![MORNING TORA READING](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ae/MORNING_TORA_READING.jpg)
Haredi Judaism ( he, ', ; also spelled ''Charedi'' in English; plural ''Haredim'' or ''Charedim'') consists of groups within
Orthodox Judaism
Orthodox Judaism is the collective term for the traditionalist and theologically conservative branches of contemporary Judaism. Theologically, it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah, both Written and Oral, as revealed by God to Moses on M ...
that are characterized by their strict adherence to ''
halakha
''Halakha'' (; he, הֲלָכָה, ), also transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Jewish religious laws which is derived from the written and Oral Torah. Halakha is based on biblical commandm ...
'' (Jewish law) and traditions, in opposition to modern values and practices.
Its members are usually referred to as ultra-Orthodox in English; however, the term "ultra-Orthodox" is considered pejorative by many of its adherents, who prefer terms like strictly Orthodox or Haredi.
Haredi Jews regard themselves as the most religiously authentic group of Jews,
although other
movements of Judaism disagree.
Some scholars have suggested that Haredi Judaism is a reaction to societal changes, including
political emancipation
Emancipation generally means to free a person from a previous restraint or legal disability. More broadly, it is also used for efforts to procure economic and social rights, political rights or equality, often for a specifically disenfranchis ...
, the ''
Haskalah'' movement derived from the
Enlightenment
Enlightenment or enlighten may refer to:
Age of Enlightenment
* Age of Enlightenment, period in Western intellectual history from the late 17th to late 18th century, centered in France but also encompassing (alphabetically by country or culture): ...
,
acculturation
Acculturation is a process of social, psychological, and cultural change that stems from the balancing of two cultures while adapting to the prevailing culture of the society. Acculturation is a process in which an individual adopts, acquires and ...
,
secularization
In sociology, secularization (or secularisation) is the transformation of a society from close identification with religious values and institutions toward non-religious values and secular institutions. The ''secularization thesis'' expresses the ...
, religious reform in all its forms from mild to extreme, the rise of the
Jewish national movements, etc. In contrast to
Modern Orthodox Judaism
Modern Orthodox Judaism (also Modern Orthodox or Modern Orthodoxy) is a movement within Orthodox Judaism that attempts to synthesize Jewish values and the observance of Jewish law with the secular, modern world.
Modern Orthodoxy draws on sever ...
, followers of Haredi Judaism segregate themselves from other parts of society to an extent. However, many Haredi communities encourage their young people to get a professional degree or establish a business. Furthermore, some Haredi groups, like
Chabad-Lubavitch
Chabad, also known as Lubavitch, Habad and Chabad-Lubavitch (), is an Orthodox Jewish Hasidic dynasty. Chabad is one of the world's best-known Hasidic movements, particularly for its outreach activities. It is one of the largest Hasidic group ...
, encourage
outreach to less observant and unaffiliated Jews and ''
hiloni
''Hiloni'' ( he, חִלּוֹנִי), plural ''hilonim'' ( he, חִלּוֹנִים; "secular"), is a social category in Israel, designating the least religious segment among the Jewish public. The other three subgroups on the scale of Jewis ...
m'' (secular Israeli Jews). Thus, professional and social relationships often form between Haredi and non-Haredi Jews, as well as between Haredi Jews and non-Jews.
Haredi communities are found primarily in
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
(12.9% of Israel's population),
North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...
, and
Western Europe
Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's countries and territories vary depending on context.
The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the ancient Mediterranean ...
. Their estimated global population numbers over 1.8 million, and, due to a virtual absence of
interfaith marriage
Interfaith marriage, sometimes called a "mixed marriage", is marriage between spouses professing different religions. Although interfaith marriages are often established as civil marriages, in some instances they may be established as a religiou ...
and a high
birth rate
The birth rate for a given period is the total number of live human births per 1,000 population divided by the length of the period in years. The number of live births is normally taken from a universal registration system for births; populati ...
, the Haredi population is growing rapidly.
Their numbers have also been boosted since the 1970s by secular Jews adopting a Haredi lifestyle as part of the
baal teshuva movement; however, this has been offset by
those leaving.
Terminology
![Haredi Judaism](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/96/Haredi_Judaism.jpg)
The term most commonly used by outsiders, for example most American news organizations, is ''ultra-Orthodox'' Judaism.
Hillel Halkin suggests the origins of the term may date to the 1950s, a period in which Haredi survivors of the Holocaust first began arriving in America.
However,
Isaac Leeser (1806–1868) was described in 1916 as "ultra-Orthodox".
''Haredi'' is a
Modern Hebrew
Modern Hebrew ( he, עברית חדשה, ''ʿivrít ḥadašá ', , '' lit.'' "Modern Hebrew" or "New Hebrew"), also known as Israeli Hebrew or Israeli, and generally referred to by speakers simply as Hebrew ( ), is the standard form of the He ...
adjective derived from the
Biblical
The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...
verb , which appears in the
Book of Isaiah
The Book of Isaiah ( he, ספר ישעיהו, ) is the first of the Latter Prophets in the Hebrew Bible and the first of the Major Prophets in the Christian Old Testament. It is identified by a superscription as the words of the 8th-century BC ...
(; its plural ''haredim'' appears in Isaiah )
and is translated as "
ne who
NE, Ne or ne may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* Neutral Evil, an alignment in the American role-playing game ''Dungeons & Dragons''
* New Edition, an American vocal group
* Nicomachean Ethics, a collection of ten books by Greek philosopher Ar ...
trembles" at the word of God. The word connotes an awe-inspired fear to perform the will of God; it is used to distinguish them from other Orthodox Jews (similar to the name used by Christian
Quakers
Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belief in each human's abil ...
to describe their relationship to God).
The word ''Haredi'' is often used in the
Jewish diaspora
The Jewish diaspora ( he, תְּפוּצָה, təfūṣā) or exile (Hebrew: ; Yiddish: ) is the dispersion of Israelites or Jews out of their ancient ancestral homeland (the Land of Israel) and their subsequent settlement in other parts of t ...
in place of the term ''ultra-Orthodox'', which many view as inaccurate or offensive,
[ Ayalon, Ami (1999). "Language as a barrier to political reform in the Middle East", '' International Journal of the Sociology of Language'', Volume 137, pp. 67–80: "Haredi" has none of the misleading religious implications of "ultra-Orthodox": in the words of Shilhav (1989: 53), "They are not necessarily bjectivelymore religious, but religious in a different way."; and "'Haredi' ... is preferable, being a term commonly used by such Jews themselves... Moreover, it carries none of the venom often injected into the term 'ultra-Orthodox' by other Jews and, sadly, by the Western media..."][Sources describing the term as pejorative or derogatory include:
* Kobre, Eytan]
''One People, Two Worlds. A Reform Rabbi and an Orthodox Rabbi Explore the Issues That Divide Them'', reviewed by Eytan Kobre
Jewish Media Resources, February 2003. Retrieved August 25, 2009. "'Indeed, the social scientist Marvin Schick
Marvin Schick (July 3, 1934 – April 23, 2020) was a Hunter College and The New School, New School for Social Research political science and constitutional law professor. He was also known for his work in Jewish education. calls attention to the fact that "through the simple device of identifying ome Jews
Ome may refer to:
Places
* Ome (Bora Bora), a public island in the lagoon of Bora Bora
* Ome, Lombardy, Italy, a town and ''comune'' in the Province of Brescia
* Ōme, Tokyo, a city in the Prefecture of Tokyo
* Ome (crater), a crater on Mars
Tran ...
... as "ultra-Orthodox", ... pejorative term has become the standard reference term for describing a great many Orthodox Jews... No other ethnic or religious group in this country is identified in language that conveys so negative a message.'"
* Goldschmidt, Henry. ''Race and Religion among the Chosen Peoples of Crown Heights'', Rutgers University Press
Rutgers University Press (RUP) is a nonprofit academic publishing house, operating in New Brunswick, New Jersey under the auspices of Rutgers University.
History
Rutgers University Press, a nonprofit academic publishing house operating in New B ...
, 2006, p. 244, note 26. "I am reluctant to use the term 'ultra-Orthodox', as the prefix 'ultra' carries pejorative connotations of irrational extremism."
* Longman, Chia. "Engendering Identities as Political Processes: Discources of Gender Among Strictly Orthodox Jewish Women", in Rik Pinxten, Ghislain Verstraete, Chia Longmanp (eds.) ''Culture and Politics: Identity and Conflict in a Multicultural World'', Berghahn Books, 2004, p. 55. "Webber (1994: 27) uses the label 'strictly Orthodox' when referring to Haredi, seemingly more adequate as a purely descriptive name, yet carrying less pejorative connotations than ultra-Orthodox."
* Shafran, Avi
Don't Call Us 'Ultra-Orthodox'
''Don't Call Us 'Ultra-Orthodox], '' The Jewish Daily Forward'', February 2014. Retrieved July 9, 2014. "Considering that other Orthodox groups have self-identified with prefixes like "modern" or "open", why can't we Haredim just be, simply, "Orthodox"? Our beliefs and practices, after all, are those that most resemble those of our grandparents. But, whatever alternative is adopted, "ultra" deserves to be jettisoned from media and discourse. We Haredim aren't looking for special treatment, or to be called by some name we just happen to prefer. We're only seeking the mothballing of a pejorative." it being seen as a derogatory term suggesting extremism; English-language alternatives that have been proposed include ''fervently Orthodox'', ''strictly Orthodox'',
or ''traditional Orthodox''.
Others, however, dispute the characterization of the term as pejorative.
Ari L. Goldman
Ari L. Goldman (born September 22, 1949) is an American professor and journalist. He is professor of journalism at Columbia University and a former reporter for ''The New York Times''.
Early life and education
Goldman attended the Rabbi Jacob ...
, a professor at
Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
, notes that the term simply serves a practical purpose to distinguish a specific part of the Orthodox community, and is not meant as pejorative.
Others, such as
Samuel Heilman
Samuel C. Heilman is a professor of Sociology at Queens College of the City University of New York who focuses on social ethnography of contemporary Jewish Orthodox movements.
Personal
Heilman was born in May, 1946, to Henry and Lucia Heilman, ...
, criticized terms such as ''ultra-Orthodox'' and ''traditional Orthodox'', arguing that they misidentify Haredi Jews as more authentically Orthodox than others, as opposed to adopting customs and practises that reflect their desire to separate from the outside world.
The community has sometimes been characterized as ''traditional Orthodox'', in contradistinction to the
Modern Orthodox
Modern may refer to:
History
*Modern history
** Early Modern period
** Late Modern period
*** 18th century
*** 19th century
*** 20th century
** Contemporary history
* Moderns, a faction of Freemasonry that existed in the 18th century
Philosoph ...
, the other major branch of Orthodox Judaism, and not to be confused with the movement represented by the
Union for Traditional Judaism
The Union for Traditional Judaism, founded in 1984, is a traditional, Halakhic Jewish outreach and communal service organization. It initially called itself "The Union for Traditional Conservative Judaism" but dropped "Conservative" from its tit ...
