T. Belman. Recently I spoke to two Hareidi men about my suggestion that we need a new social contract that defines the relationship between secular and Hareidi. They both suggested that all my arguments in support of same were based on lies. This article suggests otherwise.
The plight of masses of children being born into a vicious cycle of self-inflicted poverty is a moral stain on Israel
A senior economist and executive Board Member at the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Anthony De Lannoy, this week diplomatically accused the Israeli government of ignoring the Haredi demographic problem which he implied threatens Israel’s long term economic prosperity. He alluded to the fact that this rapidly growing poor population is one of the main recipients of Health, Education and Welfare resources yet they contribute very little to the tax base that sustains the Social Welfare system. The burden of financing Haredi welfare is being borne disproportionately and unfairly by other Israelis who work, pay tax and serve in the Army.
Ultra-Orthodox Jews (“Haredim”) currently make up 12% of the population in Israel (1.1 Mio 2018). With a birthrate of 7.1, the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics forecasts the population to more than double to 2.3 Mio in 2037, and the Bank of Israel forecasts that by 2065, ultra-Orthodox Jews will make up 25% of the Israeli population.
The IMF articulated what Dan Ben David (Professor of Economics & Public Policy from Tel Aviv University, and the head of the Shoresh Institute for Socio Economic Research) has been saying for a while. If nothing changes and their population continues to rise there is a “democratic point of no return” which, he says, some believe, we may have already crossed. He is more optimistic and argues convincingly that it is not too late if the government starts to address the challenges of integrating Haredim more fully into Israeli society now. It must begin in the education system. Haredim must study a full core curriculum through the end of secondary school that in turn allows them to go on to university and specialized professions. They must be encouraged to work and earn higher salaries in order to pay their fare share of income tax. Strategically this is as or more important than Army service. The rights and benefits they are entitled to must be conditional on the responsibilities and duties of citizenship. They cannot arbitrage the system. Political power implies social responsibility to the greater good of society as a whole.
The Haredim are amongst the poorest groups in Israeli society. The plight of hundreds of thousands of children being born into a vicious cycle of self-inflicted poverty is a moral stain on the Jewish and democratic values upon which the State was established. The early founders’ vision of an exemplary Jewish and democratic State caring for the weakest elements of the society has been forsaken for short term political expediency.
Ben David believes the best case scenario for the upcoming election is a unity government between Kahol Lavan and Likud that excludes the Haredim. The current coalition between the right and Haredim is unsustainable economically. We can’t afford it. Well before the Haredim are 25% of the population in 2065 the economy and democracy will be unsustainable and our military strength and superiority will decline. If modern Israel is to survive for a thousand years it must maintain its economic and military superiority. That requires addressing the Haredi issue now.
According to Prime Minister Netanyahu, former defense minister Avigdor Liberman is to blame for the second election. He refused to sit with the Haredim unless they agreed to serve in the Army. The second election of 2019 has turned into a referendum not only on Netanyahu but on the Haredim and their position in Israeli society. The Haredi issue is much more complex than the inherent unfairness of their refusal to serve in the Army or undertaken National Service.
Professor Ben David explains that partly because of the Haredim Israel has the largest percentage of people living below the poverty line, the biggest educational inequality and one of the lowest Labour Force Participation Rates of any country in the OECD (Developed World).
Haredi males in particular are poor and are encouraged by their communities to study in Yeshivot rather than work. Primary school children study a very limited core curriculum of secular studies and high school children (14-17) virtually nothing at all. Israel is the only country in the developed world in which a core curriculum is not mandatory for all children. Only 1% of Haredi men get a National Matriculation compared to 77% in the general population. Haredi men have a significantly lower participation in the labour force (51 %) than other groups. A majority of those that do work tend to earn close to the minimum wage of NIS 4,500 and therefore pay very little Income Tax.
