Kharedim and The Jewish Question in Israel

Haredi Population Tops One Million

Hared (חרד) is the Hebrew word for “tremble” in relation to those who tremble before G-d. It implies those who acknowledge the might of G-d.

It makes sense that the Haredi (Kharedi) population would increase given that they only engage in traditional marriages. Secular Israelis are not going to be the majority of their country in the near future. Also, many people who are not from these communities become spiritual and religious later in life. This adds to the gene pool and the financial statistics. If the richest person I’m related to made the decision to become Observant, then the “Kharedi Statistic” would report that the number of Jews in poverty is decreasing.

This report claims that more girls are taking secular exams to get jobs. Teaching and nursing jobs carter to women, and those are in high demand. So it makes sense that women would be more willing to take them. The American Immigrants that have moved to Israel are use to women taking on such jobs given that it’s more normal for a Traditional Jewish family in America to have women working – on the assumption that they are taking on morally decent jobs and not going to college for things like “women’s history”. If college was limited to only decent career choices, then it would be less controversial than the Hellenistic philosophies that are taught at such places. 

“Yesh Atid” is the name of a Centrist political party known for catering to those with secular interests and is very Leftist in certain areas. They even raised taxes on certain items despite blaming Kharedim on the countries socioeconomic problems, so it’s mostly hypocritical. It wasn’t that relevant in this article, but because they are mentioned, I felt like going into some slight detail about them.

Do note that Yesh Atid isn’t radically Left-Wing, but they wouldn’t be on the Right-Wing either. Netanyahu would be considered Right-Wing. Though, the most extreme Right would be Meir Kahane – who was killed by Egyptian-Muslim terrorists in Manhattan in 1990. He admitted that democracy isn’t compatible with Jewish values.

The fact that Kharedim are less likely to take Civilian Service jobs in the military shows that they are not moved by Pacifist Liberalism. They don’t even use Pascifism when discussing the avoidance of conscription to the draft. People who are dedicated to their faith are more likely to defend it against others. Therefor, the survival of Jewish Nationalism is through the spiritual lens. Secular Nationalism already died out long ago. This is probably because many of the Nationalists in Israel became Observant later in life. And many of the Americans that volunteering for the Israeli Defense Forces are from some level of Orthodoxy. Some move for the purpose of joining first before thinking about citizenship. Avidgor Lieberman advocated for more religious accommodations in the Military which is what motivated more people to want to join.

P.S. As we know, the internet is a powerful tool which can be used for good or evil. Observant Jews realized this early on and created ways to make the internet safer to use. On one of my devices, I have an app called “Mobicip” that makes web-browsing on devices (such as the iPhone and iTouch) more appropriate to use. It even has an option that removes pictures from all sites you use. This is very good for those trying to stay morally pure. Besides that, filtering out politically correct content is beneficial for those who don’t want to be brainwashed by fake news.