, which originated in
Conservative Judaism
Conservative Judaism, known as Masorti Judaism outside North America, is a Jewish religious movement which regards the authority of ''halakha'' (Jewish law) and traditions as coming primarily from its people and community through the generatio ...
.
Haredi Jews also use other terms to refer to themselves. Common
Yiddish
Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a ver ...
words include (Jews), (virtuous Jews),
[ (son of the Torah),][ (pious), and (home-like; i. e., our crowd).
In Israel, Haredi Jews are sometimes also called by the derogatory slang words (plural ), that mimics the traditional Ashkenazi Hebrew pronunciation of the Hebrew word (religious), and more rarely, (blacks), a reference to the black clothes they typically wear; a related informal term used in English is ''black hat''.
]
History
Throughout Jewish history, Judaism
Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in the ...
has always faced internal and external challenges to its beliefs and practices which have emerged over time and produced counter-responses. According to its adherents, Haredi Judaism is a continuation of Rabbinic Judaism
Rabbinic Judaism ( he, יהדות רבנית, Yahadut Rabanit), also called Rabbinism, Rabbinicism, or Judaism espoused by the Rabbanites, has been the mainstream form of Judaism since the 6th century CE, after the codification of the Babylonian ...
, and the immediate forebears of contemporary Haredi Jews were the Jewish religious traditionalists of Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russ ...
who fought against secular modernization's influence which reduced Jewish religious observance. Indeed, adherents of Haredi Judaism, just like Rabbinic Jews, see their beliefs as part of an unbroken tradition which dates back to the revelation at Sinai
The Ten Commandments (Biblical Hebrew עשרת הדברים \ עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדְּבָרִים, ''aséret ha-dvarím'', lit. The Decalogue, The Ten Words, cf. Mishnaic Hebrew עשרת הדיברות \ עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדִּבְ ...
. However, most historians of Orthodoxy consider Haredi Judaism, in its most modern incarnation, to date back to the beginning of the 20th century.
For centuries, before Jewish emancipation
Jewish emancipation was the process in various nations in Europe of eliminating Jewish disabilities, e.g. Jewish quotas, to which European Jews were then subject, and the recognition of Jews as entitled to equality and citizenship rights. It incl ...
, European Jews were forced to live in ghettos where Jewish culture
Jewish culture is the culture of the Jewish people, from its formation in ancient times until the current age. Judaism itself is not a faith-based religion, but an orthoprax and ethnoreligion, pertaining to deed, practice, and identity. Jewi ...
and religious observance were preserved. Change began in the wake of the Age of Enlightenment
The Age of Enlightenment or the Enlightenment; german: Aufklärung, "Enlightenment"; it, L'Illuminismo, "Enlightenment"; pl, Oświecenie, "Enlightenment"; pt, Iluminismo, "Enlightenment"; es, La Ilustración, "Enlightenment" was an intel ...
, when some European liberals sought to include the Jewish population in the emerging empires and nation state
A nation state is a political unit where the state and nation are congruent. It is a more precise concept than "country", since a country does not need to have a predominant ethnic group.
A nation, in the sense of a common ethnicity, may inc ...
s. The influence of the '' Haskalah'' movement (Jewish Enlightenment) was also evident. Supporters of the Haskalah held that Judaism must change, in keeping with the social changes around them. Other Jews insisted on strict adherence to ''halakha
''Halakha'' (; he, הֲלָכָה, ), also transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Jewish religious laws which is derived from the written and Oral Torah. Halakha is based on biblical commandm ...
'' (Jewish law and custom).
In Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
, the opponents of Reform rallied to Samson Raphael Hirsch
Samson Raphael Hirsch (; June 20, 1808 – December 31, 1888) was a German Orthodox rabbi best known as the intellectual founder of the ''Torah im Derech Eretz'' school of contemporary Orthodox Judaism. Occasionally termed ''neo-Orthodoxy'', his ...
, who led a secession from German Jewish communal organizations to form a strictly Orthodox movement, with its own network of synagogue
A synagogue, ', 'house of assembly', or ', "house of prayer"; Yiddish: ''shul'', Ladino: or ' (from synagogue); or ', "community". sometimes referred to as shul, and interchangeably used with the word temple, is a Jewish house of worshi ...
s and religious schools. His approach was to accept the tools of modern scholarship and apply them in defence of Orthodox Judaism. In the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and, after 1791, as the Commonwealth of Poland, was a bi-confederal state, sometimes called a federation, of Crown of the Kingdom of ...
(including areas traditionally considered Lithuanian), Jews true to traditional values gathered under the banner of ''Agudas Shlumei Emunei Yisroel''.
Moses Sofer
Moses Schreiber (1762–1839), known to his own community and Jewish posterity in the Hebrew translation as Moshe Sofer, also known by his main work ''Chatam Sofer'', ''Chasam Sofer'', or ''Hatam Sofer'' ( trans. ''Seal of the Scribe'', and acron ...
was opposed to any philosophical, social, or practical change to customary Orthodox practice. Thus, he did not allow any secular studies to be added to the curriculum of his Pressburg Yeshiva. Sofer's student Moshe Schick
Moshe Schick (1 March 1807 – 25 January 1879; he, משה שיק, alternatively spelled as ''Shick'', ''Shik'', ''Shieck'') was a prominent Hungarian Orthodox rabbi.
In rabbinical commentary Shik is commonly known as the Maharam Schick (מהר" ...
, together with Sofer's sons Shimon and Samuel Benjamin, took an active role in arguing against the Reform movement. Others, such as Hillel Lichtenstein Rabbi Hillel Lichtenstein (1814-1891) was a Hungarian rabbi and the leader of hasidic Orthodoxy in Hungary.
Life
Hillel Lichtenstein was born at Vécs, Heves county, Hungary (Veča) in 1814 to the dayan R. Baruch Bendit. After studying at the y ...
, advocated an even more stringent position for Orthodoxy.
A major historic event was the meltdown after the Universal Israelite Congress of 1868–1869 in Pest
Pest or The Pest may refer to:
Science and medicine
* Pest (organism), an animal or plant deemed to be detrimental to humans or human concerns
** Weed, a plant considered undesirable
* Infectious disease, an illness resulting from an infection
** ...
. In an attempt to unify all streams of Judaism under one constitution, the Orthodox offered the ''Shulchan Aruch
The ''Shulchan Aruch'' ( he, שֻׁלְחָן עָרוּך , literally: "Set Table"), sometimes dubbed in English as the Code of Jewish Law, is the most widely consulted of the various legal codes in Judaism. It was authored in Safed (today in Is ...
'' as the ruling Code of law and observance. This was dismissed by the reformists, leading many Orthodox rabbi
A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as ''semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of ...
s to resign from the Congress and form their own social and political groups. Hungarian Jewry split into two major institutionally sectarian groups: Orthodox, and Neolog
Neologs ( hu, neológ irányzat, "Neolog faction") are one of the two large communal organizations among Hungarian Jews, Hungarian Jewry. Socially, the liberal and modernist Neologs had been more inclined toward integration into Hungarian society ...
. However, some communities refused to join either of the groups, calling themselves "Status Quo".
Schick demonstrated support in 1877 for the separatist policies of Samson Raphael Hirsch in Germany. Schick's own son was enrolled in the Hildesheimer Rabbinical Seminary, headed by Azriel Hildesheimer, which taught secular studies. Hirsch, however, did not reciprocate, and expressed astonishment at Schick's ''halakhic'' contortions in condemning even those Status Quo communities that clearly adhered to ''halakha''. Lichtenstein opposed Hildesheimer, and his son Hirsh Hildesheimer, as they made use of the German language
German ( ) is a West Germanic languages, West Germanic language mainly spoken in Central Europe. It is the most widely spoken and Official language, official or co-official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and the Ita ...
in sermons from the pulpit and seemed to lean in the direction of Zionism
Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after ''Zion'') is a Nationalism, nationalist movement that espouses the establishment of, and support for a homeland for the Jewish people centered in the area roughly corresponding to what is ...
.
Shimon Sofer was somewhat more lenient than Lichtenstein on the use of German in sermons, allowing the practice as needed for the sake of keeping cordial relations with the various governments. Likewise, he allowed extra-curricular studies of the gymnasium for students whose rabbinical positions would be recognized by the governments, stipulating the necessity to prove the strict adherence to the God-fearing standards per individual case.
In 1912, the World Agudath Israel was founded, to differentiate itself from the Torah Nationalist Mizrachi and secular Zionist organizations. It was dominated by the Hasidic
Hasidism, sometimes spelled Chassidism, and also known as Hasidic Judaism (Ashkenazi Hebrew: חסידות ''Ḥăsīdus'', ; originally, "piety"), is a Jewish religious group that arose as a spiritual revival movement in the territory of contem ...
''rebbe
A Rebbe ( yi, רבי, translit=rebe) or Admor ( he, אדמו״ר) is the spiritual leader in the Hasidic movement, and the personalities of its dynasties.Heilman, Samuel"The Rebbe and the Resurgence of Orthodox Judaism."''Religion and Spiritua ...
s'' and Lithuanian
Lithuanian may refer to:
* Lithuanians
* Lithuanian language
* The country of Lithuania
* Grand Duchy of Lithuania
* Culture of Lithuania
* Lithuanian cuisine
* Lithuanian Jews as often called "Lithuanians" (''Lita'im'' or ''Litvaks'') by other Jew ...
rabbis and ''roshei yeshiva
Rosh yeshiva ( he, ראש ישיבה, pl. he, ראשי ישיבה, '; Anglicized pl. ''rosh yeshivas'') is the title given to the dean of a yeshiva, a Jewish educational institution that focuses on the study of traditional religious texts, primar ...
'' (deans). The organization nominated rabbis who subsequently were elected as representatives in the Polish legislature Sejm
The Sejm (English: , Polish: ), officially known as the Sejm of the Republic of Poland (Polish: ''Sejm Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej''), is the lower house of the bicameral parliament of Poland.
The Sejm has been the highest governing body of t ...
, such as Meir Shapiro
Yehuda Meir Shapiro ( pl, Majer Jehuda Szapira; March 3, 1887 – October 27, 1933), was a prominent Polish Hasidic rabbi and rosh yeshiva, also known as the Lubliner Rav. He is noted for his promotion of the Daf Yomi study program in 1923, a ...
and Yitzhak-Meir Levin
Yitzhak-Meir Levin, ( he, יצחק-מאיר לוין, pl, Izaak Meir Lewin; 30 January 1893 – 7 August 1971) was a Haredi politician in Poland and Israel. One of 37 people to sign the Israeli declaration of independence, he served in several Is ...
. Not all Hasidic factions joined the Agudath Israel, remaining independent instead, such as Machzikei Hadat of Galicia.
In 1919, Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld and Yitzchok Yerucham Diskin founded the Edah HaChareidis
The Charedi Council of Jerusalem ( he, העדה החרדית, ''haEdah haCharedit'', Ashkenazi pronunciation: ''ha-Aideh Charaidis'' or ''ha-Eido ha-Chareidis''; "Congregation of God-Fearers") is a large Haredi Judaism, Haredi Judaism, Jewish comm ...
as part of Agudath Israel in then- Mandate Palestine.