The rapidly growing Haredi population puts an even greater tax burden on increasingly fewer tax payers. Israel already has one of the smallest number of tax payers paying 90% of all Income Tax. Anyone earning more than around NIS 18,000 ($5,000) per month is part of the top 20% of income earners paying 92% of all income taxes collected by the Government. This is highly unfair and the demographics suggest it will get worse. The current system is economically unsustainable.
The real victims here are what Eitan Regev, a Research Fellow from the Israel Democracy Institute, calls the “lost generations of Haredi children” who are being deprived of their right to an education that will enable them to work or earn higher wages, and extract themselves from a vicious cycle of poverty. Over the last 20 years approximately 120,000 Haredi boys have been deprived of a secular education and over the next two decades if nothing changes approximately 274,000 young men and their offspring will be condemned to poverty. There are currently 308,000 children in Haredi schools between 1-12 grades and a further 124,450 student in Yeshivot. Haredi children are currently 19% of all 1st graders and this is expected to increase to 50% in two generations. Approximately 8,000 Haredi male students graduate 12th grade each year. Liberman’s plan for integrating them into the Army ramps up to 6,500 a year over 8 years.
There is no other country in the developed world with a poverty problem of this nature and magnitude. Ben David says that it is the responsibility of the State to educate all children equally and provide them with the means to become economically self-sufficient. Professor Ben David argues compellingly that you cannot maintain a 1st World Army with a 3rd World Education System. Fixing this problem now before the numbers become too large is doable. In the future it may be impossible. The survival of the State economically and militarily is at stake. The real victims however are the children who are being deprived of their right to an education that will enable them to work and extract themselves from poverty. If we were talking about a Health issue related to children everyone would understand that the State has the duty and right to protect all children but here it’s as if the children don’t exist. Israel desperately needs to start listening to the IMF, the Bank of Israel and Dan Ben David if it wants to survive.
In New York, Haredi parents and their children who have been similarly deprived of secular educations have bought a Class Action lawsuit against the Government accusing it of failing to provide an equal level of secular studies for all children. It may not be long before similar claims are being made in Israel.
The quick answer to this is that nobody under thirty gets any welfare unless they have done their IDF or national service, and damn the consequences.
For that we need a government that is not dependent on the Haredi parties and a police force willing to arrest those black coats vandalising posters etc with female images. Even the three years of the Lapid government woke up a lot of bochurim that there is a world of better income in the IDF and in the workforce..
@ Ted Belman: Actually, Ted, I live in an area of New York State (the Mid-Hudson and Mid-Delaware Valleys) where there is a both a sizable hasidic population, and a lot of people, many of them local officials, who hate them. They make exactly the same complaints about these American hasidim that the TAU professor whose article you have published makes.
They are welfare bums living off the public till. They don’t work, but they expect the government to “subsidize their religious customs.” They attend a local community college only in order to take certain courses, in order to learn certain specialized skills, but with no intention of graduating (why people think this is such an awful crime is beyond me). They want the government to subsidize their schools, even though religious customs, such as separate seating for boys and girls, are observed there. They have too much political power (actually they have almost none). They vote as a bloc (actually, they don’t). They are crooked.
As in Israel, many of the these attacks on upstate New York hasidic (and hence “haredi”) Jews originate with secular or non-Orthodox Jews. I personally know both several haredim and several non-Orthodox Jews(including even a local rabbi) who hate them passionately and slander them. Both groups of Jews live in towns near mine.
@ AryehbnBaruch:
I, for one, have recognized that the American Hareidi community is different from the Israeli one in that they get educated and support themselves.
I wish it could be said of the Israeli one.
As an American Haredi with a master’s degree I take exception to the way that your article dismisses Haredim as if we were all Neanderthals whose vocabulary consists of a few words and several grunts. Yes, there are some Haredi Yeshiva systems where secular subjects are not taught. They are few and far between. American Haredim include PhD’s, JD’s, MD’s accountants, computer programmers, professionals, and businessmen. We tend to be overperformers. We are strong supporters of Israel and Israeli charities. We visit Israel. We send our children to study in Israel. Most of us have siblings or children who now live in Israel.
