ultra-Orthodox Jewish Community In Israel Research Articles

Motives for Vaccination Against COVID-19 Among the Ultra-orthodox Jewish Community in Israel

According to official data, the ultra-Orthodox group in Israel had the highest COVID-19 infection rate yet the lowest vaccination rate compared to the general population. The present study aimed to explore the rate of vaccine uptake as well as reported reasons for vaccine avoidance. In addition, we examined whether several protection motivation theory (PMT) components are good predictors of vaccine uptake. The components we addressed were: perceived susceptibility to the threat of COVID-19, perceived severity of the virus, and perceived efficiency and safety of the vaccine (i.e., response efficacy). The sample included 623 individuals (337 men) aged 18 + who were drawn from a database of a survey company specializing in the ultra-Orthodox community. We conducted a cross-sectional online survey between June 22, 2021, and July 7, 2021, approximately six months after the beginning of vaccination distribution. Results revealed that 65.8% of the participants (versus 89% of the general population) were vaccinated. Women were vaccinated at lower rates than men, whereas those in the Misnagdim ultra-Orthodox subgroup were vaccinated at higher rates than other subgroups in that community. The most prominent reasons for vaccine avoidance were perceived immunity based on prior infection by the virus and lack of trust in the vaccine’s safety. In support of the PMT model, the perceived severity of the virus and the vaccine high efficacy were significant predictors of vaccine uptake. The study results call for better outreach to this community and specific psycho-education interventions tailored for its women.

"They didn't have any idea what drugs were": Pathways to substance use disorders among ultraorthodox Jewish males.

Substance use disorders (SUDs) are a worldwide phenomenon with very negative consequences, and belonging to a religious community is considered to be a protective factor against them. The pathways to SUDs have been investigated in many studies with the aim of helping us better understand this phenomenon and promoting effective intervention programs to prevent and manage it. However, there is a lack of knowledge regarding SUDs in closed religious communities such as the Ultraorthodox Jewish community. To fill this gap, in the current study we investigated the pathways to SUDs among 14 young men from the Ultraorthodox Jewish community in Israel who were diagnosed as having an SUD in the past and who had been in sustained remission for at least a year. Semi-structured, in-depth interviews consisting of open-ended questions were conducted. The findings highlighted two main themes: (a) A lack of support and attention from various systems, where participants reported sense of otherness or lack of belonging to family, educational institutions and community; a lack of responsiveness from those systems; a sense of rejection or exclusion; and a longing for belonging, and (b) A light in the darkness - someone who cares, in which the interviewees received some assistance, either in the period before or during drug use. Findings point to the unique experience of Ultraorthodox young men in their addiction process and shed light on the failure of the abovementioned systems to help these young men cope. Findings are discussed in the context of the theoretical perspectives of social capital theory and exclusion. Implications for intervention and policy are outlined.

Community Post-traumatic Growth: Israeli Ultra-Orthodox Coping with Coronavirus.

The present study sheds light on the phenomenon whereby groups experience adversity, following which they show signs of growth. We propose the conceptualization of post-traumatic growth as a phenomenon that also exists at the group level, “community post-traumatic growth” (CPTG). The concept of CPTG is explained using a case study on the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community in Israel following the first wave of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. The study describes shared characteristics of Israeli ultra-Orthodox society and the crisis it experienced during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, both in terms of physiological features such as the relatively high proportion of affected people and in terms of psychological characteristics such as the shut-down of synagogues and yeshivas, and the perceived discrimination they experienced from the general population in Israel. The present study views the sense of discrimination as a traumatic factor at the group level. In total, 256 participants completed online questionnaires examining three hypotheses: (1) sense of discrimination (trauma) will be correlated with level of CPTG; (2) the level of identification with the ultra-Orthodox culture will be positively related to CPTG, while the level of identification with Israeli culture will be negatively correlated with CPTG; (3) the level of life satisfaction of the individual will be predicted by CPTG. The results supported the hypotheses and are discussed at length in the discussion section.

