Jewish ‘Burka Family’ Missing in Israel After Baby's Death

The hareidi-religious Eida Hareidit organization has joined others in an intensive search for a hareidi-religious family from Jerusalem that has gone missing following the death of an infant.

The disappearance of the family, reported in the hareidi-religious Kikar HaShabbat newspaper, has prompted the organization to post flyers in the central religious neighborhoods of the capital city.

The flyers call on ‘whoever knows of the family’s whereabouts to inform the Eida Hareidit at the order of Rabbi Yitzchak Tuvia Weiss.’

The missing family is one that belongs to the so-called “burka” sect, in which the women have started to imitate their Muslim neighbors in covering themselves entirely with garments that totally envelope their bodies.

The women wear several layers of clothing, long shawls and face coverings, resembling the burka garment worn by extremely observant Muslim women, particularly in the Middle East, Afghanistan and Northern Africa.

A baby born to the family died Friday of influenza (flu); the baby had apparently not received medical care, according to media reports.

Police visited the family home on Sunday following reports that a second young child was also suffering from the flu virus, but the family was no longer there.

Authorities have warned that if the child in question does not appear at a clinic or hospital to receive medical care in the near future, police officers will be forced to begin an intensive search for the family.