Israel – Night has fallen over the Jerusalem neighborhood of Mea Shearim, but few are finding much rest. Curses and shouts ring out in narrow streets still littered with broken glass and other debris from hours of rioting. The stench of burning rubbish hangs in the air, as policemen and protesters glower at each other.
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This area, not far from the Old City, is normally tranquil. Home to several thousand members of Israel’s ultra-orthodox min-ority, Mea Shearim often seems defiantly to reject the trappings of modern life. There are few cars, no bars, no loud music, no short skirts. Men wear black or golden coats, traditional hats and long beards and spend most of their day in religious study.
But now night after night police have been deployed to face down angry protesters who curse them as Nazis and hurl bottles and stones. The police have responded with baton charges, water cannon and dozens of arrests.
The clashes were triggered by a seemingly innocent government decision to relocate ancient Jewish graves in the city of Ashkelon to expand a hospital. Residents of Jerusalem know, however, that it does not take much to spark the outrage of the ultra-orthodox. In the past year alone, the opening of a municipal car park on the Sabbath and a move by Intel, the US computer chipmaker, to operate its local plant on the day of rest have led to violent protests.
What has set the most recent riots apart is not the behaviour of the ultra-orthodox, but the backlash from Israel’s political and social mainstream. But secular and moderately religious Israelis have come to see the ultra-orthodox as an economic and social threat – and politicians are starting to echo those concerns.
“Usually, Israeli politics is all about the peace process. But now people are beginning to ask questions about this important topic. People can no longer look aside,” says Shahar Ilan, an expert on the ultra-orthodox community and vice-president of Hiddush, a group advocating “religious freedom and equality”.
The tensions also pose a challenge to Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister, whose government coalition includes ultraorthodox parties but who will also be aware of the rising secular anger.
The ultra-orthodox have always had a troubled relationship with Israel. A minority – no more than 10 per cent, according to one estimate – reject the secular Jewish state as a religious abomination and refuse to vote or pay taxes. Some even burn the Israeli flag on independence day.
But most ultra-orthodox Israelis, while troubled by what they regard as secular excesses – such as showing films on the Sabbath and annual gay pride marches – still see the state as a force for good. Ultra-orthodox parties are often part of the government, giving the community political and economic influence.
The tensions are as old as the Jewish state itself. Mostly, however, the two sides have kept to an intricate set of live-and-let-live agreements that grant authority over many social and religious questions to the ultra-orthodox. Crucially, the ultra-orthodox have their own stream of schools, and those studying in a yeshiva , or Jewish seminary, are exempt from military service.
But that deal is starting to unravel because of a sharp increase in the ultra-orthodox population. Once a tiny minority, the community today accounts for at least 8 per cent of the Israeli adult population. It is forecast to double every 16 years. In Jerusalem more than half the Jewish children attending primary school hail from ultra-orthodox families.
A survey by Israel’s Taub Centre for Social Policy Studies highlighted the economic consequences: almost two-thirds of ultra-orthodox men do not work, meaning that a rapidly increasing share of the population depends on state welfare.
Many ultra-orthodox schools refuse to teach the core curriculum, so thousands of pupils grow up with only a rudimentary knowledge of maths and none of other sciences, foreign languages or non-religious history.
“The great majority of ultra-orthodox men are not able to work in most vocations in the modern world. They are very much dependent on government support – and that has aggravated a lot of people,” says Menachem Friedman, a professor at Bar Ilan -university.
The ultra-orthodox are coming to be seen as a heavy burden. Calls for reform of their schools are growing, as are demands to draft yeshiva students into the army.
Ron Huldai, the mayor of Tel Aviv, declared earlier this month that the state must act against “insulated and ignorant sectors which are increasing at a frightening speed and are jeopardising our political and financial strength”.
According to Mr Ilan, the tensions will increase. The next Israeli election, he argues, “will be fought on the subject of religion and the state”.
That’s great news! The secular folks could move to india , when there jewish spark will re-ignite they will be welcomed back to isreal with open loving arms.
Although vary biased article; “veruach HaKodash Omeres Kien Yirbeh”….
some of the ultra orthodox and demanding more and giving less and that cannot go on.
You want to live your ultra orthodox lifestyle go ahead just do not ask the others to support your lifestyle.
Don’t be afraid hashem will provide
Now we start to see what satmar rebbe said 50 years ago “that it will come a time that a REAL frum yid will not can stay in israel”
Rabbi Meir Kahana was right when he said “Israel is not a Jewish state,it is a state of Jews!”