In 1924, Agudath Israel obtained 75 percent of the votes in the Kehilla elections.
The Orthodox community polled some 16,000 of a total 90,000 at the Knesseth Israel in 1929. But Sonnenfeld lobbied Sir John Chancellor, the High Commissioner, for separate representation in the Palestine Communities Ordinance from that of the Knesseth Israel. He explained that the Agudas Israel community would cooperate with the Vaad Leumi
The Jewish National Council (JNC; he, ועד לאומי, ''Va'ad Le'umi''), also known as the Jewish People's Council was the main national executive organ of the Assembly of Representatives of the Jewish community (Yishuv) within Mandatory Pale ...
and the National Jewish Council
National may refer to:
Common uses
* Nation or country
** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen
Places in the United States
* National, Maryland, ce ...
in matters pertaining to the municipality, but sought to protect its religious convictions independently. The community petitioned the Permanent Mandates Commission of the League of Nations
The League of Nations (french: link=no, Société des Nations ) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference that ...
on this issue. The one community principle was victorious, despite their opposition, but this is seen as the creation of the Haredi community in Israel, separate from the other Orthodox and Zionist movements.
In 1932, Sonnenfeld was succeeded by Yosef Tzvi Dushinsky, a disciple of the Shevet Sofer, one of the grandchildren of Moses Sofer. Dushinsky promised to build up a strong Jewish Orthodoxy at peace with the other Jewish communities and the non-Jews.
Post-Holocaust
In general, the present-day Haredi population originate from two distinct post-Holocaust waves:
# The vast majority of Hasidic and Litvak communities were destroyed during the Holocaust
The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...
. Although Hasidic customs have largely been preserved, the customs of Lithuanian Jewry, including its unique Hebrew pronunciation, have been almost lost. Litvish customs are still preserved primarily by the few older Jews who were born in Lithuania prior to the Holocaust. In the decade or so after 1945, there was a strong drive to revive and maintain these lifestyles by some notable Haredi leaders.
#The Chazon Ish was particularly prominent in the early days of the State of Israel. Aharon Kotler
Aharon Kotler (1892–1962) was an Orthodox Jewish rabbi and a prominent leader of Orthodox Judaism in Lithuania and the United States; the latter being where he founded Beth Medrash Govoha in Lakewood Township, New Jersey.
Early life
Kotler w ...
established many of the Haredi schools and yeshiva
A yeshiva (; he, ישיבה, , sitting; pl. , or ) is a traditional Jewish educational institution focused on the study of Rabbinic literature, primarily the Talmud and halacha (Jewish law), while Torah and Jewish philosophy are s ...
s in the United States and Israel; and Joel Teitelbaum had a significant impact on revitalizing Hasidic Jewry, as well as many of the Jews who fled Hungary
Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...
during 1956 revolution
The Hungarian Revolution of 1956 (23 October – 10 November 1956; hu, 1956-os forradalom), also known as the Hungarian Uprising, was a countrywide revolution against the government of the Hungarian People's Republic (1949–1989) and the Hunga ...
who became followers of his Satmar
Satmar (Yiddish: סאַטמאַר, Hebrew: סאטמר) is a Hasidic group founded in 1905 by Grand Rebbe Joel Teitelbaum, in the city of Szatmárnémeti, Hungary (now Satu Mare in Romania). The group is an offshoot of the Sighet Hasidic dynast ...
dynasty, and became the largest Hasidic group in the world. These Jews typically have maintained a connection only with other religious family members. As such, those growing up in such families have little or no contact with non-Haredi Jews.
# The second wave began in the 1970s associated with the religious revival of the so-called baal teshuva movement, although most of the newly religious become Orthodox
Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to:
Religion
* Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pag ...
, and not necessarily fully Haredi. The formation and spread of the Sephardic Haredi
Sephardic Haredim are Jews of Sephardi and Mizrahi descent who are adherents of Haredi Judaism. Sephardic Haredim today constitute a significant stream of Haredi Judaism, alongside the Hasidim and Lita'im. An overwhelming majority of Sephardic ...
lifestyle movement also began in the 1980s by Ovadia Yosef, alongside the establishment of the Shas party in 1984. This led many Sephardi Jews to adopt the clothing and culture of the Lithuanian Haredi Judaism, though it had no historical basis in their own tradition. Many yeshivas were also established specifically for new adopters of the Haredi way of life.
The original Haredi population has been instrumental in the expansion of their lifestyle, though criticisms have been made of discrimination towards the later adopters of the Haredi lifestyle in ''shidduch
The ''Shidduch'' ( he, שִׁדּוּךְ, pl. ''shidduchim'' , Aramaic ) is a system of matchmaking in which Jewish singles are introduced to one another in Orthodox Jewish communities for the purpose of marriage.
The practice
In the past and ...
im'' (matchmaking) and the school system.
Practices and beliefs
The Haredim represent the conservative or pietistic form of Jewish fundamentalism
Jewish fundamentalism (Hebrew: ) refers to fundamentalism in the context of Judaism. The term ''fundamentalism'' was originally used in reference to Christian fundamentalism, a Protestant movement emphasizing biblical literalism. Today, it is commo ...
, distinct from the radical fundamentalism of Gush Emunim, and emphasising withdrawal from, and disdain for, the secular world, and the creation of an alternative world which insulates the Torah and the life it prescribes from outside influences.
Haredi Judaism is not an institutionally cohesive or homogeneous group, but comprises a diversity of spiritual and cultural orientations, generally divided into a broad range of Hasidic courts and Litvishe-Yeshivish streams from Eastern Europe, and Oriental Sephardic
Sephardic (or Sephardi) Jews (, ; lad, Djudíos Sefardíes), also ''Sepharadim'' , Modern Hebrew: ''Sfaradim'', Tiberian Hebrew, Tiberian: Səp̄āraddîm, also , ''Ye'hude Sepharad'', lit. "The Jews of Spain", es, Judíos sefardíes (or ), ...
Haredi Jews. These groups often differ significantly from one another in their specific ideologies and lifestyles, as well as the degree of stringency in religious practice, rigidity of religious philosophy, and isolation from the general culture that they maintain.
Some scholars, including some secular and Reform Jews, describe the Haredim as "radical fundamentalists".
The majority of Haredi Jews worldwide live in neighborhoods occupied primarily by other Haredi Jews.
The practices and beliefs of Haredi Jews, which have been interpreted as "isolationist", can bring them into conflict with modern liberal values. In 2018, a Haredi school in the United Kingdom was rated as "inadequate" by the Office for Standards in Education
The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) is a non-ministerial department of His Majesty's government, reporting to Parliament. Ofsted is responsible for inspecting a range of educational institutions, includ ...
, after repeated complaints were raised about the censoring of textbooks and exam papers which contained mentions of homosexuality
Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to peop ...
, examples of women socializing with men, pictures showing women's shoulders and legs, or information that contradicts a creationist worldview.
Lifestyle and family
Haredi life, like Orthodox Jewish life in general, is very family-centered and ordered. Boys and girls attend separate schools, and proceed to higher Torah study
Torah study is the study of the Torah, Hebrew Bible, Talmud, responsa, rabbinic literature, and similar works, all of which are Judaism's Sifrei kodesh, religious texts. According to Rabbinic Judaism, the study is done for the purpose of the ''mi ...
, in a yeshiva or seminary, respectively, starting anywhere between the ages of 13 and 18. A significant proportion of young men remain in yeshiva until their marriage (which is usually arranged through facilitated dating). After marriage, many Haredi men continue their Torah studies in a kollel
A kollel ( he, כולל, , , a "gathering" or "collection" f scholars is an institute for full-time, advanced study of the Talmud and rabbinic literature. Like a yeshiva, a kollel features shiurim (lectures) and learning ''sedarim'' (sessions); ...
.
Studying in secular institutions is often discouraged, although educational facilities for vocational training in a Haredi framework do exist. In the United States and Europe, the majority of Haredi males are active in the workforce. For various reasons, in Israel, most (56%) of their male members do work, though some of those are part of the unofficial workforce. Haredi families (and Orthodox Jewish families in general) are usually much larger than non-Orthodox Jewish families, with as many as twelve or more children.[Wertheimer, Jack]
"What You Don't Know About the Ultra-Orthodox."
''Commentary Magazine''. 1 July 2015. 4 September 2015. About 70% of female Haredi Jews in Israel work.
Haredi Jews are typically opposed to the viewing of television and films, and the reading of secular newspapers and books. There has been a strong campaign against the Internet
The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...
, and Internet-enabled mobile phones without filters have also been banned by leading rabbis. In May 2012, 40,000 Haredim gathered at Citi Field, a baseball park
A ballpark, or baseball park, is a type of sports venue where baseball is played. The playing field is divided into the infield, an area whose dimensions are rigidly defined, and the outfield, where dimensions can vary widely from place to pla ...
in New York City, to discuss the dangers of unfiltered Internet. The event was organized by the Ichud HaKehillos LeTohar HaMachane The Ichud HaKehillos LeTohar HaMachane ( he, איחוד הקהילות לטוהר המחנה; "union of communities for the purity of the camp") is an Orthodox Jewish organization. It educates Jews about pornography-use habits, Internet addiction, a ...
. The Internet has been allowed for business purposes so long as filters are installed.
In some instances, forms of recreation which conform to Jewish law are treated as antithetical to Haredi Judaism. In 2013, the Rabbinical Court of the Ashkenazi Community in the Haredi settlement of Beitar Illit
Beitar Illit ( he, בֵּיתָר עִלִּית; officially Betar Illit; "Illit" is pronounced "ee-leet"; ar, بيتار عيليت) is an Haredi Jewish-Israeli settlement organized as a city council in the Gush Etzion settlement bloc, sout ...
ruled against Zumba (a type of dance fitness) classes, although they were held with a female instructor and all-female participants. The Court said in part: "Both in form and manner, the activity umba Umba may refer to
*Umba, Russia, an urban-type settlement in Murmansk Oblast, Russia
*Umba (White Sea), a river on the Kola Peninsula, Russia
*Umba River (Tanzania), a river in Tanzania
*Umba sapphire, a sapphire from Tanzania
*Umba Valley, a valley ...
is entirely at odds with both the ways of the Torah and the holiness of Israel, as are the songs associated to it."
Dress
The standard mode of dress for males of the Lithuanian stream is a black or navy suit and a white shirt. Headgear includes black Fedora
A fedora () is a hat with a soft brim and indented crown.Kilgour, Ruth Edwards (1958). ''A Pageant of Hats Ancient and Modern''. R. M. McBride Company. It is typically creased lengthwise down the crown and "pinched" near the front on both sides ...
or Homburg hats, with black skull caps
''Skull Caps'' is a 1998 real-time strategy video game developed by Creative Edge Software and published by Ubi Soft for Microsoft Windows. It is a follow-up to ''Baldies'' (1995). In the game, the player manages a community of Skullies in orde ...
. Pre-war Lithuanian yeshiva students also wore light coloured suits, along with beige or grey hats, and prior to the 1990s, it was common for Americans of the Lithuanian stream to wear coloured shirts throughout the week, reserving white shirts for Shabbos.
