During the performance of the “Tzmeah” Chassidic week at the Jerusalem International Convention Center, the Ultra-Orthodox singer Yonatan Razal covered his eyes with a black masking tape as part of his special effort to avoid watching women dance in the audience.
Razel chose a controversial way to observe the so-called prohibition of looking at pubic hair, and so he showed up without announcing his attention. This behavior has received many negative reviews from the public, both in the secular sector and in the religious sector.
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This is the first time the most famous Haredi singer, Razel, performed in front of women with a cover on his eyes. A source in the production says Razel’s rabbi had instructed him not to sing in front of women in an open performance involving ticket sales.
Yonatan Razel’s sister, the musician Rika Razel, told Walla! Culture that she hopes her brother will not be boycotted now in the media and the secular public.
“It’s sad for me to see the gap between what he tried to do, which is actually giving women their respect,” he said. “It’s clear to me that this is what he tried to do,” said his sister. To humiliate women, I know Yonatan, he is the most sensitive person I know, he is the most respectful, and the reactions came from a proportion that has nothing to do with anything. ”
The 44-year-old won the Best Song of the Year Award from the Society of Authors, Composers and Music Publishers in Israel (ACUM) in 2013. He recently released his third album.
The production of the show stated: “The Tzamah events give a very respectable expression to the women, during two full days of performances and events for women, and during the entire performance Yonatan Razel appeared in front of the women with a candid face. At the foot of the stage were dancing circles of women, a personal decision, so as not to sit with open eyes in front of the dancing women.
Then he removed the cover and continued to appear normally. “Razel wants to say that he appears regularly and for years before women and respects them, and his actions should not be attributed any other significance yesterday.”