@ EDDYDEE: Eddy, Israel can’t survive if 12 per cent of its Jewishpopulation “has to go.” (Go where? to concentration camps?).
If Israel survives Arab, Iranian and other Arab aggression by 2065, this uthor’s target date, the haredim will be fully integrated into Israeli society, and won’t need or desire a “feed box.” If, on the other hand, the Arab, Iranian and other Muslim enemies of Israel succeed in destroying it, for example with nuclear weapons, there won’t be any Jews at all in Israel in 2065, and perhaps very few anywhere. The TAU crowd sees Orthodox Jews as the enemy. I see the Islamic jihadists and their Western collaborators as the enemy.
@ Adam Dalgliesh:
I’m for survival…..if the group’s only concern is keeping the feed box full then
THEY GOTTA GO…………..SURVIVE OR FORGETABOUTIT……….
Eddie
While the TAU crowd just kvetches about the haredim because its furthers their anti-Judaic, anti-religious agenda there are many non-profit institutions in that work actively to integrate haredim into the mainstream of Israeli life, find productive jobs for them, etc. Few if any TAU people are active in these positive-orinted nonprofits.
We should remember that Tel Aviv University (TAU) is a hotbed not only of anti-haredi sentiment, but anti-Judaism sentiment in general, anti-Bible sentiment, anti-Zionist sentiment, Jewish history in the Land of Israel denial, Jewish peoplehood denial. For example, a prominent TAU archeologist has claimed that David and Soloman were mere “tribal leaders” if they ever existed at all, and that the Israelites were primitive, illiterate tribesman during their lifetime, and for generations thereafter.(There is overwhelming archeological evidence, discovered by other archeologists, that dispoves these claims). Several TAU professors have expressed the view that the medieval blood libel charge against Jews, that Jews used the blood of Christian children in their Passover matzot, is true! One TAU professor actually wrote and published a book arguing the case for the blood libel. Another TAU professor argued that since there were no camels in the land of Israel during Biblical times (of course there were), the Bible must have been written much more recently, since it contains many mentions of camels in the land. The overwhelming majority of TAU professors have spoken out about the Israel-Palestine conflict denounced the Israeli “occupation,” demanded the expulsion of the Jewish “settlers,” called the settlers Nazis, etc. Anyhting that a TAU professor writes targeting the groups that the TAU faculty view as “the enemy” must therefore be taken with a grain of salt.
The author’s complaints about the haredim sound suspiciously like the complaints about “those people on welfare” and “welfare queens” in the United States, made by conservatives in the United States. In the Us, the left has always denounced these complaints as racist, and directed against blacks, Hispanics, immigrants, etc. But in Israel, so-called “progressives” use these same arguments and complaintsagainst the haredim–although not against Arabs and Ethiopians, whom they regard as “oppressed” and therefire deserving of government largesse.
Notice that the author doesn’t say a word about the Arab citizens of Israel, who receive even more handouts from the Israeli government (welfare, unemployment insurance, child allowances, etc.). The “Arab sector” also contributes disproportionately to Israel’s crime rate, which in turn costs working Israelis a vast amount of money–the direct losses from thefts, including car thefts, the cost of maintaining the police forces needed to arrest at least some of these offenders, the cost of maintaining them in prison, etc. As many as 60 per cent of crimes in Israel are committed by members of the “Arab sector.” By way of contrast, the crime rate and the rate of incarceration of haredim are both low.
The author of this article asserts that the right to vote should be restricted to those who contribute proportionally to the tax base. This sounds suspiciously like the system that prevailed in Britain from the fourteenth through the nineenth centuries, in which only those who earned a certain amound of land or property, or who could meet income requirements, could vote. The last such income requirements for voting in Britain itself were not abolished until 1920. In Northern Ireland, they persisted until sometime within the past twenty years (I don’t have the exact date), which excluded most Catholics from voting in municipal elections, and deprived them of representation in municipal governments. It took the IRA’s forty-year terrorist campaign before the British government grudgingly abolished the income and property requirements for voting in Northern Ireland.