What a shunda it is that the holiest city on earth might actually be populated by Torah! According to Rav Avigdor Miller ZT’l it is better the land be in the hands of arabs who dont desecrate the holy land then be in the hands of secular jews who commit countless everyday averas!
Anyone familiar with zionism knows that Tel Aviv is th Zionism capital! Let the Torah Jews live in Jerusalem, the true capital of Jewry!
Rav Shach once told a Zionist (I think BEN GURION YM”S)
“if you draft Bochurim to the army Im taking Yeshivas Ponovich back to Russia Its easyer to be a jew there then in Israel.”
Ron Huldai, the mayor of Tel Aviv, declared earlier this month that the state must act against “insulated and ignorant sectors which are increasing at a frightening speed and are jeopardising our political and financial strength”.
Huldai speaks on behalf the large percentage of normal Israelis who are disgusted with the behavior of these insular and ignorant fringe elements of the chareidi ocmmunity. Most chareidim want to be left alone and allowed to live in accordance to their minhagim. These Chareidim we can tolerate but the growing numbers of violent and angry young chareidim who have corrupted yiddeshkeit in the name of protecting it must be stamped out like Amalek.
“Kasher yani oisoy kein yirbah vkein yifrotz”
Its a pusik chimush,,
i don’t the government is too concerned with the small minority of chraidim who pretend that they are the majority.
Very well written. Btw about the statistics in israeli population though a mere eight percent consider themselves ‘haredi’, only forty two percent consider themselves secular. May hashem help that very soon all people of his nation should serve him.
This article unfairly characterizes ALL chareidim as lazy and dysfuncitonal with little contribution to the medinah. Thas is not true. There is a small minority who actually do useful work, participate politically and serve in the military. While this is a small fraction it does show that some chareidim do make a contribution to Israeli society.
One day will have a haredi president
the few lunatic fringe are making the whole of mea shearim a place where you can say its a lunatic asylem for the mentally disturbed
Remember the good old days when it was easy to call out an Anti-Semite. Anyone who would say anything negative about a Jew was quickly categorized as a Nazi. With the advent of Israel and this secular “Jewish” society, we have given the world a free pass to criticize Torah Jews as long as the secular ones are left untouched. Thank you Zionism.
One the frum is the majority, the state will fail. Simply because they will impose religious rule, requiring ladies to cover there heads, and no pig meat to be sold. Sounds good?
Maybe.
But support from America and europe will go down the drain in a matter of a few months. Israel will also use harsh power against Iran, like throwing the nuclear bomb. And the whole world will rally against israel, and them milchemes gog imgog will start, and then lots of jews will get killed, and hopefully moshiach will come.
Very sad.
Unfortunately, there is less tolerance in Eretz Yisrael for religious diversity, than there is in the USA. There is not one politician in either Israel or the USA, who has the guts to admit that fact. Would the United States of America have stood for a raid on a Synagogue on Shabbos, in which hundreds of police were involved, who not only threw tear gas into a Shul, but also broke in and beat men, women, and children with clubs? Would the USA have stood for such a desecration of a Shul, where holy books were torn up, and thrown out the window? I’m not talking about Germany; the incident that I was referring to, actually happened in March, 1981, at the Toldos Aharon Synagogue, in Yerushalayim on Shabbos. However, since the victims were not secular Israelis, but Ultra-Orthodox, news reports of the event, were buried. Today, if that same incident occurred, there would be much greater reporting, because of the Internet, and the various cable channels.
There should be no support of parasites, only tax credits (meaning get a job)-unless people are physically or mentally not able to work. If work was not evil to Rashi or Rambam (who condemned parasites), it certainly can not be evil to this group.
Now Israel will become like Saudi Arabia or the Taliban and nobody complain that the Arabs are backwards and Tyrannical. Especially when the Tzinus police come around the corner!! The only good thing will be a serious Yiddish revival.
The MAJORITY of frum Yidden in E”Y are the RELIGIOUS ZIONIST who work hard and serve proudly in the IDF. These are the Jews that the secular politicians are deathly afraid of, so they misdirect their anger at a handful of choleriyas chuliganes.
i dont understand the rioting… ure not gonna be able to stop non religious people from working on shabbos so what do you hope to accomplish?
DERECH ERETZ KUDMA LTORAH. With all those hours of study, maybe remind yourseleves of that simple slogan.
What does non-religious history have to do with getting a job? Maybe the Israeli government should hire more religious teachers in the secular schools to teach religious history and Torah subjects.
