israel's jewish problem

hip hop bunny hop · 01-27-2013, 05:26 PM

This is the first portion of a three page article on the growth of the "ultra-orthodox" community in Israel. The article is rather dry, but the picture it paints is hilarious.

Quote:

Rachel Weinstein calls it her Rosa Parks moment. On a recent morning, the 38-year-old Israeli boarded a bus to a local shopping center in her town. It was the same line she takes regularly, but on this day an ultra-Orthodox passenger directed her to the back of the bus where, she noticed, the women were sitting separately. “He was actually addressing my husband, who boarded with me,” she recounted to Newsweek. “He wouldn’t even talk to me.” Weinstein lives in Beit Shemesh, a town of both religious and nonreligious Jews where the population of ultra-Orthodox—the most theologically rigid of Judaism’s denominations—has surged in recent years.

Instead of complying, Weinstein took a seat several rows behind the driver and held her ground, channeling the spirit of that American civil-rights icon from more than a half century ago. A native of New York City who describes herself as modern Orthodox, Weinstein immigrated to Israel earlier this year to live among “like-minded Jews,” she says, not extremists. When the anger around her felt menacing—one woman charged from the back of the bus to berate her for not showing sufficient respect—Weinstein clutched a ring of keys in her purse and prepared to swing it if things turned violent. After several tense minutes, she got off at her stop and wept.

In Beit Shemesh and elsewhere across the country, some ultra-Orthodox Jews have tried to impose a kind of communal piety—a strict code of behavior that includes gender segregation on buses, with men in the front and women in the back. For most Israelis, this zealousness is off-putting. Founded by secular Jews who envisaged a modern, egalitarian state, Israel has all the trappings of a liberal society: progressive laws and cutting-edge universities, women in bikinis and women in business and politics. But it also has a fast-growing community that shuns modernity and views the world through the narrow prism of biblical warrant. Once a tiny minority, ultra-Orthodox Jews—also known as Haredim—now make up more than 10 percent of Israel’s population and 21 percent of all primary-school students. With the community’s fertility rate hovering at more than three times that of other Israeli Jews, demographers project that by 2034, about one in five Israelis will be ultra-Orthodox.

The impact will reach well beyond the neighborhood quarrels over segregated buses or modest attire—another Haredi preoccupation that has stirred tensions across Israel. Most ultra-Orthodox Jews lack the skills to work in a modern economy, having studied little or no math and science beyond primary school (their curriculum focuses almost entirely on religious texts such as the Torah and Talmud). As a result, more than 60 percent live below the poverty line, compared with 12 percent among non-Haredi Jews. Most also opt out of military service, which is compulsory for other Israelis. The net effect: as the Haredi community expands, the burden of both taxation and conscription falls on fewer and fewer Israelis. (Secular Israelis joke bitterly that one third of the country serves in the military, one third participates in the workforce, and one third pays taxes—but that it’s all the same third).

The country’s political landscape will also shift. According to pollsters, Haredim are consistently hawkish on the question of territorial compromise with the Palestinians, citing God’s covenant with Abraham granting Jews the land of Israel. Already the parties that represent them wield significant political power in Israel’s coalition-based system. If the demographic trends hold, the prospect of getting a majority in Israel to back the compromises required for a peace deal will narrow with each passing year. In the long run, says Dan Ben-David, a Tel Aviv University economist who heads the Taub Center for Social Policy Studies, Israeli society will be poorer, less educated, and increasingly right wing.

The projections, of course, are just that—projections. A community’s behavior, including its fertility rates and employment patterns, tends to evolve over time. Even moderate shifts could affect the forecast. But ultra-Orthodox Jews are by definition averse to change. They dress in the same outfits as their 19th-century forebears—dark suits, frock coats, and wide-brimmed hats. And they hew fastidiously to practices that were laid out in texts thousands of years ago. For Weinstein, who has lived in proximity to Haredim at different times in her life, the drift seems, if anything, toward greater rigidity.

So how did the Haredim become Israel’s latest demographic worry? The answer, in part at least, dates back to the foundation of the state, when David Ben-Gurion made sweeping concessions to rabbis in exchange for their political support. Among other things, he agreed to Army exemptions for 18-year-old Haredim who wished to continue studying at religious seminaries instead of being called to serve.

two more pages of this, here

Neapolitan · 01-27-2013, 10:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hip hop bunny hop

This is the first portion of a three page article on the growth of the "ultra-orthodox" community in Israel. The article is rather dry, but the picture it paints is hilarious.

two more pages of this, here

Moe Larry Cheese Moe Larry Cheese

Franco Pepe Kalle · 01-30-2013, 08:57 PM

The thing is that 3/4 of the population in Israel is Jewish. Just a fact.

Trollheart · 01-31-2013, 08:23 PM

Why is it hilarious? In what way?

Not sure what you're getting at here...

~~Whiskey~~ · 02-01-2013, 12:08 AM

Guys I live in Israel and I must tell you there are tons of Arabs around here.

Neapolitan · 02-02-2013, 05:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Whiskey

Guys I live in Israel and I must tell you there are tons of Arabs around here.

US or Metric measurement? A US ton would be four or five people.

hip hop bunny hop · 02-04-2013, 10:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trollheart

Why is it hilarious? In what way?

Not sure what you're getting at here...

I will elaborate for you, because I am kind:

1. In order to achieve a "grand compromise", rent-seeking by the Ultra-Orthodox was activelly encouraged by the Government.

2. The distortion of the market in favor of the Ultra-Orthodox lead, naturally, to a dramatic growth in their population.

3. The increased population has made the rent seeking by the Ultra-Orthodox economically untenable, while opposing the rent-seeking is politically untenable.

Franco Pepe Kalle · 02-06-2013, 10:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Whiskey

Guys I live in Israel and I must tell you there are tons of Arabs around here.

I understand but most of its members are Jews.

Burning Down · 02-06-2013, 11:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Franco Pepe Kalle

I understand but most of its members are Jews.

I'm pretty sure that there are Arab Jews...

01-30-2013, 08:57 PM	#3 (permalink)
Franco Pepe Kalle Mwana Nzala Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: Shakopee, Minnesota Posts: 627	The thing is that 3/4 of the population in Israel is Jewish. Just a fact. __________________ The problem with Franco Pepe Kalle is that he is a unpredictable character. There is surprising info about this man. You think he only likes Franco and Pepe Kalle but when you find out that he hears other artists, you are shock. Girls are the sexy thing that God created. Important to notice FPK.

01-31-2013, 08:23 PM	#4 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,992	Why is it hilarious? In what way? Not sure what you're getting at here... __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

02-01-2013, 12:08 AM	#5 (permalink)
~~Whiskey~~ Account Disabled Join Date: Jan 2013 Location: Israel Posts: 180	Guys I live in Israel and I must tell you there are tons of Arabs around here.