This in today’s Timesof Israel:
Email received.
@ Adam Dalgliesh:
Obviously…you’ve been a naughty boy. and you’re getting a Disqus spanking……..!!
I hope you read my reciprocatory Chanukah Greetings…..
From Wikipedia:
The
Haredi College of Jerusalem
“?? ? ? ??? ???? ,???? ?? ?? ?? ?? ???”
“The more schooling,
the more wisdom”
???? ???? ??? ?‘ ???? ?‘
Ethics of the Fathers, Chap. 2, Mishna 7
??the haredi college
• The first academic institution in Israel specifically for the Haredi public.
• Has gained an outstanding reputation over the past 10 years.
• Currently enrolls 1,421 men and women students.
• In 5 years student body expected to reach 2,650.
• Each year it graduates hundreds of men and women.
• Holds courses in conjunction with leading universities and colleges.
• Courses authorized and budgets allocated by the Council of Higher Education (CHE).
“ The Haredi College is of great benefit to Torah scholars.”
Rabbi Ovadia Yosef
Former Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Israel
Courses of Study
Degree Track
Under the auspices of Bar Ilan University Social Work
Social Sciences
Education
Music Therapy
Educational Counseling
Logistics and Economics Communications and Political Science
Under the auspices of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
Psychology
Clinical / Educational Psychology Conflict Management and Resolution
Under the auspices of Hadassah Academic College Jerusalem
Computer Science
Medical System / Human Resources Management Communications Disabilities (clinical)
Medical Laboratory Sciences
For Degree
Men, Women
Women B.A. Women B.A. Women M.A. Men, Women M.A. Men B.A. Men B.A.
Women B.A. Women M.A. Women M.A.
Men B.A. Men, Women B.A. Women B.A. Women B.A.
B.A., M.A.
Ovadia Yosef
Rishon Lezion
And President of Torah Sages Council
Jerusalem, 29 Tishrei, 5771 (October 31, 2011)
Among the tribes of Israel, I am greatly blessed to faithfully inform you of the activities of the Haredi College, in our holy city of Jerusalem (which shall shortly be rebuilt in our times, Amen). At the college, students learn, in an academic setting, for various professions and receive an appropriate degree so that work in their blessed and needed communities and in the general economy.
My beloved and blessed daughter, who comes from a holy home, Mrs. Adina Bar Shalom, heads the Haredi College. She manages the college in the holy spirit of the people of Israel, and with the blessings of God-fearing Rabbinical figures and Torah scholars. God desires it to succeed.
Now, I call from the depths of my heart that the Haredi College is in desperate need of assistance so that they can continue their blessed activities, to grow and enhance our great and important Torah.
I therefore issue a holy call to help God and beseech you to support this important college that is working to build a new campus and needs to strengthen its students who cannot afford to study by awarding scholarship funds for their studies and for their additional needs.
The Jerusalem Foundation has joined with my daughter and has spearheaded efforts to raise funds for the Haredi College for its new campus where thousands of men and women will learn for their academic degrees. Mr. Arie Zehavi will lead this project on behalf of the Jerusalem Foundation in your country and I would be grateful if you could assist him in this assignment.
With Torah blessings.
Rav Ovadiah Yosef
Rishon L’Zion
President of the Torah Sages Council
??????“A person should always teach his son a clean and useful trade, and pray to the one to whom
all wealth and assets belong.“ Talmud, Tractate Kiddushin 82
“????? ???? ??? ???? ?????? ???? ???? ????? ????? ??? ?????? ??????? ??? ???? ????? ?? ??????? ????
?????? ?? ??????? ??? ??? ?????? ???” ?????? ?”?
????
For illustration purposes only
Who bene ts?
• 30% of the Jewish population in Jerusalem identifies as Haredi.
• Jerusalem has the largest Haredi population in Israel, about 152,000.
