most of the dead and wounded in the shooting at the religious gathering in Lag Ba’omer, Mount Meron, Upper Galilee, during the lighting of the bonfire by the current rabbi, came from the ultra-Orthodox group of Toldot Aharon.
The community ultraortodosse
The group, which is headquartered in Jerusalem, is considered to be the best organized and cohesive among those who compose the community, the israeli haredi, a current of judaism that applies more strictly to the precepts of the Torah. Like other congregations, they have curls (peot) on the sides of their faces to comply with the precept not to shave their hair on their temples.
The position in relation to zionism
Any kind of intervention in the internal affairs of the group and is considered a total usurpation of the belief system of the community, explains ilJerusalem Post.
The congregation hasidic opposes zionism, because Israel will return to only exist after the coming of the Messiah. His followers do not even do military service.
History
the group was founded in Jerusalem by Rabbi Aharon Roth in 1928 as an offshoot of Satmar, a Hasidic movement that originated in Hungary. In 1942, shortly before Nazi Germany invaded Hungary, Roth and his followers fled Europe to Palestine.
The tragedy in Israel: over 45 dead to the religious gathering of Mount Meron
Israel, the crowd at the religious gathering: 45 dead. The reconstruction of the tragedy
the night of The bonfire and the kabbalah: what is the jewish holiday of Lag Ba Omer
photos of the tragedy in Israel: dozens of the faithful crushed to the religious gathering
district in the centre of Jerusalem
Today, the followers of Toldot Aharon live at the center of Jerusalem, in the neighborhood of Mea Shearim, and have erected barriers to social and cultural to protect their community from the lively secularism of Jaffa Road and Ben-Yehuda Street, less than a kilometer away.
The rigid dictates of the Toldot Aharon
Roth, who died in 1947, and has therefore initiated the tradition, still present today, that every male member of the congregation, signing a contract that obliges him and his family to meet the strict dictates of Toldot Aharon. Clothing, costumes and even the way in which the hassidim spend their free time are carefully regulated and between them there is a strong cohesion. On the contrary, the outside world, especially everything affiliated with Zionism, is described by the group as “dark and evil.”
