Public Space Usurped: A Journey of Harassment, Nudity, and Shouting at the Jerusalem Hills Springs

The clear springs scattered throughout the Jerusalem hills, which have always been a center of nature and tranquility for travelers from all walks of life, have recently been turning into a scene of violent confrontations, sexual harassment, and a sense of unbridled lawlessness.

Travelers who come to refresh themselves in the spring waters find themselves in the heart of an "occupied territory," where groups of men strip completely naked in the middle of the public space, demand that those present avert their eyes, and in some cases even resort to physical violence against those who dare to protest. The accumulating testimonies reveal a reality in which morality and law remain outside the water, while women and families are blatantly excluded from nature that belongs to everyone.

One of the first to warn about the phenomenon was Rabbanit Rachel Reinfeld-Wechtfogel, who posted about the issue on Facebook:

"Enough with the sexual harassment at the springs. Let's call a spade a spade. This is not just 'chutzpah that they take over our springs when they bathe naked' - this is sexual harassment. Our daughters, and our sons, and we ourselves, should not have to be exposed to a naked man before our eyes, which could cause significant mental trauma that will continue to accompany the victim."

"From what I have read, it is difficult to define this as a criminal offense if an intentional sexual act towards the other person has not been proven. So there is no choice but to act ourselves against this shocking phenomenon. I am opening a thread of suggestions here, please - realistic suggestions. Starting: lower your gaze and do not move from the spot, pick up a camera and film. Publish the picture of the offender on the networks. Move away from the person and get close to his belongings, stand next to them and demand his name in exchange for releasing the belongings. What else?".

In response to the post, a user named Sarah Pepperman said: "I remember accompanying a trip of one of my daughters to Nebi Samuel. They were in fourth grade. There is a spring under a tree there, and the girls were wading in the water. Suddenly a group of guys came, stripped completely, and went in to bathe. We quickly gathered the girls and ran away from there, but the damage was certainly already done. Behavior that does not fit for me with the endless preaching of modesty."

A., a resident of the Mevaseret Zion area who visits the springs regularly, describes a difficult feeling of frustration with the attempt to frame the events as a sectoral conflict.

"It is terribly frustrating that it is being taken there. It is not about religious and secular at all," she explains, and adds with pain that it is "another way to commit a great desecration of God's name."

According to her testimony, those bathers appropriate the public space for themselves and treat it as their private home just because they bathe there even on winter days.

"How is this appropriation even legitimate, that everything is theirs and you are a guest now. What crazy immodesty. It is really impossible to understand it," she says.

A. emphasizes that this exposure is harassment in every sense, which prevents her from basic freedom of movement because of the fear of encountering difficult sights with her children and grandchildren.

Another testimony from traveler H., who encountered the phenomenon at springs near Ein Karem during the periods of Chol HaMoed and Bein HaZmanim, reveals an inconceivable gap between the religious appearance and the behavior on the ground. She tells of Haredi families who arrived at the spring, when the men entered the water in minimal clothing (boxers) in front of strange women, while their wives were careful to wear modest clothing covering their elbows and collarbones.

"It was embarrassing to the extreme. We in our home do not walk around like that. They strip next to strange girls and women," she describes. According to her, although in Haredi vacation forums there is a theoretical consensus that this is wrong, in practice it is a "common practice" that no one stops.

This gap raises poignant questions about the spiritual essence of the immersion. A. wonders what the value of an act that is supposed to symbolize purity is when it is done while causing severe harm to others.

"What is your immersion worth if it comes in such a way of causing grief to other people?," she asks.

According to her, men take off their white shirts and tzitzit, which testify to them as people of Torah, and remain completely naked in front of passersby.

"What kind of prayer is this? Is this a kosher prayer? Is it allowed to bless on such an immersion? I don't think so," she says, and adds that such behavior is simply "not kosher" and harms the Torah world mortally.

This reality is made possible, among other things, due to what appears to be the helplessness of the enforcement authorities. Galit Etzion, who raised the issue on social networks, described how the police officers who were called to the scene refused to go down to the spring and demanded that the complainants come to them. In one case, one of the harassers even confidently threw at Etzion that "from their point of view, the police will not control there."

In light of the situation, Etzion and her partners in the struggle are calling on the public not to remain indifferent and to take collective action.

"What will help with these people is not the police and not the army, but the organization of citizens," they say. According to them, if security is not returned to the Jerusalem springs already now, the phenomenon may spread to other public spaces throughout the country.