Editor – Joel Katz
Employment among ultra-Orthodox men has
increased by 7% in the past two years, according to the Bank of Israel.
In 2011, 45% of Haredi men had jobs, compared
with 38% in 2009, according to the central bank's research department, which
processed raw data from the Central Bureau of Statistics.
The glue
of Israeli society, the experience shared by most men and women over the age of
18, is service in the army. And yet, until recently, a growing slice of
Israel’s population hasn’t been part of that experience.
Haredi men
in the Shachar program train for a combat support corps specializing in
teleprocessing and communications.
It is a
tradition rooted early in the state of Israel’s history for Haredi men to
continue yeshiva study rather than serve in the army, but in recent years, a
program called Shachar has been working with both the army and interested
members of the Haredi community to enable these men to serve in a way that is
conducive to their religious and familial obligations.
Despite the rapid increase in the employment rate
of haredi men, their participation in the business sector is still relatively
low compared to other Jews, the report said.
Haredi employees work fewer hours than other Jews, which reduces their wages and makes it more difficult to lift their households above the poverty line, it said.
Haredi employees work fewer hours than other Jews, which reduces their wages and makes it more difficult to lift their households above the poverty line, it said.
Analysis of changes in employment patterns of haredim are
complicated by the difficulty in defining the haredi community in
official figures and surveys.
A haredi household is defined as one in which a person
studied or studies in a yeshiva. The problem is exacerbated because in response
to pressure to encourage haredi men to work, some men are seeking a
higher education at an institution that is not yeshiva.
The Bank of Israel
stated that the figures might be inflated due to the identification method of
haredi households used by the survey.
In the late 1990s, then-Finance Minister
Avraham Shochat tried to pass a law in the Knesset taxing large inheritances.
The bill was opposed by many of Israel's rich, and that was understandable.
But one day, Shochat received a phone call from
a United Torah Judaism MK, who told him, "We opposed it, too."
"What do you have to do with
inheritances?" the surprised Shochat asked. "After all, you represent
people who have a hard time making ends meet, and they certainly don't have
millions."
The MK responded: "In our circles, it's
accepted practice for the parents to give every young married couple an
apartment."
"How's that possible?" Shochat
shouted. "After all, you have eight children on average. Where does all
the money come from?" "Don't ask about what is beyond your
comprehension," said the religious MK, undoubtedly with a smile on his
face. The tax was not imposed.
We believe that the majority of
Beit Shemesh residents are moderates, wishing to live peacefully side by side.
Indeed, many – including a significant number of Haredim – see value in living in a heterogeneous community.
The willingness of the moderate majority to act in various ways to advance a vision of a city that is home to all its communities is an important key to the flourishing of the city.
Indeed, many – including a significant number of Haredim – see value in living in a heterogeneous community.
The willingness of the moderate majority to act in various ways to advance a vision of a city that is home to all its communities is an important key to the flourishing of the city.
A few years ago I began to notice female
faces being blurred out of advertisements in magazines.
I thought it was crazy, but I did nothing about
it. I am sure many others had the same reaction but did nothing.
Now we have reached a situation where women
are not even in posters, women are pushed to the back of buses and it has even
become the norm that women are screamed or spat at because of how they are
dressed.
We have all been bothered by many things for
a long time, but no one has done anything about it.
Deep inside haredi
society, a secret sub-community of unknown size leads a double life, its
members facing complex, sometimes insurmountable dilemmas.
Some fear losing the
family they have built. Others are concerned about how the family they were
born into would react.
Others yet fear losing
the jobs they hold in the haredi sector, dreading the meager prospects they
might face in the outside world. Many lack the education and Western life
skills. Most don't speak English, and some speak nothing but Yiddish.
[Purim] A third
hotline reported that Shas spiritual leader Rabb iOvadia Yosef announced he has
wronged MK Chaim Amsellem by removing him from the party, and invited him to
rejoin its ranks. The decision supposedly was based on a dream he dreamt.
Amsellem, who collaborated with the jokers, went
on the air to declare his rejection of the invitation, calling the faction
"corrupt."
Lev Tahor
came into being in the mid-1980s in Jerusalem. In the early 1990s it followed
Rabbi Helbrans to the ultra-Orthodox enclave of Williamsburg in Brooklyn, and
from there to the town of Monsey, upstate in Rockland County. About a decade
ago, the community settled permanently in the Canadian town of Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts,
Quebec.
Throughout
this time, the name of the community – and especially that of its leader – was
associated with various scandals, including some that reached the courts or
were the subject of police investigations in the United States and Israel.
Prominent haredi
rabbis, Aharon Yehuda Leib Shteinman and Chaim Kanievsky, have instructed their
pupils living in the south, who have been away over the weekend, to not return
home until the escalating situation finally calms down.
