Some in the chareidi community in Yerushalayim have come up with an original way for dealing with the nightly riots associated with Purim celebrations in certain neighborhoods. This year, they used dead fish against youngsters , and with the help of local police succeeded in keeping the area relatively quiet, after two tumultuous years. Each year on Purim, large crowds gather in the chareidi neighborhoods, including many shababnikim – chareidi teens who have dropped out of yeshiva and spend most of their
time on the street.
Residents have complained that in the last two years things have been getting out of hand during the Yom Tov, with shababnikim exhibiting “provocative and unruly behavior.”
The solution was ingenious: Placing stench bombs throughout the main streets in a bid to keep the crowds away from the neighborhoods. It also proved highly effective.
Shmuel Pfenheim, a spokesman for the chareidi community, described the phenomenon in a conversation with Ynet: “Many undisciplined young women from New York and around the world study in boarding schools in Yerushalayim and they come here…”
He also explained how the stench bombs were made:
“Thirty days before Purim, you take from the fisherman fish skin, heads, and various other parts that cannot be used for cooking, put them in a bottle with some water and place the bottles on rooftops under the boiling sun. On Purim eve, we spread the bottles in sensitive spots.”
According to Shmuel, “The boys can get over the stench, but the girls can’t stand it.”
And how do local residents cope?
“They know in advance not to go through certain streets… those who have to pass there do it quickly and without delay.”
Shmuel added that stench bombs have been used by the community in other mass events that draw unwanted youngsters, as well as in attempts to scare away “undesired residents who do undesired things.” He noted that his was a yerushalmi invention that could not be implemented in Bnei Brak “where the streets are very crowded and the stench goes up into the houses.”
{Ynet Report/Yair Alpert-Matzav.com Israel}
I guess that’s why mazal adar” DOGIM”