Beards are common among Haredi and many other Orthodox Jewish men, and Hasidic men will almost never be clean-shaven.
Women adhere to the laws of modest dress, and wear long skirts and sleeves, high necklines, and, if married, some form of hair covering. Haredi women never wear trousers, although a small minority do wear pajama-trousers within the home at night.
Over the years, it has become popular among some Haredi women to wear ''sheitel
According to halacha (Jewish law), married Jewish women are expected to cover their hair when in the presence of men other than their husband or close family members. Such covering is common practice nowadays among Orthodox Jewish women.
Differe ...
s'' (wigs) that are more attractive than their own hair (drawing criticism from some more conservative Haredi rabbis). Mainstream Sephardi Haredi rabbi Ovadia Yosef forbade the wearing of wigs altogether. Haredi women often dress more freely and casually within the home, as long as the body remains covered in accordance with the ''halakha''. More modernized Haredi women are somewhat more lenient in matters of their dress, and some follow the latest trends and fashions while conforming to the ''halakha''.
Non-Lithuanian Hasidic men and women differ from the Lithuanian stream by having a much more specific dress code, the most obvious difference for men being the full-length suit jacket (''rekel
Rekel( yi, רעקל) or lang rekel (plural ''rekelech'') is a type of frock coat worn mainly by Hasidic Jewish men during the Jewish work-week (Sunday-Friday). Though the rekel was intended for weekday use, some Hasidim wear one on Shabbat. A mo ...
'') on weekdays, and the fur hat (''shtreimel
A shtreimel ( yi, שטרײַמל , plural: or ) is a fur hat worn by some Ashkenazi Jewish men, mainly members of Hasidic Judaism, on Shabbat and Jewish holidays and other festive occasions. In Jerusalem, the shtreimel is also worn by Litvak ...
'') and silk caftan (''bekishe
A bekishe, bekeshe, or ( yi, בעקעטשע or ), is a type of frock coat, usually made of black silk or polyester, worn by Hasidic Jews, and by some non-Hasidic Haredi Jews. The bekishe is worn mainly on Shabbos and Jewish holidays, or at wedd ...
'') on the Sabbath.
Neighborhoods
Haredi neighborhoods tend to be safe and free from violent crime. In Israel, the entrances to some of the most extreme Haredi neighborhoods are fitted with signs asking that modest clothing be worn. Some areas are known to have "modesty patrols", and people dressed in ways perceived as immodest may suffer harassment, and advertisements featuring scantily dressed models may be targeted for vandalism. These concerns are also addressed through public lobbying and legal avenues.
During the week-long Rio Carnival
)
, image = File:Desfile Portela 2014 (906185).jpg
, caption = A float at Rio Carnival, 2014
, celebrations = Parades, parties, open-air performances
, longtype = cultural, religious
, type = christian
, signi ...
in Rio de Janeiro, many of the city's 7,000 Orthodox Jews feel compelled to leave the town, due to the immodest exposure of participants. In 2001, Haredi campaigners in Jerusalem succeeded in persuading the Egged bus company to get all their advertisements approved by a special committee. By 2011, Egged had gradually removed all bus adverts that featured women, in response to their continuous defacement. A court order that stated such action was discriminatory led to Egged's decision not to feature people at all (neither male nor female). Depictions of certain other creatures, such as space aliens, were also banned, in order not to offend Haredi sensibilities. Haredi Jews also campaign against other types of advertising that promote activities they deem offensive or inappropriate.
To honor the Shabbat, most state-run buses in Israel do not run on Saturdays. In a similar vein, Haredi Jews in Israel have demanded that the roads in their neighborhoods be closed on Saturdays, vehicular traffic being viewed as an "intolerable provocation" upon their religious lifestyle (see Driving on Shabbat in Jewish law
According to halacha, the operation of a motor vehicle constitutes multiple violations of the prohibited activities on Shabbat (the Jewish Sabbath). Though Jewish law is based on texts that were written long before the existence of the automobile ...
). In most cases, the authorities granted permission after Haredi petitioning and demonstrations, some of them including fierce clashes between Haredi Jews and secular counter-demonstrators, and violence against police and motorists.
Sex separation
While Jewish modesty law requires gender separation under various circumstances, observers have contended that there is a growing trend among some groups of Hasidic Haredi Jews to extend its observance to the public arena.
In the Hasidic village of Kiryas Joel, New York, an entrance sign asks visitors to "maintain sex separation in all public areas", and the bus stops have separate waiting areas for men and women. In New Square
New Square ( yi, שיכון סקווירא, Shikun Skvir) is an all-Hasidic village in the town of Ramapo, Rockland County, New York, United States. It is located north of Hillcrest, east of Viola, south of New Hempstead, and west of New Cit ...
, another Hasidic enclave, men and women are expected to walk on opposite sides of the road. In Israel, Jerusalem residents of Mea Shearim were banned from erecting a street barrier dividing men and women during the week-long Sukkot
or ("Booths, Tabernacles")
, observedby = Jews, Samaritans, a few Protestant denominations, Messianic Jews, Semitic Neopagans
, type = Jewish, Samaritan
, begins = 15th day of Tishrei
, ends = 21st day of Tishre ...
festival's nightly parties; and street signs requesting that women avoid certain pavements in Beit Shemesh
Beit Shemesh ( he, בֵּית שֶׁמֶשׁ ) is a city located approximately west of Jerusalem in Israel's Jerusalem District, with a population of in .
History Tel Beit Shemesh
The small archaeological tell northeast of the modern city wa ...
have been repeatedly removed by the municipality.
Since 1973, buses catering to Haredi Jews running from Rockland County and Brooklyn into Manhattan have had separate areas for men and women, allowing passengers to conduct on-board prayer services. Although the lines are privately operated, they serve the general public, and in 2011, the set-up was challenged on grounds of discrimination, and the arrangement was deemed illegal. During 2010–2012, there was much public debate in Israel surrounding the existence of segregated Haredi Mehadrin bus lines
Mehadrin bus lines ( he, קו מהדרין) were a type of bus line in Israel that mostly ran in and/or between major Haredi population centers and in which gender segregation and other rigid religious rules observed by some ultra-Orthodox Jews we ...
(whose policy calls for both men and women to stay in their respective areas: men in the front of the bus, and women in the rear of the bus) following an altercation that occurred after a woman refused to move to the rear of the bus to sit among the women. A subsequent court ruling stated that while voluntary segregation should be allowed, forced separation is unlawful. Israeli national airline El Al has agreed to provide gender-separated flights in consideration of Haredi requirements.
Education in the Haredi community is strictly segregated by sex. Yeshiva education for boys is primarily focused on the study of Jewish scriptures, such as the Torah
The Torah (; hbo, ''Tōrā'', "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. In that sense, Torah means the s ...
and Talmud
The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cente ...
(''non-Hasidic'' yeshivas in America teach secular studies in the afternoon); girls obtain studies both in Jewish education as well as broader secular subjects.
In 2012, '' A Better Safe Than Sorry Book'', aimed at Haredi Jewish children, was published with some controversy, as it contains both sexes.
Newspapers and publications
In 1930s Poland, the Agudath Israel movement published its own Yiddish-language paper, ''Dos Yiddishe Tagblatt''. In 1950, the Agudah started printing '' Hamodia'', a Hebrew-language Israeli daily.
Haredi publications tend to shield their readership from objectionable material, and perceive themselves as a "counterculture
A counterculture is a culture whose values and norms of behavior differ substantially from those of mainstream society, sometimes diametrically opposed to mainstream cultural mores.Eric Donald Hirsch. ''The Dictionary of Cultural Literacy''. Hou ...
", desisting from advertising secular entertainment and events. The editorial policy of a Haredi newspaper is determined by a rabbinical board, and every edition is checked by a rabbinical censor. A strict policy of modesty is characteristic of the Haredi press in recent years, and pictures of women are usually not printed. In 2009, the Israeli daily '' Yated Ne'eman'' doctored an Israeli cabinet photograph replacing two female ministers with images of men, and in 2013, the ''Bakehilah'' magazine pixelated the faces of women appearing in a photograph
A photograph (also known as a photo, image, or picture) is an image created by light falling on a photosensitive surface, usually photographic film or an electronic image sensor, such as a CCD or a CMOS chip. Most photographs are now create ...
of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. The mainstream Haredi political Shas party also refrains from publishing female images. Among Haredi publishers which have not adopted this policy is ArtScroll
ArtScroll is an imprint of translations, books and commentaries from an Orthodox Jewish perspective published by Mesorah Publications, Ltd., a publishing company based in Rahway, New Jersey. Rabbi Nosson Scherman is the general editor.
ArtScroll' ...
, which does publish pictures of women in their books.
No coverage is given to serious crime, violence, sex, or drugs, and little coverage is given to non-Orthodox streams of Judaism. Inclusion of "immoral" content is avoided, and when publication of such stories is a necessity, they are often written ambiguously.[ The Haredi press generally takes a non-Zionist stance, and gives more coverage to issues that concern the Haredi community, such as the drafting of girls and yeshiva students into the army, autopsies, and Shabbat observance.] In Israel, it portrays the secular world as "spitefully anti-Semitic", and describes secular youth as "mindless, immoral, drugged, and unspeakably lewd". Such attacks have led to Haredi editors being warned about libelous provocations.
While the Haredi press is extensive and varied in Israel, only around half the Haredi population reads newspapers. Around 10% read secular newspapers, while 40% do not read any newspaper at all. According to a 2007 survey, 27% read the weekend Friday edition of ''HaModia'', and 26% the ''Yated Ne'eman''. In 2006, the most-read Haredi magazine in Israel was the '' Mishpacha'' weekly, which sold 110,000 copies.
Technology
In the modern era of the internet and mobile phones, it can be confusing as to what is or is not considered appropriate. The Haredi leaders have at times suggested a ban on the internet and any internet-capable device, their reasoning being that the immense amount of information can be corrupting, and the ability to use the internet with no observation from the community can lead to individuation. However, these presented reasons by the Haredi leaders could be influenced by a general fear of the loss of young Haredi members.
Banning the internet for Haredi Jews could be a detriment to possible economic uses from Jewish businesses. Some Haredi businessmen utilize the internet throughout the week, but they still observe Shabbat in every aspect by not accepting or processing orders from Friday evening to Saturday evening. They utilize the internet under strict filters
Filter, filtering or filters may refer to:
Science and technology
Computing
* Filter (higher-order function), in functional programming
* Filter (software), a computer program to process a data stream
* Filter (video), a software component tha ...
and guidelines. Although Haredi leaders have been unsuccessful in their attempts of banning internet use, they have influenced the world of technology. The Kosher cell phone was introduced to the Jewish public with the sole ability to call other phones. It was unable to utilize the internet, text other phones, and had no camera feature. In fact, a kosher phone plan was created, with decreased rates for kosher-to-kosher calls, to encourage community.