• The Haredi community is Jerusalem’s largest Jewish community living under the poverty line.
• Haredi participation in the work force is much lower than non-Haredi average in Jerusalem.
• Despite poverty, Haredi men have great employment potential, tending to be well- educated and well-disciplined.
??Why?
Unique needs:
“?? ? ? ? ??? ????? ?? ?? ??, ??????????? ????? ?? ??? ? ?? ?? ??.”
“He who learns for the sake of learning, will learn and teach. But those who learn for the sake of action, will be able to learn, teach and do.”
???? ???? ??? ?‘ ???? ?‘
Ethics of the Fathers, Chap. 4, Mishna 5
• Conditions in regular universities (mixed classes, immodest dress, subject matter) are often not suited to Haredi students.
• Incoming Haredi students lack secular knowledge required for ‘regular’ universities; the Haredi College successfully bridges these gaps.
Growing potential student body:
• Between 2001 – 2010, the number of Haredi students in Israel rose from 2,000 to 6,0001 most in pre-professional disciplines.
• More and more men are choosing vocational study after Yeshiva studies.
• The Haredi population is expected to reach 17% of general population in Israel in next 20 years
(today it is 8%).
Today, the College’s space is rented and not sufficient to meet the needs of its students and faculty. We seek to build a permanent campus for the Haredi College.
1 Bank of Israel press release, published 27 March 2011
??
Rabbanit Adina Bar Shalom
Rabbanit Adina Bar Shalom, CEO of the Haredi College of Jerusalem, is today one of Israel’s most influential voices in the ultra-Orthodox (Haredi) community.
After raising a family, Adina was frustrated by the many smart and talented Haredi men and women who could not find employment because they lacked education. To Adina, the key to economic independence is education.
Her original idea was to enable Haredi women to secure an accredited college education. Adina then sought the advice of her father Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, spiritual leader of the Shas Party and former Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Israel. The Rabbi gave his blessing on one condition – that his daughter lead the institution. Thus, the Haredi College was born. Starting with a handful of young women, the College now has more than a thousand students, men and women, with 96% of graduates securing employment.
Her resounding success has made her a leader in Israeli society. She serves on the Boards of Directors of: Yachad Council which promotes reconciliation between secular, religious and Haredi sectors; Jerusalem Business Development Center; Association for the Advancement of Education. She is also a member of the Prime Minister’s National Economic Council.
Adina is an Honorary Fellow of Ruppin College and the Interdisciplinary Center at Herzliya. She will soon be awarded an Honorary Doctorate at Ben Gurion University for her outstanding contribution to Israeli society. Indeed, her contribution to Israeli society has only just begun.
For illustration purposes only
“Whoever helps (the
Haredi College), it is
as if they are studying
Torah day and night.”
Rabbi Ovadia Yosef
Former Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Israel
Where?
The campus will sit on an 8-dunam (2 acres – 8,000 m2) lot on the western edge of Jerusalem, between the neighborhoods of Givat Shaul and Har Nof. It will include several buildings upon completion and will be suitable for 4,000 male and female students, to study separately.
It will include:
• Entrance Halls (separate entrance halls for men and women)
• Classrooms
• Lecture halls
• Seminar Rooms
• Library
• Computer laboratories
• Cafeteria
• Synagogue
• Day care center – for all hours of the day
How to help?
Naming opportunities are available for the following donations:
Wall of Friends
Wall of Honor Seminar Room* Classroom* Computer Laboratory President’s Office Small Lecture Hall* Handicapped Access Cafeteria
Day Care Center Large Lecture Hall Entrance Hall, men Entrance Hall, women Library
Building Synagogue
$18,000 $36,000 $60,000
$120,000 $180,000 $180,000 $200,000 $300,000 $360,000 $360,000 $500,000 $500,000 $500,000 $1 million $3 million
* We anticipate a need for several classrooms, seminar rooms and lecture halls, and more than one building.
