the much wider aspects of Israeli-Palestinian relations.

Both sets of circumstances seem quite well able to resist whatever corrective measures are in place and prospects for any general improvement in each situation have long defied analysis or remedy. It all makes one wonder just what it will take to remove the many sources of contention embedded in the mindsets of all those involved.

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This may be the equivalent of using a sledgehammer to crack open a walnut but aren’t there times when it seems that nothing less will ever get the job done?

Some walnuts have very hard shells indeed and this can also be the case with people in general. So getting through to them is never the easiest thing to do. But it has to be done somehow. And if it is done, then Judaism and Islam might both be in much better shape soon afterwards.