There are ways to teach math to chareidi children through teaching Torah , including measurements, maaser and trumah, calculating the calendar, etc. Most science can be taught to teach students the wonder of Hashem’s creations. Education of children is not meant to train them to be working members of society but to teach them to be upright members of society and to love and fear Hashem.
There should be more vocational programs to train chareidi men to work and more jobs available where they would get better compensated so they can honestly support large families. Most subjects taught in secular schools, including math, science and history do not train people for jobs unless taught in an applied manner.
“The great majority of ultra-orthodox men are not able to work in most vocations in the modern world. They are very much dependent on government support – and that has aggravated a lot of people,” says Menachem Friedman, a professor at Bar Ilan -university.”
It is not simply a matter of vocation in which over the top חרדים are unqualified. It is also an inability to relate to those ‘not of their kind’ in the work place- especially, where there is a mixing of the genders- that will limit them greatly. It is the price for willful ignorance.
Doesn’t anyone understand that the Chareidim won’t enter the workforce because leaving the Yeshiva makes them eligible for the draft? For the most part, sitting in Yeshiva has less to do with learning and more with avoiding responsibilities. The system of learning endless years in kolel never worked in Europe. It was only for y’chidei s’gula. The ONLY reason it perpetuates in America and Israel is because both are welfare states.
I’m visitng Israel now with my family, its a beautifully developed country, amazingly so after only 60 years.
What did the chareidim (as opposed to stam datiyim) do for this wonderful country.
Many don’t work, they don’t serve in the Army, they are not a productive part of the economy they are specialists in squeezing out monetary concessions from any govt. That’s in power. And here’s the rub
They allow the secular leftist govt. To do what they want as long as the govt keeps on supporting the welfare system that only suceeds in keeping these “bnei torah” in living a life of a shnorrer.
I’m very familiar with frum communities in US and israel.
The average Frum yid in america works hard, is koveah itim L’torah and is a productive part of society. Oh! And he is constantly badgered by the shnorrers from israel who need to marry off their kids cuz they don’t have the means to do it themselves. A bunch of shnorrers who after 15 years in “koilel” need to go to “chull” for the next 15 years to support their shnorrerly raised children.
What kind of chinuch does a yeshiva bochur have seeing his faqther shlepp around US, latin Americsa and europe with collecting papers??
Its disgusting.
So yes, I agree with the seculars on this one
If non-frum want to even out the situation let them get busy with prua rva instead of rioting
“The seculars did not have many kids so..they are going down big time.”
Very silly. This is not a boxing match between חרדים and חילונים.Torah True Jews desire the חילונים to become BTs, not “go down big time”. In any case, you’re math is wrong. As long as the חילוני couples have 2+ children who remain secular, they will remain around. They percentage of the population as a whole may go down, but they will still exist.
“According to R Avigdor Miller.. it is better the land be in the hands of arabs who dont desecrate the holy land then be in the hands of secular jews who commit countless everyday averas!”
Straw man. The land is not in the hands of chilonim. It’s in the hands of chilonim, datim-leumim and חרדים. So R’ Miller’s alleged statement is utterly irrelevant. (And who actually believe such a statement?)
“”if you draft Bochurim to the army Im taking Yeshivas Ponovich back to Russia Its easyer to be a jew there then in Israel.”
You really believe this?
“One day will have a haredi president”
Finally, a smart comment. If trends continue, then the charedim will have a real role in the Zionist gov’t. They will no longer be a peripheral member of the Zionist gov’t. They will be the Zionist gov’t!
The linear predictions, whether by doomsday secularists or triumphalist charedim are all wrong!
1) As mentioned above, the charedim will will-nilly become Zionists as their role in gov’t increases. The question is what kind of Zionists they will be.
2) The money will dry up. This is simple unavoidable mathematics. While those who work and pay taxes may be able to support
“And, pray tell who will run the country and defend it while the seculars are gone?”
It will be the Charedim. And they will then have to make real decisions when it comes to governance. They will pay taxes, they will work, go to college, and they will build (love those huge families!!!) & defend the country. They will become black hatted Zionist activists even though they may pay lip service to anti-Zionism. Shuvu Bonim!
after losing more and more friends around the world they want to start with chareidim.
or maybe they need the chareidim.
The 10 lost tribes assimilated, and they also lived in a Jewish State, where are they now? Our only hope is in the very near future, when religious Jews are once again a majority in Eretz Yisroel ka”h.