Jews offered blurry glasses to keep women out of sight

JERUSALEM — It’s the latest prescription for extreme ultra-Orthodox Jewish men 
who shun contact with the opposite sex: Glasses that blur their vision, so they don’t 
have to see women they consider to be immodestly dressed.

In an effort to maintain their strictly devout lifestyle, the ultra-Orthodox have 

separated the sexes on buses, sidewalks and other public spaces in their 

neighborhoods. Their interpretation of Jewish law forbids contact between 

men and women who are not married.

Walls in their neighborhoods feature signs exhorting women to wear closed-

necked, long-sleeved blouses and long skirts. Extremists have accosted women 

they consider to have flouted the code.

Now they’re trying to keep them out of clear sight altogether.

The ultra-Orthodox community’s unofficial “modesty patrols” are selling glasses 

with special blur-inducing stickers on their lenses. The glasses provide clear vision 

for up to a few meters so as not to impede movement, but anything beyond that 

gets blurry — including women. It’s not known how many have been sold.

For men forced to venture outside their insular communities, hoods and shields that 

block peripheral vision are also being offered.

The glasses are going for the “modest” price of $6... (the sign of the Beast). See 

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