Urban diversity and epidemic resilience: The case of the COVID-19

The spread of the coronavirus pandemic offers a unique opportunity to improve our understanding of the role of urban planning strategies in the resilience of urban communities confronting a pandemic. This study examines the relationship between urban diversity and epidemiological resilience by empirically assessing the relation between the level of neighborhood homogeneity and the probability of being infected by the coronavirus. We focus on the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community in Israel, a relatively closed community that was disproportionately and severely affected by the pandemic. The findings indicate a monotonic but nonlinear relationship between the level of ultra-Orthodox prevalence in a neighborhood and a resident's probability of contracting COVID-19. As the fraction of ultra-Orthodox individuals in the neighborhood decreases, the fraction of infected population decreases significantly and more strongly that can be explained without recourse to urban diversity considerations. This relationship is found to be significant and strong, even when other variables are accounted for that had hitherto been perceived as central to coronavirus distribution, such as housing density, socioeconomic level of the neighborhood, and number of people per household. The findings are important and relevant to many societies around the globe in which a variety of populations have a separatist lifestyle.

“Maybe what happened is actually OK?” Child sexual abuse by authority figures in the ultra-orthodox community in Israel: Survivors' perceptions of their relationships with the perpetrator

BackgroundChild sexual abuse (CSA) by authority figures in a religious community (AFRCs) has been studied extensively among the Catholic clergy, and to a limited extent among Orthodox Jewish communities in the United States and Australia. However, less attention has been devoted to the phenomenon within the Israeli context. ObjectiveThis article examines the perceptions of survivors within the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community in Israel of their relationships with authority figures in the community who sexually abused them. Methods21 in-depth interviews were conducted with men who were abused by authority figures within ultra-Orthodox institutions, which were analyzed based on a thematic approach (Braun & Clarke, 2006). ResultsThe results indicated that in childhood, almost none of the participants recognized that they were sexually abused. Their relationships with the authority figures were instead perceived as one of four variations: (1) normative-educative; (2) mutual; (3) an episode in a hypersexual routine; or (4) abusive punitive. Perceptions later shifted, mostly in adulthood, towards a recognition of the sexual abuse and its personal consequences. ConclusionsThe findings stress the importance of contextual factors (such as perceptions of sexuality, community structures, and cultural norms) in how ultra-Orthodox children experience abuse by authority figures in the community and its aftermath, with implications for successful prevention and intervention efforts.

"A Little Bit of Light Dispels a Lot of Darkness": Online Disclosure of Child Sexual Abuse by Authority Figures in the Ultraorthodox Jewish Community in Israel.

Social media sites such as Facebook have become popular platforms for promoting public awareness of sexual abuse by encouraging user engagement around this issue. There is, therefore, currently emerging research on the functions and implications of social media as a platform for sexual abuse disclosure. However, as yet, no study has examined this phenomenon specifically through a religious-cultural lens. This study explores perceptions of, barriers to, and motives underlying online disclosure of child sexual abuse (CSA) by religious authority figures (RAFs) in ultraorthodox Jewish society in Israel. The data were gleaned from the popular Facebook page of a nonprofit devoted to raising awareness of CSA in the ultraorthodox community. The analysis was based on admins' posts, anonymous and nonanonymous survivors' shares, users' comments, and in-depth interviews of eight page users. The findings suggest a culture-oriented model of online CSA disclosure (OCSAD), identifying four primary factors (safety, benefit, relevance, and legitimacy) that, weighed against cultural barriers, influence the decision to engage in online CSA disclosure. This context-informed understanding highlights the importance of social media as an alternative platform for CSA disclosure in an isolated but changing cultural arena such as the ultraorthodox community in Israel. The theoretical model is of international interest for its conceptualization of the unique characteristics and perceptions of OCSAD within religious-cultural contexts.

To split or include? Child sexual abuse mandate reporting in the ultra-orthodox Jewish community in Israel

• Society heterogeneity and child maltreatment reporting is under-researched. • Moral standpoints compounded disputes about how to manage child sexual abuse. • Investigating communities' mandatory reporting requires methodological competence. • Mandatory reporting tells little on how society protect children from maltreatment. Remarkably little priority is given in the literature to minority groups’ perspectives vis-à-vis mandatory reporting legislation of child maltreatment. This study examined how mandatory reporting legislation is perceived and implemented in the ultra-orthodox Jewish population in Israel. This minority group is suspected of failing to report child maltreatment and yet remains significantly underresearched. The study focused on child sexual abuse. Thirty ultra-orthodox Jewish leaders participated in the study: 12 rabbis, 6 community activists, and 12 professionals (social workers and criminologists). All participants were well-known figures in their community for their involvement in the field of child sexual abuse. Data were collected through semistructured face-to-face interviews. The process of data analysis followed Charmaz’s constructivist grounded theory approach. Two competing approaches to human nature were identified: inclusive and splitting positions. The analysis uncovered how these underlying moral standpoints were tidily linked to participants’ attitudes and actions regarding child sexual abuse and compounded existing disputes about how it should be managed, including reporting. Mandatory reporting cannot be fully considered in isolation of wider social, cultural and multicultural, moral, and ethical dimensions of human life, perspectives, and philosophy.

