There were other buses available with a quicker route, but she apparently chose to make trouble.

I would describe myself more as modern Orthodox and not charedi, but I am quite happy to accommodate other people's lifestyles if that keeps them happy. When in Rome do as the Romans . . .

I remember the first time I came across such buses when I was returning to Jerusalem from Beit Shemesh with my husband.

We sat in the front seats, having no idea that the bus had separate seating.

At the next stop, a gentleman got on and politely asked me to move because it was a mehadrin service.

We explained that we were visitors and were not sure exactly where we had to get off and so had to sit together.

The gentleman told us there would be no problem if we sat near the rear doors. We moved and noticed other couples sitting in the same part of the bus. Everything was done in a pleasant manner as I am sure is the case in the vast majority of such situations.

Only the other day I read a letter from Marian Propp, of Petach Tikva, in the Jerusalem Post which is worth quoting:

"I wish to relate an incident I witnessed a couple of weeks ago while on an early afternoon Egged mehadrin (gender-separate) bus from Ofakim to Bnei Brak.

"When I got on, a non-religious couple was sitting two or three rows behind the driver (now notoriously known as the 'men's section'). No one made any comment or fuss.

"I managed to get a seat, but the bus soon became crowded and a few young ladies were even sitting on the steps by the rear door.

"At one of the last stops before leaving Ofakim, a young, pregnant charedi women got on and worked her way to the back.

"One or two charedi men looked back to follow her progress and when they saw she had no seat, one approached the non-religious couple and seemed to make a deal.

"He then went back to the pregnant woman and told her to come forward, which she reluctantly did.

"He had arranged that the non-religious man would sit in his seat next to another man, one row behind, so that the pregnant women could sit next to the non-religious woman.

"The charedi man himself stood for the whole journey, about 90 minutes. This sort of event is never reported in the newspapers. Not everything is black and white."

Things only become heated when one side wants to provoke a confrontation and it could just as well be the woman as the man.

(Mrs) Kathy Jones,
10 East Heath Drive,
London.

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