For illustration purposes only
The Jerusalem Foundation and the Haredi College
The Jerusalem Foundation was established in 1966 by then Mayor Teddy Kollek, with a mission to create an open, equitable and modern society in Jerusalem. The Foundation has left its imprint on nearly every corner of the city, with nearly 4000 projects to its name. The Jerusalem Foundation envisions a vibrant, modern, flourishing city, rich with culture, economic vitality and strong, caring communities for all its residents. We seek to create a society that responds to the needs of all its residents, which includes empowering the growing Haredi community in the city.
Recognizing that only through higher education will Jerusalem’s ultra-Orthodox population be able to make a decent living and improve employment opportunities, the Jerusalem Foundation decided to take the initiative to enable the establishment of a new campus for the Haredi College of Jerusalem. The Foundation believes that the Haredi College is critical to the community’s socioeconomic prosperity, which will narrow existing gaps with the general population.
The Jerusalem Foundation has taken upon itself the task of building the new college campus with friends from Israel and around the Jewish world. In doing so, the Jerusalem Foundation rededicates itself to all the residents of the city.
To find the Jerusalem Foundation’s offices nearest you,
visit: http://www.jerusalemfoundation.org, or email info@jfjlm.org
Graphic design: Studio Sketch
The Haredi College The numbers behind the story
A Few Words About
the Population of Jerusalem
Jerusalem, the capital city of Israel, is the largest city in the country. Jerusalem is a religious and spiritual center for the three monotheistic religions and has been the focus of Jewish life since ancient times. The city is home to higher education and research institutions of world renown.
A few statistics as of the end of 2011:
• Jerusalem’s population numbers 801,000 residents: 63% Jewish and 36.5% Arab (Muslim and Christian).
• The city’s population is young, with a relatively high percentage of children (34% of the population is less
than 14 years old) and a relatively low percentage of seniors (8% aged 65 and up).
• A survey conducted by Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics from 2008 to 2010 indicates that the percentage of Jews over the age 20 in Jerusalem who identified themselves as Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) was the highest among Israel’s large cities (29%, compared to only 2% in Tel Aviv or 8% nationwide).
• Fertility rates in Jerusalem are high (an average of 4 children per family, compared to 3 per family nationwide). Haredi families have an average of 7.5 children.
• TheHaredipopulationofmetropolitanJerusalemisexpectedtoreach300,000bytheyear2020.
• The Haredi population growth rate greatly exceeds that of the non-Haredi Jewish population.
• The high birth rate and low workforce participation in the Haredi sector are the main reasons that Haredim are the city’s largest Jewish community living below the poverty line.
• In the 2011/12 school year, 58,900 pupils attended Jerusalem’s Hebrew-language state schools and religious state schools (38% of all Jewish 1st to 12th graders) and 95,700 pupils attended Haredi educational institutions (62% of all Jewish pupils) that are recognized by the Ministry of Education.
*Sources listed on back of Architects page
The Haredi College The numbers behind the story
The Haredi community and the Higher Education System
Recent years have witnessed sweeping change among the Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) population, in which more graduates of the Haredi education system are turning to academic studies. The reasons are varied,
beginning with the socioeconomic distress of families, pressing them to secure a profession and gain economic independence. Moreover, contemporary reality increasingly demands academic credentials as a prerequisite to entering the job market.
A few statistics:
• In 1999, the Council for Higher Education devised a five-year plan to develop academic frameworks for the Haredi community.
• The Council’s declared goal (according to Council Chairman Prof. Manuel Trajtenberg at the Council for Higher Education’s 2011 annual leadership conference in Jerusalem) is the integration of Haredim into the higher education system, with 10,000 Haredim registered by 2016.
• Cultural differences prevent universities in Israel from responding to the unique morés of the Haredi sector (dress, mixed classrooms, etc.)
• There has been a dramatic rise in the number of Haredi students (men and women) studying in programs geared to the Haredi sector in recent years, tripling the number of students from 2,000 in 2005 to 6,000 in 2010.