Social workers’ constructions of child risk and protection in the Ultra-Orthodox Jewish community

Summary Social workers’ perceptions regarding child risk and protection tend to rely on universal criteria that may differ from the perceptions of minority groups. The Ultra-Orthodox Jewish community in Israel is a strictly religious, segregated, close-knit community with idiosyncratic values and norms that differ from those of social workers in the country. This qualitative study aimed to explore social workers’ perceptions and ascribed meanings of child risk and protection in Israel’s Ultra-Orthodox Jewish community. To this end, 30 in-depth interviews were conducted with social workers working with this community. Findings The study identified four distinct primary areas of risk and protection for children in Israel’s Ultra-Orthodox Jewish community: spirituality, collectivism, segregation, and hierarchy. Each of these areas encompasses factors of both protection and risk. Applications The study’s findings highlight the gaps between the Ultra-Orthodox Jewish community and social workers who adopt Western universal views regarding child risk and protection. This article advocates a context-informed approach when dealing with minority communities. Adopting such an approach can contribute to better cooperation between professionals and their clients from minority groups and advance the well-being of children.

Integration of Mixed Methods in Community-Based Participatory Research: Development of a Disease Prevention Intervention for Ultra-Orthodox Jewish Women.

To describe the development of the first disease prevention intervention with ultra-Orthodox Jewish (UOJ) women in Israel using mixed methods and community-based participatory research (CBPR). This collaborative, 7-staged development process used an exploratory sequential mixed methods design integrated into a community-based participatory approach. The UOJ community in Israel, a high-risk, low socioeconomic, culturally insular minority that practices strict adherence to religious standards, maintains determined seclusion from mainstream culture and preserves traditional practices including extreme modesty and separation between the sexes. Women from a targeted UOJ community in Israel with distinct geographic, religious, and cultural parameters. These included 5 key informant interviewees, 5 focus groups with 6 to 8 participants in each, a cluster randomized sample of 239 questionnaire respondents (an 87% response rate), and 11 steering committee participants. Qualitative data were analyzed through Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis by 2 researchers. Quantitative data were collected via questionnaire (designed based on qualitative findings) and analyzed utilizing descriptive statistics. Barriers to health behavior engagement and intervention preferences were identified. The final intervention included walking programs, health newsletters, community leader trainings, teacher and student trainings, and health integration into schools. Utilizing mixed methods in CBPR improved cultural tailoring, potentially serving as a model for intervention design in other difficult to access, low socioeconomic, and culturally insular populations.

Reframing community boundaries: the erosive power of new media spaces in authoritarian societies

ABSTRACTThis study examines the role of digital media within the Ultra-Orthodox Jewish community in Israel, a conservative closed community, whose leadership is unable or unwilling to control the effects of digital media on the rank-and-file. Over the past decade, digital media have played an important role for challenging authoritarian rule around the globe. Especially in ideological communities sustained by strict taboos, digital media hold the potential to subvert hegemonic discourses. In this study, we make use of an incident that forced Israel’s Ultra-Orthodox community to address its long-standing taboo and hateful attitudes toward LGBT and Queer issues. In July 2015, an Ultra-Orthodox community member attacked participants of the Jerusalem Gay Pride Parade, murdering one and wounding six. While traditional community media attempted to ignore the event, two major Ultra-Orthodox news websites fell outside the control exercised by the community leadership, and enabled subversive discussions within the Ultra-Orthodox community. Through a process of negotiating the meaning of the attack, these discussions resulted in a reframing of the boundaries of the community, breaking a path for further contestation and debate. Using grounded theory analysis, this article contributes to a better understanding of the role of digital media in enabling contestation and challenging established power structures within authoritarian closed communities.

The Meaning of Choosing a Spouse Among Ultra-Orthodox Jewish Women Who Found Themselves in a Violent Relationship.

This research note addresses how ultra-Orthodox Jewish women in Israel coping with intimate partner violence experienced the spouse selection process. In-depth semistructured qualitative-phenomenological interviews were conducted with 17 women. Four major themes emerged: (a) "The matchmaker seemingly fell asleep on her watch"; (b) The parents' mistakes; (c) "The rabbi told me to jump into the water. Now he should hand me the paddles to get out!" The rabbi's role; and (d) "That's it . . . I follow it blindly": The system. The findings add to the professional knowledge about violent partnerships in the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community in Israel.