News hotlines
News hotlines are an important source of news in the Haredi world. Since many Haredi Jews do not listen to the radio or have access to the internet, even if they read newspapers, they are left with little or no access to breaking news. News hotlines were formed to fill this gap, and many have expanded to additional fields over time. Currently, many news lines provide rabbinic lectures, entertainment, business advice, and similar services, in addition to their primary function of reporting the news. Many Hasidic sects maintain their own hotlines, where relevant internal news is reported and the group's perspective can be advocated for. In the Israeli Haredi community, there are dozens of prominent hotlines, in both Yiddish and Hebrew. Some Haredi hotlines have played significant public roles.
In Israel
Attitudes towards Zionism
While most Haredi Jews were opposed to the establishment of the State of Israel, and Haredi Jews mostly do not celebrate Yom Ha'Atzmaut
Independence Day ( he, יום העצמאות ''Yom Ha'atzmaut'', lit. "Day of Independence") is the national day of Israel, commemorating the Israeli Declaration of Independence in 1948. The day is marked by official and unofficial ceremonies ...
(Israeli Independence Day) or any other state-instituted holidays, there were many who gave their backing to the nascent state.
The chief political division among Haredi Jews has been in their approach to the State of Israel. After Israeli independence, different Haredi movements took varying positions on it. Only a minority of Haredi Jews consider themselves to be Zionists. Haredim who do not consider themselves Zionists fall into two-camps: non-Zionist, and anti-Zionist. Non-Zionist Haredim, who comprise the majority, do not object to the State of Israel as an independent Jewish state, and many even consider it to be positive, but they do not believe that it has any religious significance. Anti-Zionist Haredim, who are a minority, but are more publicly visible than the non-Zionist majority, believe that any Jewish independence prior to the coming of the Messiah is a sin.
The ideologically non-Zionist United Torah Judaism alliance comprising Agudat Yisrael and Degel HaTorah (and the umbrella organizations World Agudath Israel and Agudath Israel of America
Agudath Israel of America ( he, אגודת ישראל באמריקה) (also called Agudah) is an American organization that represents Haredi Orthodox Jews. It is loosely affiliated with the international World Agudath Israel. Agudah seeks to ...
) represents a moderate and pragmatic stance of cooperation with the State of Israel, and participation in the political system. UTJ has been a participant in numerous coalition governments, seeking to influence state and society in a more religious direction and maintain welfare and religious funding policies. In general, their position is supportive of Israel.
Haredim who are stridently anti-Zionist are under the umbrella of Edah HaChareidis
The Charedi Council of Jerusalem ( he, העדה החרדית, ''haEdah haCharedit'', Ashkenazi pronunciation: ''ha-Aideh Charaidis'' or ''ha-Eido ha-Chareidis''; "Congregation of God-Fearers") is a large Haredi Judaism, Haredi Judaism, Jewish comm ...
, who reject participation in politics and state funding of its affiliated institutions, in contradistinction to Agudah-affiliated institutions. Neturei Karta is a very small activist organization of anti-Zionist Haredim, whose controversial activities have been strongly condemned, including by other anti-Zionist Haredim. Neither main political party in Israel has the support in numbers to elect a majority government, and so, they both rely on support from the Haredi parties.
In recent years, some rebbes affiliated with Agudath Israel, such as the Sadigura
Sadhora ( uk, Садгора; german: Sadagora; pl, Sadagóra; ro, Sadagura; yi, סאדיגורא Sadigora, also Sadagura and Sadiger) is a settlement in Ukraine, now a Sadhirskyi District of Chernivtsi city, which is located 6 km from the ...
rebbe Avrohom Yaakov Friedman, have taken more hard-line stances on security, settlements, and disengagement.
Shas represents Sephardi and Mizrahi Haredim, and, while having many points in common with Ashkenazi Haredim, differs from them by its more enthusiastic support for the State of Israel and the IDF.
Marriage
The purpose of marriage in the Haredi (and Orthodox) viewpoint is for the purpose of companionship, as well as for the purpose of having children.
There is a high rate of marriage in the Haredi community. 83% are married, compared to the non-Haredi community in Israel of 63%. Marriage is viewed as holy, and as the natural home for a man and a woman to truly love each other.
Divorce
In 2016, Haaretz claimed that divorces among Haredim are increasing in Israel. In 2017, some predominantly Haredi cities reported the highest growth rates in divorce in the Israel, in the context of generally falling rates of divorce. In 2018, some predominantly Haredi cities reported drops in divorce. Jerusalem had a decrease of 7%, and the Haredi city of Beitar Illit had a drop of 49%, in the context of generally rising rates of divorce. When the divorce is linked to one spouse leaving the community, the one who chooses to leave is often shunned
Shunning can be the act of social rejection, or emotional distance. In a religious context, shunning is a formal decision by a denomination or a congregation to cease interaction with an individual or a group, and follows a particular set of rule ...
from his or her communities and forced to abandon their children, as most courts prefer keeping children in an established status quo.
In 2016, the divorce rate was 5% among the Haredi population, compared to the general population rate of 14%.
Education
:
Haredim primarily educate their children in their own private schools
An independent school is independent in its finances and governance. Also known as private schools, non-governmental, privately funded, or non-state schools, they are not administered by local, state or national governments. In British Eng ...
, starting with '' chederim'' for pre-school to primary school
A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary e ...
ages, to yeshivos for boys from secondary school
A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' secondary education, lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) ...
ages, and in seminaries, often called Bais Yaakovs, for girls of secondary school ages. Only Jewish religiously observant students are admitted, and parents must agree to abide by the rules of the school to keep their children enrolled. Yeshivas are headed by rosh yeshivas (deans) and principals. Many Hasidic schools in Israel, Europe, and North America teach little or no secular subjects, while some of the Litvish (Lithuanian style) schools in Israel follow educational policies to the Hasidic school. In the U.S., most teach secular subjects to boys and girls, as part of a dual curriculum of secular subjects (generally called "English") and Torah subjects. Yeshivas teach mostly Talmud and Rabbinic literature
Rabbinic literature, in its broadest sense, is the entire spectrum of rabbinic writings throughout Jewish history. However, the term often refers specifically to literature from the Talmudic era, as opposed to medieval and modern rabbinic writ ...
, while the girls' schools teach Jewish Law, Midrash
''Midrash'' (;["midrash"]
''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. he, מִדְרָשׁ; ...
, and Tanach (Hebrew Bible
The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;["Tanach"](_blank)
''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. Hebrew: ''Tān ...
).
Between 2007 and 2017, the number of Haredim studying in higher education had risen from 1,000 to 10,800.
In 2007, the Kemach Foundation was established to become an investor in the sector's social and economic development, and provide opportunities for employment. Through the philanthropy of Leo Noé
Leopold Noé (born August 1953) is a British multi-millionaire property investor. His net worth is at least £606 million based on the 2021 and 2020 ''Sunday Times Rich List''.
''The Sunday Times Giving List'', published in May 2021, was the twen ...
of London, later joined by the Wolfson
See also Woolf, Woolfe, Wolff, Wolfson and Woolfson (especially for family names).
Wolfson or Volfson is a Jewish surname, and may refer to:
* David Wolfson, Baron Wolfson of Sunningdale (born 1935), British politician and businessman, nephew of ...
family of New York and Elie Horn
Elie (Eli) Horn (born in 1944) is a Brazilian businessman and philanthropist operating in Brazil, and president of Cyrela Brazil Realty.
Biography
Elie Horn was born to a Jewish family in Aleppo (then under the French Mandate for Syria). from Brazil, Kemach has facilitated academic and vocational training. With a $22m budget, including government funding, Kemach provides individualized career assessment, academic or vocational scholarships, and job placement for the entire Haredi population in Israel. The Foundation is managed by specialists who, coming from the Haredi sector themselves, are familiar with the community's needs and sensitivities. By April 2014, more than 17,800 Haredim have received the services of Kemach, and more than 7,500 have received, or continue to receive, monthly scholarships to fund their academic or vocational studies. From 500 graduates, the net benefits to the government would be 80.8 million NIS if they work for one year, 572.3 million NIS if they work for 5 years, and 2.8 billion NIS (discounted) if they work for 30 years.
The Council for Higher Education announced in 2012 that it was investing NIS 180 million over the following five years to establish appropriate frameworks for the education of Haredim, focusing on specific professions. The largest Haredi campus in Israel is The Haredi Campus - The Academic College Ono.
Military
Upon the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, universal conscription was instituted for all able-bodied Jewish males. However, the nation's population of military-aged Haredi men were exempted from service in the Israel Defense Forces
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; he, צְבָא הַהֲגָנָה לְיִשְׂרָאֵל , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the Israel, State of Israel. It consists of three servic ...
(IDF) under the Torato Umanuto
Torato Umanuto ( he, תורתו אומנותו, , "Torah study is his job") is a special arrangement for the Israeli Haredi sector that allows young men enrolled in Haredi yeshiva academies to complete their studies before their conscription in t ...
arrangement, which officially granted deferred entry into the IDF for yeshiva students, but in practice allowed young Haredi men to serve for a significantly reduced period of time or bypass military service altogether. At that time, only a small group of roughly 400 individuals was affected, since, due to the historic opposition of Haredi Judaism to Zionism, the population of Haredim was very low. However, the Haredim were and are a rapidly growing population, comprising an estimated 6-10% of Israel's Jewish population by 2008. In 2018, the Israel Democracy Institute estimated that the Haredim comprised 12% of Israel's total population, and just over 15% of the Jewish population. Compounded by the fact the Haredim are disproportionately younger than the general population, their absence from the IDF often attracts significant resentment from secular Israelis. The most common criticisms of the exemption policy are:
* The Haredim can work in those 2–3 years of their lives in which they do not serve in the IDF, while most soldiers at the IDF are usually paid anywhere between $80–250 a month, in addition to clothing and lodging. All the while, Haredi yeshiva students receive significant monthly funds and payments for their religious studies.
* The Haredim, if they so choose, can study at that time.
While a certain amount of Haredim have enlisted in the IDF every year in recent decades, the Haredim usually reject the practice of IDF service. Contentions include:
* A yeshiva student has an important role in protecting the Jewish people because Haredim believe that Torah study brings spiritual protection similar to how a soldier in the IDF brings physical protection. Haredim maintain that each role is important in protecting the Jewish people, and one who is a yeshiva student should not abandon his personal duty in spiritually protecting the Jewish People.
* The Israeli army is not conducive to a Haredi lifestyle. It is regarded as a "state-sponsored quagmire of promiscuity
Promiscuity is the practice of engaging in sexual activity frequently with different Sexual partner, partners or being indiscriminate in the choice of sexual partners. The term can carry a moral judgment. A common example of behavior viewed as pro ...
" due to Israel conscripting both men and women, and often grouping them together in military activities. Additionally, the keeping of military procedures makes it difficult to observe the Sabbath and many other Jewish practices.
The ''Torato Umanuto'' arrangement was enshrined in the '' Tal Law'' that came into force in 2002. The High Court of Justice
The High Court of Justice in London, known properly as His Majesty's High Court of Justice in England, together with the Court of Appeal of England and Wales, Court of Appeal and the Crown Court, are the Courts of England and Wales, Senior Cou ...
later ruled that it could not be extended in its current form beyond August 2012. A replacement was expected. The IDF was, however, experiencing a shortage of personnel, and there were pressures to reduce the scope of the ''Torato Omanuto'' exemption.