• The number of Haredi men pursuing an academic education rose from just a few hundred in 2005 to around 2,500 in 2010.
• A bit less than half of all Haredi students are men.
• Most male Haredi students come from distressed socioeconomic backgrounds, and embarking on
academic studies is primarily financially motivated.
• Over 90% of Haredi students study subjects with a strong vocational orientation, enabling entry into the workforce.
Haredi Students Overcoming Barriers
• Haredi students are generally older than other students, especially men, due to years spent in Yeshiva (Talmud-Torah academies) or Kolel (Yeshiva for married men, usually paying a stipend). They also tend to already have children with limited time to invest in academic studies.
• The fact that most Haredi students have families to support leaves them little means to finance academic studies.
• For male Haredi students to begin academic studies, they must waive their Talmud-Torah study stipends, making it a more difficult decision.
• A knowledge gap exists between the Haredi and general populations, primarily in the areas of science, English, mathematics and learning skills for academic study. Thus, for example, about 40% of all Haredi report they have no grasp of English, which is a significant obstacle to higher education.
• The Haredi cultural environment does not encourage academic studies.
Employment
The Haredi College The numbers behind the story
Israel’s Haredi community has been characterized as a “learning community”, with Torah studies manifesting the major life focus, taught over many years (over 16 years of study). However, Torah studies lack practical value in the Israeli job market. In Israel, a relatively small portion of Haredi work for a living, causing a growing dependency of Haredi households on Israeli society in general, and on the public social welfare system in particular. For various reasons, recent years have seen a process of change among the Haredi regarding academic studies and employment.
A few statistics:
• The Haredi portion of the working-age population of Israel is expected to reach 17% within twenty years.
• The Haredi sector, particularly men, is characterized by a very low labor force participation rate, and low
employment rates.
• About 38% of all Jerusalem families were living beneath the poverty line in 2010.
• Thereisapositivestatisticalcorrelationbetweenthelaborforceparticipationrateandeducationlevels:the more years of education, the higher the labor force participation rate.
• Accordingtofiguresfrom2008to2010,thelaborforceparticipationrateamongnon-Haredimaged20and up in Jerusalem stood at 66%, while in contrast the labor force participation rate among Haredim of the same age stood at 44%.
• The more Haredi men gain employment-directed education, the higher their salaries will be from those jobs, relative to alternative sources of income outside the labor market (government allowances or unemployment insurance).
• Recent years have seen a change in Haredi behavior as it relates to integration into the job market.
• The data from the labor force surveys points to a constant and significant increase in the employment
rate of Haredi women.
• The state has taken several steps to motivate the Haredi population to enter the workforce, including professional training and placement, stipends for academic studies and employment support. As a corollary, the state has reduced child allowances, benefits and support for married Yeshiva students, placing further pressure on the families to seek employment.
• The employment rate of Haredim with higher education (over 70%) is significantly higher than among the overall Haredi population (40%).
• Haredim with higher education find higher quality employment and receive better wages than Haredim lacking higher education.
*Sources listed on back of Architects page
The Haredi College The numbers behind the story
The Haredi College of Jerusalem
The Haredi public actively seeks educational frameworks that can respond to its special needs. Existing frameworks are not equipped to respond to needs stemming from the sector’s special characteristics. As such, there is a need for academic frameworks specifically for the Haredi population.
Establishment and Founders
In 2001, the first Haredi College was established by Rabbanit Adina Bar-Shalom, the daughter of Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, the former Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Israel and spiritual leader of the Shas political party. It was at first intended only for women and in recent years the college has also conducted separate programs for men.
The College was attended by 982 students in 2010-11 (684 women and 298 men), and 1,192 attended in 2011 -12 (833 women and 359 men). In the fall of 2012 there are 1,421 students enrolled. In 2017 – 18, 2,600 students (1,600 women and 1,000 men) are expected.
The College has 13 academic departments, in which men and women study separately.
The College is sanctioned by the Council for Higher Education, receives government funding and maintains close academic contact with various universities and colleges in Israel.