Social workers in multi-cultural societies: Using a phenomenological lens to develop an integrative approach

Multi-culturalism is a common reality, and is expected to become even more significant in the future. One of its challenges is the need for professionals, especially social workers, to accommodate their practice to clients of various cultures. Their role demands cultural sensitivity, acceptance, a non-judgmental containing attitude and professional skills. This article will show how phenomenology can shed new light on the concept of cultural sensitivity and its implications on future interventions. We demonstrate this approach by looking at social workers’ various encounters with social problems in the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community in Israel. Several phenomenological categories will be discussed: The life-world; intentionality; the self with others; language; stock of knowledge at hand. Through the phenomenological lens, we will expose the inherent duality in the work of social workers in a multi-cultural society: awareness to cultural codes and professional ethics.

Essential Partnership: Child Welfare Officers’ Perceptions of Cooperation With Rabbis in the Ultra-Orthodox Jewish Community in Israel

ABSTRACT This article describes collaborations between child welfare officers and rabbis in an ultra-Orthodox Jewish community in Israel. The study is based on interviews with 10 child welfare officers who intervene in ultra-Orthodox communities. The analysis of the interviews showed that cooperation with the rabbis was essential for reducing the community's hostile resistance to interventions by the child welfare officers, who were perceived as threatening to community values. On the other hand, the child welfare officers had to cope with conflicts between religious values, the law, and professional perceptions. The discussion of the findings highlights the need for understanding the cooperation in terms of boundaries and power. Future research is needed to explore further the issues raised from the perspectives of the rabbis and the families involved.

The association between risky driver and pedestrian behaviors: The case of Ultra-Orthodox Jewish road users

► Associations between risky behaviors of drivers and pedestrians were examined. ► Over 500 Israeli Ultra-Orthodox Jewish drivers and non-drivers participated. ► They completed questionnaires on risk taking as drivers and as pedestrians. ► Those who have a driver’s license are more likely to take risks as pedestrians. ► Associations were found between risky driving and risky behaviors as pedestrians. This study examines associations between the risky behaviors of two types of road users: drivers and pedestrians. Whereas these behaviors have traditionally been investigated separately, the aim here was to examine the connection between them. The sample consisted of 518 drivers and non-drivers from the Ultra-Orthodox Jewish community in Israel (a sector in which having a driver’s license is not the norm), who completed a series of questionnaires relating to their tendency to take risks as drivers and as pedestrians. Results indicate that individuals who have a driver’s license are more likely to take risks as pedestrians than those who do not. In addition, among those with a driver’s license, strong correlations were found between various driving measures and the inclination for risky behaviors as pedestrians, indicating that the riskier the individual’s driving behavior, the more he or she tended to report dangerous pedestrian behavior. The findings suggest that different kinds of road-use behaviors are not entirely distinct from each other in respect to the degree of risk involved. Thus, the tendency to cross the road dangerously and the tendency to drive dangerously may reflect a more general propensity to take risks, at least in the context of road use.

Psychotherapy of ultra-orthodox Jews in Israel – A qualitative assessment of conflicts and reconciliations

The ultra-orthodox Jewish community in Israel is highly homogeneous and is virtually isolated from the surrounding secular society. Nevertheless, in recent years some openness to psychotherapy has emerged. In this paper the first author, herself a member of the ultra-orthodox community and a psychotherapist, presents a series of analyses and discussions of the major issues raised by therapy amongst members of this community. This study had two main objectives: a) a qualitative assessment of possible conflicts between the subjects strong religious convictions and the essence of psychotherapy; some conflicts were indeed detected which were followed by individual modes of reconciliation, b) an attempt to discover whether the psychotherapy had an impact on the level of observance of the Jewish commandments and customs; some indications for a lessening of such observance were found. This study, being the first of its kind, could provide a basis for studying the effects of psychotherapy on subjects belonging to isolated communities.

Parental Coping with Developmental Disorders in Adolescents within the Ultraorthodox Jewish Community in Israel

This preliminary study compares the coping strategies used by 100 ultraorthodox Jewish parents and 100 secular Jewish parents for dealing with adolescent children with developmental disorders. The parents completed two questionnaires on the sense of stress-related personal growth and the sense of coherence. The ultraorthodox parents reported a higher sense of growth and a higher sense of coherence than the secular parents. In addition, there were associations found between demographic characteristics. Gender differences between mothers and fathers in the sense of growth and community differences between ultraorthodox fathers and secular fathers in the sense of coherence are discussed. The study highlights the uniqueness of the religious point of view in dealing with adolescent children with developmental disorders.