The Shahar program, also known as ''Shiluv Haredim'' (Ultra-Orthodox integration), allows Haredi men aged 22 to 26 to serve in the army for about a year and a half. At the beginning of their service, they study mathematics and English, which are often not well covered in Haredi boy schools. The program is partly aimed at encouraging Haredi participation in the workforce after military service. However, not all beneficiaries seem to be Haredim.
Over the years, as many as 1000 Haredi Jews have volunteered to serve in a Haredi Jewish unit of the IDF known as the Netzah Yehuda Battalion
The 97th Netzah Yehuda Battalion ( he, גדוד נצח יהודה, ), previously known as Nahal Haredi (), is a battalion in the Kfir Brigade of the Israel Defense Forces. The purpose of the unit is to allow Haredi Jewish men to serve as comb ...
, or Nahal Haredi. The vast majority of Haredi men, however, continue to receive deferments from military service.
In March 2014, Israel's parliament approved legislation to end exemptions from military service for Haredi seminary students. The bill was passed by 65 votes to one, and an amendment allowing civilian national service by 67 to one.
There has been much uproar in Haredi society following actions towards Haredi conscription. While some Haredim see this as a great social and economic opportunity, others (including leading rabbis among them) strongly oppose this move. Among the extreme Haredim, there have been some more severe reactions. Several Haredi leaders have threatened that Haredi populations would leave the country if forced to enlist. Others have fueled public incitement against secular and National-Religious Jews, and specifically against politicians Yair Lapid and Naftali Bennett
Naftali Bennett ( he, נַפְתָּלִי בֶּנֶט, Transliterated: , ; born 25 March 1972) is an Israeli politician who served as the 13th prime minister of Israel from 13 June 2021 to 30 June 2022, and as the 3rd Alternate Prime Minist ...
, who support and promote Haredi enlistment. Some Haredim have taken to threatening their fellows who agree to enlist, to the point of physically attacking some of them.
Employment
, figures from the Central Bureau of Statistics on employment rates place Haredi women at 73%, close to the 80% for the non-Haredi Jewish women's national figure; while the number of working Haredi men has increased to 56%, it is still far below the 90% of non-Haredi Jewish men nationwide. , most Haredi boys instead go to yeshivas and then continue to study at yeshiva after getting married.
The Trajtenberg Committee, charged in 2011 with drafting proposals for economic and social change, called, among other things, for increasing employment among the Haredi population. Its proposals included encouraging military or national service and offering college prep courses for volunteers, creating more employment centers targeting Haredim and experimental matriculation prep courses after yeshiva hours. The committee also called for increasing the number of Haredi students receiving technical training through the Industry, Trade, and Labor Ministry and forcing Haredi schools to carry out standardized testing, as is done at other public schools. It is estimated that half as many of the Haredi community are in employment as the rest of population. This has led to increasing financial deprivation, and 50% of children within the community live below the poverty line. This puts strain on each family, the community, and often the Israeli economy.
The demographic trend indicates the community will constitute an increasing percentage of the population, and consequently, Israel faces an economic challenge in the years ahead due to fewer people in the labor force. A report commissioned by the Treasury found that the Israeli economy may lose more than six billion shekels annually as a result of low Haredi participation in the workforce. The OECD
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD; french: Organisation de coopération et de développement économiques, ''OCDE'') is an intergovernmental organisation with 38 member countries, founded in 1961 to stimulate e ...
in a 2010 report stated that, "Haredi families are frequently jobless, or are one-earner families in low-paid employment. Poverty rates are around 60% for Haredim."
As of 2017, according to an Israeli finance ministry study, the Haredi participation rate in the labour force is 51%, compared to 89% for the rest of Israeli Jews.
A 2018 study by Oren Heller, a National Insurance Institute of Israel senior economic researcher, has found that while upper mobility among Haredim is significantly greater than the national average, unlike it, this tends not to translate into significantly higher pay.
Haredi families living in Israel benefited from government-subsidized child care when the father studied Torah and the mother worked at least 24 hours per week. However, after Israeli Finance Minister Avigdor Liberman introduced a new policy in 2021, families in which the father is a full-time yeshiva student are no longer eligible for a daycare subsidy. Under this policy, fathers must also work at least part-time in order for the family to qualify for the subsidy. The move was denounced by Haredi leaders.
Other issues
The Haredim in general are materially poorer than most other Israelis, but still represent an important market sector due to their bloc purchasing habits. For this reason, some companies and organizations in Israel refrain from including women or other images deemed immodest in their advertisements to avoid Haredi consumer boycotts. More than 50 percent of Haredim live below the poverty line, compared with 15 percent of the rest of the population. Their families are also larger, with Haredi women having an average of 6.7 children, while the average Jewish Israeli woman has 3 children. Families with many children often receive economic support through governmental child allowances, government assistance in housing, as well as specific funds by their own community institutions.
In recent years, there has been a process of reconciliation and an attempt to merge Haredi Jews with Israeli society, although employment discrimination is widespread. Haredi Jews such as satirist Kobi Arieli Kobi or KOBI may refer to:
* Kobi (given name), including a list of people with the name
* Kobi, a colour, a variation of red-violet
* Kobi, Georgia, a village
* Kobi Line, a railway in North Korea
* Kobi Station, a railway station in Minokamo, Gif ...
, publicist Sehara Blau, and politician Israel Eichler
Yisrael Eichler (, ; born 27 March 1955) is an Israeli politician. A member of Agudat Yisrael, he served as a member of the Knesset for the party and the United Torah Judaism alliance from 2003 until 2005, and again since 2011.
Biography
Born in ...
write regularly for leading Israeli newspapers.
Another important factor in the reconciliation process has been the activities of ZAKA
ZAKA ( he, זק"א, abbreviation for ''Zihuy Korbanot Ason'', , literally: "Disaster Victim Identification") is a series of voluntary community emergency response teams in Israel, each operating in a police district (two in the Central Distr ...
, a Haredi organization known for providing emergency medical attention at the scene of suicide bombing
A suicide attack is any violent attack, usually entailing the attacker detonating an explosive, where the attacker has accepted their own death as a direct result of the attacking method used. Suicide attacks have occurred throughout histor ...
s, and Yad Sarah
Yad Sarah ( he, יד שרה) is the largest national volunteer organization in Israel. Employing over 6,000 volunteers, with a salaried staff of 150, Yad Sarah serves over 350,000 clients each year. It is best known for its free loans of over 244,0 ...
, the largest national volunteer organization in Israel established in 1977 by former Haredi mayor of Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
, Uri Lupolianski
Uri Lupolianski ( he, אורי לופוליאנסקי; born 1951) was mayor of Jerusalem from 2003 to 2008 and founder of Yad Sarah.
Biography
Born August 29, 1951 in Haifa, Israel, Lupolianski studied at the Yavne School in Haifa and then attende ...
. It is estimated that Yad Sarah saves the country's economy an estimated $320 million in hospital fees and long-term care costs each year.
Population
Due to its imprecise definition, lack of data collection, and rapid change over time, estimates of the global Haredi population are difficult to measure, and may significantly underestimate the true number of Haredim, due to their reluctance to participate in surveys and censuses. One estimate given in 2011 stated that there were approximately 1.3 million Haredi Jews globally. Studies have shown a very high growth rate, with a large young population.
Israel
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
has the largest Haredi population. In 1948, there were about 35,000 to 45,000 Haredi Jews in Israel. By 1980, Haredim made up 4% of the Israeli population. Haredim made up 9.9% of the Israeli population in 2009, with 750,000 out of 7,552,100; by 2014, that figure had risen to 11.1%, with 910,500 Haredim out of a total Israeli population of 8,183,400. According to a December 2017 study conducted by the Israeli Democracy Institute
Israel Democracy Institute (IDI; he, המכון הישראלי לדמוקרטיה), established in 1991, is an independent center of research and action dedicated to strengthening the foundations of Israeli democracy. It is located in Jerusalem, ...
, the number of Haredi Jews in Israel exceeded 1 million in 2017, making up 12% of the population in Israel. In 2019, Haredim reached a population of almost 1,126,000; the next year, it reached 1,175,000 (12.6% of total population), and by the end of 2021, it reached 1,226,000, or 12.9% of total population. By 2030, the Haredi Jewish community is projected to make up 16% of the total population, and by 2065, a third of the Israeli population.
The number of Haredi Jews in Israel is rising rapidly. The number of children per woman is 7.2, and the share of Haredim among those under the age of 20 was 16.3% in 2009 (29% of Jews).[Ari Paltiel, Michel Sepulchre, Irene Kornilenko, Martin Maldonado]
Long‐Range Population Projections for Israel: 2009‐2059
Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics. Retrieved 2014-04-21. In 1992, out of a total of 1,500,000 Orthodox Jews worldwide, about 550,000 were Haredi (half of them in Israel). The vast majority of Haredi Jews are Ashkenazi. However, some 20% of the Haredi population are thought to belong to the Sephardic Haredi stream. In recent decades, Haredi society has grown due to the addition of a religious population that identifies with the Shas movement. The percentage of people leaving the Haredi population has been estimated between 6% and 18%. The Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics
The Israel Central Bureau of Statistics ( he, הלשכה המרכזית לסטטיסטיקה, ''HaLishka HaMerkazit LiStatistika''; ar, دائرة الإحصاء المركزية الإسرائيلية), abbreviated CBS, is an Israeli government ...
forecasts that the Haredi population of Israel will number 1.1 million in 2019. It is also projected that the number of Haredim in 2059 may be between 2.73 and 5.84 million, of an estimated total number of Israeli Jews between 6.09 and 9.95 million. The largest Israeli Haredi concentrations are in Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
, Bnei Brak
Bnei Brak or Bene Beraq ( he, בְּנֵי בְּרַק ) is a city located on the central Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean Israeli coastal plain, coastal plain in Israel, just east of Tel Aviv. A center of Haredi Judaism, Bnei Brak covers an are ...
, Modi'in Illit
Modi'in Illit ( he, מוֹדִיעִין עִלִּית; ar, موديعين عيليت, lit. "Upper Modi'in") is a Haredi Israeli settlement and city in the West Bank, situated midway between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. Modi'in Illit was granted ci ...
, Beitar Illit
Beitar Illit ( he, בֵּיתָר עִלִּית; officially Betar Illit; "Illit" is pronounced "ee-leet"; ar, بيتار عيليت) is an Haredi Jewish-Israeli settlement organized as a city council in the Gush Etzion settlement bloc, sout ...
, Beit Shemesh
Beit Shemesh ( he, בֵּית שֶׁמֶשׁ ) is a city located approximately west of Jerusalem in Israel's Jerusalem District, with a population of in .
History Tel Beit Shemesh
The small archaeological tell northeast of the modern city wa ...