In response to the many questions they received
in recent days, both rabbis reached the same conclusion on Sunday: Until the
danger passes, the situation in the south falls under the Jewish principle of
"life-saving," therefore they must avoid the dangerous location.
Efrat Daniel, an
18-year-old from Dimona, has been sitting at home for the past three months
instead of going to the Shalhevet HaDarom High School in the city.
The reason: The institution has declared that Efrat's decision to work at a fast food chain alongside members of the opposite sex is against the school code.
The reason: The institution has declared that Efrat's decision to work at a fast food chain alongside members of the opposite sex is against the school code.
The school blames the
student's parents for not committing to the school's modesty code and for
showing disdain for the situation.
The student claims that her return to school was tied to a condition – that she attend a seminar for girls after graduation, something which would prevent her from going to national service.
The student claims that her return to school was tied to a condition – that she attend a seminar for girls after graduation, something which would prevent her from going to national service.
Rabbi Ratzon Arusi, a
member of the Chief Rabbinate and Rabbi of the city of Kiryat Ono, said on
Tuesday that a law prohibiting the courts to discuss issues related to the
sanctity of the people of Israel should be enacted.
His remarks came after the family court in Tel Aviv deciced to recognize a lesbian couple as mothers of a child.
His remarks came after the family court in Tel Aviv deciced to recognize a lesbian couple as mothers of a child.
The most
divisive issue pertains to the national religious community's attitude toward
the State of Israel, and the concept of mamlachtiyut, which refers to
nonpartisan patriotism and selfless commitment to the state.
Pupils
of Rabbi Zvi Yehuda Kook are locked in a debate about when it is permissible to
reject the bonds of mamlachtiyut, and adopt a different, rebellious attitude
toward the State of Israel.
By Yair Ettinger and Zafrir Rinat www.haaretz.com March 8, 2012
By Yair Ettinger and Zafrir Rinat www.haaretz.com March 8, 2012
Rabbi
Haim Druckman, a leading religious-Zionist rabbi who until last month headed
the Conversion Authority, and Azaria Alon, one of Israel's earliest
environmental activists, are the winners of this year's Israel Prize for
lifetime achievement, Education Minister Gideon Sa'ar announced yesterday.
Rabbi Haim Druckman,
dean of Ohr Etzion Yeshiva, chairman of Bnei Akiva Yeshivot and a leading
figure in the national-religious community, will be awarded the Israel Prize
for contributions to education and society, Education Minister Gideon Sa’ar
announced on Wednesday.
Druckman, who also served as director of the State Conversion Authority from 1990 until February of this year, will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award for special contribution to state and society.
The Israel Prison Service plans to test a
treatment program for prisoners convicted of political corruption, according to
the head of the Prisoner Rehabilitation Authority, the statutory body that
helps set standards for prisoner releases.
The PRA requested that such a program be
instituted following the statements made by former Shas minister Shlomo Benizri
after his early release from prison last week.
"If Shlomo Benizri had been any other
prisoner, he would have been returned to prison or at least warned after making
such comments," said PRA director Dr. Haim Iluz-Ayalon.
And now
Shlomo Benizri, the former minister and Knesset member who swore on the Bible
to remain faithful to the State of Israel and its laws, the man who was
convicted by the Jerusalem District Court and whose conviction was upheld by
the Supreme Court, has no sooner been released from his prison cell than he
began to lash out.
The Tel Aviv Bnei
Akiva branch is offering its members a "kosher" alternative to the
city's many extravagant Purim parties.
...The branch will
therefore be transformed into a trendy nightclub with a D.J playing every type
of music all provided by a professional production company. However no alcohol
will be served and dancing will remain separate for boys and girls.
Religious Students at the National School for
Engineers in Haifa succeeded in getting a lesson postponed, originally
scheduled at a time that would have prevented them from hearing the Megillah
reading for the Purim holiday.
According to the national-religious Kipa news
website, the institute’s administration initially refused to cancel the lesson,
despite the student’s protestations.
Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has recently conveyed a message to Supreme Court
Justice Salim Joubran saying he supports his decision not to sing the national
anthem at the judges' swearing-in ceremony about two weeks ago, Haaretz has learned.
See also: CARTOON
An Israeli short film by Amos Gitai is to be
part of an international project in which 10 leading directors will make movies
about religion.
The Israeli movie, called "Book of
Amos," is now being shot in Tel Aviv.
Israeli politicians
seeking election are used to wooing rabbis and other religious leaders asking
for their blessing and – more importantly – for the support of their followers
at the ballot box.
But in France – where
the separation of state and church is sacrosanct – such instances are rare.
Which is why the meeting on March 2 between would-be French parliamentarian
Valerie Hoffenberg and Rabbi Yaakov Ifargan, an influential mystic from Netivot
with a large following among French Jews, was unusual.
Editor – Joel Katz
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