Social norms of accompanied young children and observed crossing behaviors

Introduction Social norms for accompanied young children and crossing behaviors were examined in two studies conducted in an Ultra-Orthodox Jewish community in Israel. Method In Study 1, road behaviors of young children crossing with and without accompaniment and older children were observed, and the actual social norm for accompanied school children younger than 9-years-old was examined. In Study 2, the perceived norm of accompaniment was tested by questionnaires. Results Young children who crossed without accompaniment exhibited poorer crossing skills compared to older children and to young children crossing with accompaniment. In the four locations observed, the actual accompaniment rate ranged between 15%–60%. The perceived social norm for child accompaniment was lower than the actual norm. Conclusions The discussion refers to both theoretical issues and their practical implications.

Your faith or mine: a pregnancy spacing intervention in an ultra-orthodox Jewish community in Israel

Ultra-orthodox (haredi) Jews in Israel have an exceptionally high fertility rate of 7.7. As most fathers spend their days studying the Bible, the women struggle to support their large families under severe economic pressures. Some women experience maternal exhaustion coping with this life situation. Contraception for pregnancy spacing raises myriad dilemmas in the haredi community, however, many of which apply to promoting family planning in religious settings more generally. In a health promotion course for 23 haredi registered nurses at the University of Haifa in 2006–2007, pregnancy spacing was selected as the subject of the class project, the main aim of which was to convey an influential health message in a culturally acceptable manner. As the issue was debated, it was agreed the project should also address a range of women's health problems as well as pregnancy spacing. Thus, maternal nutrition, pelvic floor tone, dental health, maternal exhaustion and competition over number of children were added. A brochure was prepared and widely distributed in the haredi community, where it was well received. This paper describes the classroom dynamics during the planning and application of the project. It illustrates the importance of cultural awareness when addressing sensitive issues and communities with particular cultural dispositions.

A Feminist Perspective on Natality Policies in Multicultural Societies

Controlling natality—the ratio of births to the general population—is one of the best means a state has to control its demographic composition. However, the fact that the state has certain interests with regard to the size and composition of its population does not necessarily give it the right to set and pursue natality policies, because such policies can potentially infringe on various human rights such as the rights of women and the rights of minorities. Using a feminist perspective I first argue that even if it is illegitimate for states to try to influence people's choice as to the number of their children in order to achieve demographic change, the state may, and should, enact natality policies aimed at promoting women's right to equality, regardless of whether their end result is to achieve a demographic change. Next I examine whether states are allowed to pursue natality policies aimed at decreasing natality rates in specific cultural groups, whose cultural precepts are oppressive toward women and dictate very high natality rates. Using the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community in Israel as a test case, I present and reject three objections to the state’s right to pursue such natality policies: the objection from free choice, the objection from free association, and the objection from culture. Rejecting these objections I conclude that not only is the state allowed, but it is indeed obligated, to pursue natality policies that aim to alleviate the oppression of women by decreasing inordinately high birth rates in illiberal communities. However, when choosing the measures for the implementation of such policies the state must take care to choose only measures that respect human rights.

Hebrew-language Narratives of Yiddish-speaking Ultra-Orthodox Girls in Israel

This paper reports on a study conducted with children belonging to a rarely studied minority group, the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community in Israel, an extremely religious group that endorses patterns of voluntary segregation. The research population also demonstrates linguistic segregation, as they use only Yiddish for daily communication with Hebrew, the main official language of Israel, serving primarily for study and ritual purposes. The sample consisted of 56 girls, divided between 4th graders and 7th graders, who were asked to write a story in Hebrew about a good thing that had happened to them. Two lines of analysis were adopted: (1) Quality of referential information, defined in terms of three types of ‘Information- Units’: events, descriptions and interpretations. Analysis revealed that informative density of narratives increased significantly with age, with a higher proportion of interpretive elements in 7th than in 4th grade – in marked contrast to baseline data of similar analyses of Hebrew monolingual schoolchildren in the same agegroups.(2) Analysis from a ‘social capital perspective’, which revealed high frequency of elements expressing affect, bonding and dogmatism in relation to the family, the community and the larger cultural–religious context. Results are discussed in view of the role of Hebrew in the lives of the participants, its ideological context and the ways language development and usage among ethnolinguistic minorities may reveal deeper layers of thought and emotion.