, Kiryat Ye'arim, Ashdod
Ashdod ( he, ''ʾašdōḏ''; ar, أسدود or إسدود ''ʾisdūd'' or '' ʾasdūd'' ; Philistine: 𐤀𐤔𐤃𐤃 *''ʾašdūd'') is the sixth-largest city in Israel. Located in the country's Southern District, it lies on the Mediterran ...
, Rekhasim
Rekhasim ( he, רְכָסִים, lit. ''Mountain ridges'')Marks, Yehudah. "The Torah Empire of the North", ''Hamodia'' Israel News, 19 March 2015, pp. 21-23. is a Haredi town and local council in the Haifa District of Israel. It is located betwee ...
, Safed
Safed (known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as Tzfat; Sephardi Hebrew, Sephardic Hebrew & Modern Hebrew: צְפַת ''Tsfat'', Ashkenazi Hebrew pronunciation, Ashkenazi Hebrew: ''Tzfas'', Biblical Hebrew: ''Ṣǝp̄aṯ''; ar, صفد, ''Ṣafad''), i ...
, and El'ad. Two Haredi cities, Kasif and Harish, are planned.
United States
The United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
has the second largest Haredi population, which has a growth rate on pace to double every 20 years. In 2000, there were 360,000 Haredi Jews in the US (7.2 per cent of the approximately 5 million Jews in the U.S.); by 2006, demographers estimate the number had grown to 468,000 (30% increase), or 9.4 per cent of all U.S. Jews. In 2013, it has been estimated that there were 530,000 total Orthodox Jews in the United States, or 10% of all American Jews.
New York state
Most American Haredi Jews live in the greater New York metropolitan area.
=New York City
=
Brooklyn
The largest centers of Haredi and Hasidic life in New York are found in Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
.
* In 1988, it was estimated that there are between 40,000 and 57,000 Haredim in the Williamsburg
Williamsburg may refer to:
Places
*Colonial Williamsburg, a living-history museum and private foundation in Virginia
*Williamsburg, Brooklyn, neighborhood in New York City
*Williamsburg, former name of Kernville (former town), California
*Williams ...
neighborhood of Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
, New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
, Hasidim most belonging to Satmar
Satmar (Yiddish: סאַטמאַר, Hebrew: סאטמר) is a Hasidic group founded in 1905 by Grand Rebbe Joel Teitelbaum, in the city of Szatmárnémeti, Hungary (now Satu Mare in Romania). The group is an offshoot of the Sighet Hasidic dynast ...
.
* The Jewish population in the Borough Park neighborhood of Brooklyn, estimated at 70,000 in 1983, is also mostly Haredi, and also mostly Hasidic. The Bobov Hasidim are the largest single bloc that mainly live in Borough Park.
* Crown Heights is the home base of the worldwide Chabad-Lubavitch
Chabad, also known as Lubavitch, Habad and Chabad-Lubavitch (), is an Orthodox Jewish Hasidic dynasty. Chabad is one of the world's best-known Hasidic movements, particularly for its outreach activities. It is one of the largest Hasidic group ...
movement, with its network of shluchim ("emissaries") heading Chabad houses throughout the Jewish world.[
* The Flatbush-]Midwood
Midwood is a neighborhood in the south-central part of the New York City borough (New York City), borough of Brooklyn. It is bounded on the north by the Bay Ridge Branch tracks just above Avenue I and by the Brooklyn College campus of the City ...
, Kensington
Kensington is a district in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in the West End of London, West of Central London.
The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up b ...
, Marine Park neighborhoods have tens of thousands of Haredi Jews. They are also the centers for the major non-Hasidic Haredi yeshivas such as Yeshiva Torah Vodaas, Yeshiva Rabbi Chaim Berlin, Mir Yeshiva, as well as a string of similar smaller yeshivas. The Torah Vodaas and Chaim Berlin yeshivas allow some students to attend college and university, presently at Touro College
Touro University is a private Jewish university system headquartered in New York City, with branches throughout the United States as well as one each in Germany, Israel and Russia. It was founded by Bernard Lander in 1971 and named for Isaac an ...
, and previously at Brooklyn College
Brooklyn College is a public university in Brooklyn, Brooklyn, New York. It is part of the City University of New York system and enrolls about 15,000 undergraduate and 2,800 graduate students on a 35-acre campus.
Being New York City's first publ ...
.
Queens
The New York City borough of Queens
Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...
is home to a growing Haredi population, mainly affiliated with the Yeshiva Chofetz Chaim
Yeshiva Chofetz Chaim (also known as the Rabbinical Seminary of America) is an Orthodox Yeshiva in the United States, based in Kew Gardens Hills, Queens, New York. It is primarily an American, Lithuanian-style Talmudic Yeshiva. The Yeshiva is ...
and Yeshivas Ohr HaChaim
Yeshivas Ohr Hachaim is a Haredi yeshiva located in Kew Garden Hills, Queens, New York City. The yeshiva also has a kollel, and operates in conjunction with its high school Mesivta Yesodei Yeshurun which is located next door to Yeshivas Ohr Hachai ...
in Kew Gardens Hills and Yeshiva Shaar Hatorah in Kew Gardens
Kew Gardens is a botanical garden, botanic garden in southwest London that houses the "largest and most diverse botany, botanical and mycology, mycological collections in the world". Founded in 1840, from the exotic garden at Kew Park, its li ...
. Many of the students attend Queens College
Queens College (QC) is a public college in the Queens borough of New York City. It is part of the City University of New York system. Its 80-acre campus is primarily located in Flushing, Queens. It has a student body representing more than 170 ...
. There are major yeshivas and communities of Haredi Jews in Far Rockaway, such as Yeshiva of Far Rockaway
Yeshiva of Far Rockaway (also known as Yeshiva Derech Ayson ( he, יְשִׁיבָה דֶרֶךְ אֵיתָן) and Derech Ayson Rabbinical Seminary) is a yeshiva located at 802 Hicksville Road, Far Rockaway, Queens in New York City. It comprises ...
and a number of others. Hasidic shtibel
A shtiebel ( ''shtibl'', pl. ''shtiblekh'' or shtiebels, meaning "little house" or "little room" cognate with German Stübel) is a place used for communal Jewish prayer. In contrast to a formal synagogue, a shtiebel is far smaller and approached ...
ach exist in these communities as well, mostly catering to Haredi Jews who follow Hasidic customs, while living a Litvish or Modern Orthodox cultural lifestyle, although small Hasidic enclaves do exist, such as in the Bayswater section of Far Rockaway.
Manhattan
One of the oldest Haredi communities in New York is on the Lower East Side
The Lower East Side, sometimes abbreviated as LES, is a historic neighborhood in the southeastern part of Manhattan in New York City. It is located roughly between the Bowery and the East River from Canal to Houston streets.
Traditionally an im ...
, home to the Mesivtha Tifereth Jerusalem.
Washington Heights, in northern Manhattan, is the historical home to German Jews, with Khal Adath Jeshurun
Khal Adath Jeshurun (KAJ) is an Orthodox German Jewish Ashkenazi congregation in the Washington Heights neighborhood, in the New York City borough of Manhattan. It has an affiliated synagogue in the heavily Orthodox Jewish neighborhood of Monse ...
and Yeshiva Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch
Yeshiva Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch (YRSRH, also known as Breuer's, after its creator) was founded in New York City in 1944, as a means of reestablishing the Orthodox Jewish community of Frankfurt, Germany in the United States. The school, founded ...
. The presence of Yeshiva University attracts young people, many of whom remain in the area after graduation.
Long Island
The Yeshiva Sh'or Yoshuv, together with many synagogues in the Lawrence
Lawrence may refer to:
Education Colleges and universities
* Lawrence Technological University, a university in Southfield, Michigan, United States
* Lawrence University, a liberal arts university in Appleton, Wisconsin, United States
Preparator ...
neighborhood and other Five Towns
The Five Towns is an informal grouping of villages and hamlets in Nassau County, United States on the South Shore of western Long Island adjoining the border with Queens County in New York City. Although there is no official Five Towns de ...
neighborhoods, such as Woodmere and Cedarhurst, have attracted many Haredi Jews.
=Hudson Valley
=
The Hudson Valley
The Hudson Valley (also known as the Hudson River Valley) comprises the valley of the Hudson River and its adjacent communities in the U.S. state of New York. The region stretches from the Capital District including Albany and Troy south to ...
, north of New York City, has the most rapidly growing Haredi communities, such as the Hasidic communities in Kiryas Joel
Kiryas Joel ( yi, קרית יואל, Kiryas Yoyel, ; often locally abbreviated as KJ) is a village coterminous with the Town of Palm Tree in Orange County, New York, United States. The village shares one government with the Town. The vast majori ...
of Satmar
Satmar (Yiddish: סאַטמאַר, Hebrew: סאטמר) is a Hasidic group founded in 1905 by Grand Rebbe Joel Teitelbaum, in the city of Szatmárnémeti, Hungary (now Satu Mare in Romania). The group is an offshoot of the Sighet Hasidic dynast ...
Hasidim, and New Square
New Square ( yi, שיכון סקווירא, Shikun Skvir) is an all-Hasidic village in the town of Ramapo, Rockland County, New York, United States. It is located north of Hillcrest, east of Viola, south of New Hempstead, and west of New Cit ...
of the Skver
Skver (also Skvir, Skvere, or Skwere; yi, סקווירא) is the name of a Hasidic dynasty founded by Rebbe Yitzchok Twersky in the city of Skver (as known in Yiddish; or Skvyra, in present-day Ukraine) during the mid-19th century. Followers o ...
. A vast community of Haredi Jews lives in the Monsey, New York, area.
New Jersey
There are significant Haredi communities in Lakewood (New Jersey), home to the largest non-Hasidic Lithuanian yeshiva in America, Beth Medrash Govoha. There are also sizable communities in Passaic
Passaic ( or ) is a city in Passaic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city had a total population of 70,537, ranking as the 16th largest municipality in New Jersey and an increase of 656 from the 69,7 ...
and Edison
Thomas Alva Edison (February 11, 1847October 18, 1931) was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices in fields such as electric power generation, mass communication, sound recording, and motion pictures. These invention ...
, where a branch of the Rabbi Jacob Joseph Yeshiva opened in 1982. There is also a community of Syrian Jews favorable to the Haredim in their midst in Deal, New Jersey
Deal is a borough in Monmouth County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, settled by Europeans in the mid-1660s and named after an English carpenter from Deal, Kent. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 900, an increas ...
.
Maryland
Baltimore, Maryland
Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...
, has a large Haredi population. The major yeshiva is Yeshivas Ner Yisroel
Ner Israel Rabbinical College (ישיבת נר ישראל), also known as NIRC and Ner Yisroel, is a Haredi yeshiva (Jewish educational institution) in Pikesville (Baltimore County), Maryland. It was founded in 1933 by Rabbi Yaakov Yitzchok Ru ...
, founded in 1933, with thousands of alumni and their families. Ner Yisroel is also a Maryland state-accredited college, and has agreements with Johns Hopkins University
Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hem ...
, Towson University, Loyola College in Maryland, University of Baltimore, and University of Maryland, Baltimore County
The University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) is a public research university in Baltimore County, Maryland. It has a fall 2022 enrollment of 13,991 students, 61 undergraduate majors, over 92 graduate programs (38 master, 25 doctoral, ...