The College developed an array of supportive programs in various fields in order to facilitate the studies of Haredi students. This includes:
• Personal Accompaniment and Support. There are significant knowledge gaps in English, mathematics and science, hindering integration in academic studies. Students receive academic assistance and professional, individual instruction to facilitate the transition from Yeshiva to academic learning. A pre-academic preparatory program is also offered to enable students to close gaps.
• Guidance and Job Placement. Graduates of the College have high-level professional skills, but lack experience in choosing specific occupational paths and finding jobs. The College provides career guidance and helps secure employment after graduation. 96% of all graduates find job placements.
• Daycare and Babysitting Services. Many students are married with children and therefore require support services enabling them to study. The College has a small nursery, but this service must be expanded in order to respond to increasing need as the number of students grows.
• Computers and Library Services. Most students lack computers at home. The College’s goal is to provide students with computers linked to the college’s computer network. Likewise, the College must acquire twice as many books and texts so that men and women can read them separately and simultaneously at any given time.
The Haredi College The numbers behind the story
Sources
The Haredi College The numbers behind the story
1. Figures taken from: Jerusalem Facts and Trends 2012, the Jerusalem Institute for Israel Studies (JIIS): http://www.jiis.org
2. The Ultra-Orthodox: Fearing for Their Future, 2008, the Jerusalem Institute for Israel Studies: http://www.jiis.org/.upload/publications/haredim.pdf
3. “The Ultra-Orthodox to Academia: A Position Paper On Academic Studies In the Haredi Community” [Hebrew], the National Union of Israeli Students: http://www.
nuis.co.il/wp-content/uploads/2012/05
4. “Education and Employment in the Ultra-Orthodox Population“, Bank of Israel press release, March 30, 2011: http://www.bankisrael.gov.il/press/
eng/110327/110327d.doc
What have I done to deserve this?
I won’t say that the author of this article lies outright. But he certainly does a lot of malicious cherry-picking of facts. In fact, the haredi community has in recent years been sponsoring and financing secular, employment-oriented colleges for its young men and women. For example,
I know I’ll be shouted down for even suggesting this, but unfortunately Israel is a pure democracy so it would not be acceptable to permit the Haredim to vote ONLY if they comply with the suggestions in this article, OR ONLY if they (or as long as one spouse) pays Israeli income taxes. That might get them off their collective tochases. It might even get more voters for Likud who want strong security for Israel but are turned off by the necessary concessions that must be made to provide Likud a majority.
The problem with Israel’s electoral system is Proportional Representation.
Without First Past the Post, there’s never a clear majority. Thus, to govern, a lot of backroom negotiation with the fringe parties has to occur so that a coalition with sufficient number of seats can be assembled to rule.
The horse trading necessary to do that means that the more maniacal Behatted parties, who’d otherwise be ignored by a sane electorate and relegated to a seat or two in the Knesset at most must instead be courted/wooed so they’ll throw their lot in with the party trying to govern. And THAT means as usual their most imbecilic and dearly held beliefs will again as usual be over-valuable bargaining chips.
Thus it’s the religious fanatics who can influence state policy as a consequence, forcing the implementation of moronic rules on an essentially secular society that no sensible person would countenance were the Nutcase Parties not so vital.
Scrupulous fairness actually enables insanity.
I just took a quick scan of this article. In the final paragraph it says haredi are suing i guess the u s or n y gov. of not providing equal level of secular studies for all children. Is this the gov. fault.? Or the haredis for not allowing secular education into their schools.
A local rabbi’s 13 year old son was sent to yashiva in Michigan for higher education of what type I don’t know . The current local rabbi’s 2 older sons receive education via the internet they are aged about 6 and 8, speak English, Yiddish and learn Torah in hebrew. So will they learn a trade, guess it’s somewhat the responsibility of the family in the end. Guess they won’t go to local high school as from what I see today the standards seem to be somewhat lacking. We know in Israel many orthodox Jews are in professions and are well educated.