, allowing undergraduate students to take night courses at these colleges and universities in a variety of academic fields. The agreement also allows the students to receive academic credits for their religious studies.
Silver Spring, Maryland
Silver Spring is a census-designated place (CDP) in southeastern Montgomery County, Maryland, United States, near Washington, D.C. Although officially unincorporated, in practice it is an edge city, with a population of 81,015 at the 2020 censu ...
, and its environs has a growing Haredi community, mostly of highly educated and skilled professionals working for the United States government in various capacities, most living in Kemp Mill, White Oak, and Woodside
Woodside may refer to:
Places and buildings Australia
*Woodside, South Australia, a town
*Woodside, Victoria, a town
Canada
*Woodside National Historic Site, the boyhood home of William Lyon Mackenzie King
*Woodside, Nova Scotia, a neighborho ...
, and many of its children attend the Yeshiva of Greater Washington
The Yeshiva of Greater Washington (YGW) is an Orthodox community-based Jewish Day School that is located in Silver Spring, Maryland. It was founded in 1964 by Rabbi Gedaliah Anemer. It consists of separate high schools for boys and girls and a bei ...
and Yeshivas Ner Yisroel in Baltimore.
California
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
has many Hasidim and Haredi Jews who are not Hasidic. Most live in the Pico-Robertson and the Fairfax
Fairfax may refer to:
Places United States
* Fairfax, California
* Fairfax Avenue, a major thoroughfare in Los Angeles, California
* Fairfax District, Los Angeles, California, centered on Fairfax Avenue
* Fairfax, Georgia
* Fairfax, Indiana
* Fa ...
( Fairfax Avenue- La Brea Avenue) areas.
Illinois
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
is home to the Haredi Telshe Yeshiva of Chicago, with many other Haredim living in the city.
Colorado
Denver
Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...
has a large Haredi population of Ashkenazi origin, dating back to the early 1920s. The Haredi Denver West Side Jewish Community adheres to Litvak Jewish traditions (Lithuanian), and has several congregations located within their communities.
Massachusetts
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
and Brookline, Massachusetts
Brookline is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, Norfolk County, Massachusetts, in the United States, and part of the Greater Boston, Boston metropolitan area. Brookline borders six of Boston's neighborhoods: Brighton, Boston, Brighton, A ...
, have the largest Haredi populations in New England.
Ohio
One of the oldest Haredi Lithuanian yeshivas, Telshe Yeshiva, transplanted itself to Cleveland
Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...
in 1941.
United Kingdom
In 1998, the Haredi population in the Jewish community of the United Kingdom was estimated at 27,000 (13% of affiliated Jews). The largest communities are located in London, particularly Stamford Hill, in Salford and Prestwich
Prestwich ( ) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Bury, Greater Manchester, England, north of Manchester city centre, north of Salford and south of Bury.
Historically part of Lancashire, Prestwich was the seat of the ancient parish o ...
in Greater Manchester
Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county and combined authority, combined authority area in North West England, with a population of 2.8 million; comprising ten metropolitan boroughs: City of Manchester, Manchester, City of Salford, Salford ...
, and in Gateshead
Gateshead () is a large town in northern England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank, opposite Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle to which it is joined by seven bridges. The town contains the Gateshead Millennium Bridge, Millennium Bridge, Sage ...
. A 2007 study asserted that three out of four British Jewish births were Haredi, who then accounted for 17% of British Jews
British Jews (often referred to collectively as British Jewry or Anglo-Jewry) are British citizens who identify as Jewish. The number of people who identified as Jews in the United Kingdom rose by just under 4% between 2001 and 2021.
History
...
(45,500 out of around 275,000). Another study in 2010 established that there were 9,049 Haredi households in the UK, which would account for a population of nearly 53,400, or 20% of the community. The Board of Deputies of British Jews
The Board of Deputies of British Jews, commonly referred to as the Board of Deputies, is the largest and second oldest Jewish communal organisation in the United Kingdom, after only the Initiation Society which was founded in 1745. Established ...
has predicted that the Haredi community will become the largest group in Anglo-Jewry within the next three decades: In comparison with the national average of 2.4 children per family, Haredi families have an average of 5.9 children, and consequently, the population distribution is heavily biased to the under-20-year-olds. By 2006, membership of Haredi synagogues had doubled since 1990.
An investigation by ''The Independent
''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...
'' in 2014 reported that more than 1,000 children in Haredi communities were attending illegal schools where secular knowledge is banned, and they learn only religious texts, meaning they leave school with no qualifications and often unable to speak any English.
The 2018 Survey by the Jewish Policy Research (JPR) and the Board of Deputies of British Jews showed that the high birth rate in the Haredi and Orthodox community reversed the decline in the Jewish population in Britain.
Elsewhere
About 25,000 Haredim live in the Jewish community of France, mostly people of Sephardic, Maghrebi Jewish descent. Important communities are located in Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
, Strasbourg
Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label=Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label=Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the Eu ...
, and Lyon
Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...
. Other important communities, mostly of Ashkenazi Jews
Ashkenazi Jews ( ; he, יְהוּדֵי אַשְׁכְּנַז, translit=Yehudei Ashkenaz, ; yi, אַשכּנזישע ייִדן, Ashkenazishe Yidn), also known as Ashkenazic Jews or ''Ashkenazim'',, Ashkenazi Hebrew pronunciation: , singu ...
, are the Antwerp community in Belgium
Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...
, as well as in the Swiss communities of Zürich
Zürich () is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zürich. It is located in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zürich. As of January 2020, the municipality has 43 ...
and Basel
, french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese
, neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS ...
, and in the Dutch community in Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...
. There is also a Haredi community in Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
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, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
, in the Jewish community of Austria. Other countries with significant Haredi populations include: Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
, with large Haredi centres in Montreal
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...
and Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
; South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
, primarily in Johannesburg
Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...
; and Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
, centred in Melbourne
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
. Hasidic communities also exist in History of the Jews in Argentina, Argentina, especially in Buenos Aires, and in History of the Jews in Brazil, Brazil, primarily in São Paulo. A Haredi city is under construction (2021) in Mexico near Ixtapan de la Sal.
Present leadership and organizations
Rabbis and rabbinic authority
Notwithstanding the authority of Chief Rabbis of Israel (Ashkenazi: David Lau, Sephardi: Yitzhak Yosef) or the wide acknowledgement of specific rabbis in Israel (for example, Rabbi Gershon Edelstein of the non-Hasidic Lithuanian Jews, and Yaakov Aryeh Alter who heads the Ger (Hasidic dynasty), Ger Hasidic dynasty, the largest Hasidic group in Israel), Haredi and Hasidic factions generally align with the independent authority of their respective group leaders.
Major representative groups and political parties
* World Agudath Israel (including Agudath Israel of America
Agudath Israel of America ( he, אגודת ישראל באמריקה) (also called Agudah) is an American organization that represents Haredi Orthodox Jews. It is loosely affiliated with the international World Agudath Israel. Agudah seeks to ...
)
* Edah HaChareidis
The Charedi Council of Jerusalem ( he, העדה החרדית, ''haEdah haCharedit'', Ashkenazi pronunciation: ''ha-Aideh Charaidis'' or ''ha-Eido ha-Chareidis''; "Congregation of God-Fearers") is a large Haredi Judaism, Haredi Judaism, Jewish comm ...
(representing anti-Zionist Haredi groups in and around Jerusalem, including Satmar
Satmar (Yiddish: סאַטמאַר, Hebrew: סאטמר) is a Hasidic group founded in 1905 by Grand Rebbe Joel Teitelbaum, in the city of Szatmárnémeti, Hungary (now Satu Mare in Romania). The group is an offshoot of the Sighet Hasidic dynast ...
, Dushinsky (Hasidic dynasty), Dushinsky, Toldos Aharon, Toldos Avrohom Yitzchok, Mishkenos HoRoim (Hasidic dynasty), Mishkenos HoRoim, Spinka (Hasidic dynasty), Spinka, Brisk, and a section of other Misnagdim, Litvish Haredim)
Other representative associations may be linked to specific Haredi and Hasidic groups. For example:
* Breslov (Hasidic dynasty), Breslov Hasidism maintains an umbrella group known as Vaad Olami D'Chasedai Breslov
* Chabad Lubavitch[According to some sociologists studying contemporary Jewry, the Chabad movement neither fits into the category of Haredi or modern Orthodox, the standard categories for Orthodox Jews. This is due in part to the existence of the "non-Orthodox Hasidim" (of which include former Israeli President Zalman Shazar), the lack of official recognition of political and religious distinctions within Judaism, and the open relationship with non-Orthodox Jews represented by the activism of Chabad emissaries. See Liebman, Charles S. "Orthodoxy in American Jewish Life". The American Jewish Year Book (1965): 21-97; Ferziger, Adam S. "Church/sect theory and American orthodoxy reconsidered". Ambivalent Jew - Charles S. Liebman in memoriam, ed. Stuart Cohen and Bernard Susser (2007): 107-124.] maintains an international network of organizations, and is formally represented under the umbrella group Agudas Chasidei Chabad
* The Hasidic umbrella group Central Rabbinical Congress is associated with Satmar
Satmar (Yiddish: סאַטמאַר, Hebrew: סאטמר) is a Hasidic group founded in 1905 by Grand Rebbe Joel Teitelbaum, in the city of Szatmárnémeti, Hungary (now Satu Mare in Romania). The group is an offshoot of the Sighet Hasidic dynast ...
Haredi political parties in Israel include:
* Shas (representing Sephardic Haredim, Mizrahi and Sephardic Haredim)
* United Torah Judaism (alliance representing Ashkenazi Haredim)
** Agudat Yisrael (representing many Hasidic Jews)
** Degel HaTorah (representing Lithuanian Jews)
* U'Bizchutan (representing Haredi women and the Orthodox Jewish feminism, Orthodox Jewish feminist movement)
* Noam (political party), Noam
* Yachad (political party), Yachad
Controversies
Shunning
People who decide to off the derech, leave Haredi communities are sometimes shunned
Shunning can be the act of social rejection, or emotional distance. In a religious context, shunning is a formal decision by a denomination or a congregation to cease interaction with an individual or a group, and follows a particular set of rule ...
and pressured or forced to abandon their children.
Pedophilia and sexual abuse cases
Cases of pedophilia, sexual violence, Sexual assault, assaults, and Sexual abuse, abuses against women and Child sexual abuse, children occur in roughly the same rates in Haredi communities as in the general population; however, they are rarely discussed or reported to the authorities, and frequently downplayed by members of the communities.
Divorce coercion
See also
* Relationships between Jewish religious movements
* Schisms among the Jews#Hasidim and Mitnagdim
References
Bibliography
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External links
* Benjamin Brown (scholar), Benjamin Brown
"Orthodox Judaism", in: The Blackwell Companion to Judaism, 2001
Haredi and technology
Hasidic and Haredi Jewish population growth
Map of the main Haredi Communities in Jerusalem
{{Authority control
Haredi Judaism,
Orthodox Judaism
Jewish religious movements