Ultra-Orthodox Community In Israel Research Articles

A National Survey of Attitudes of the Zionist Ultra-Orthodox Community in Israel to Organ Donation.

The Council of the Chief Rabbinate formally accepted neurologically declared death as an indication of death for all legal and religious purposes following changes made to practice parameters in order to comply with Jewish Law (halacha). This removed Jewish-legal barriers for organ donation. We surveyed the Zionist ultra-Orthodox community to identify the reasons for their continued reluctance to donate. A questionnaire was designed to assess personal, cultural, religious, and system-related considerations relating to organ donation. A telephone survey of persons identifying themselves with the Zionist ultra-Orthodox community was conducted to include 300 respondents (150 males and 150 females). The response rate was 5.5% (300 of 6799 approached). While most participants (79%) agreed that organ donation improved or saved lives, a minority (25%) expressed willingness to donate. The most important inhibiting factors were related to religion, namely, importance of being buried intact (84%) and donation being against halacha (46%). Most respondents (67%) would approach a religious figure for advice, and willingness to donate increased when informed that donation was permitted (68%) and supported (63%) by orthodox religious authorities. Finally, a minority (37%) perceived the allocation process to be fair and adequately supervised (36%). This study identified religious and system-related constraints as important inhibiting factors to donation, factors which were potentially modifiable. Since this community relies on their religious leaders for guidance, public support by authoritative and accepted religious leaders is required to reassure the community of the legitimacy and positive aspects of organ donation.

God, sex, and money among the ultra-Orthodox in Israel: An integrated sociocultural and evolutionary perspective

Abstract The origin of the tendency for men to value wealth more than women can be explained by both social role theory and evolutionary theory. We integrate these two perspectives to provide insight into a unique cultural context, the Jewish ultra-Orthodox community in Israel, where social roles are reversed, such that women are the primary breadwinners in the family. Studies 1a and 1b provide support for social role theory's claim that men and women will internalize attitudes toward wealth that are consistent with their gender role in society. These findings are then integrated with an evolutionary perspective suggesting that men strive to elevate their personal status as a means of attracting mates. In most modern societies this equates to the accumulation of wealth, but in the ultra-Orthodox community it is religious devotion and piety that determine the status of men. An examination of mating preferences in the ultra-Orthodox community confirms many predictions from an evolutionary perspective and departs only in that women do not show a preference for mates with good financial prospects, but rather, owing to the unique sociocultural definition of status, women display a preference for men of strong religious devotion (Study 2). This contrasts with the secular Jewish community where women show the typical preference for wealthy men (Study 3). These findings are consistent with the idea that men may have evolved preferences for achieving status given the mating advantages it confers with women, but how status is achieved may be culturally specific.

Fundamentalist web journalism: Walking a fine line between religious ultra-Orthodoxy and the new media ethos

New media journalism has perturbed traditional reporting not only in mainstream-modern societies but also within religious-cum-insular communities. Focusing on the Jewish ultra-Orthodox community in Israel and in light of web journalists’ continuous struggle with leading clergy and an apprehensive public, this study grapples with the question, ‘How do ultra-Orthodox web journalists view their work mission as information brokers for an enclave culture?’ The study gleaned from 40 in-depth interviews with web journalists and discussions with community web activists. Results uncovered three major schemata that drive their praxis: (1) Communal-Haredi, (2) Western-Democratic and (3) Journalist Ecosystem. Findings suggest a rising archetype of fundamentalist web journalism that rests its professional ethos on writers’ practice, rather than on formalized training or communal dictums. Web journalists were found to strongly identify with their community, yet, often unintentionally, also act as a secondary form of authority and harbingers of change.

NETWORK NOT UTILIZED: THE CASE OF ULTRA-ORTHODOX FEMALE MICRO-ENTREPRENEURS IN ISRAEL

The study examines the role of social networks in the Ultra-Orthodox community in Israel as a tool for promoting micro-entrepreneurial success. To date, research has shown that social network structure is a salient factor in the successful management of micro-businesses. We explored network size, number of strong, weak and betweenness ties of Ultra-Orthodox female micro-entrepreneurs, a distinct social-religious enclave that remains largely unexplored. Contrary to literature, our findings show that Ultra-Orthodox female micro-entrepreneurs have a narrow network in all parameters explored. Although they have a far-reaching social network, it is virtually unutilized in promoting their micro-businesses. Theoretical and policy implications are discussed.

Portrayal of the Other in Palestinian and Israeli Schoolbooks: A Comparative Study

The present study examined how Israelis and Palestinians present their narratives related to their conflict in school textbooks used by the state educational system and the ultraorthodox community in Israel and by all Palestinian schools in Palestinian National Territories. The focus was on how each side portrays the Other and their own group. The content analysis was based on a developed conceptual framework and standardized and manualized rating criteria with quantitative and qualitative aspects. The results showed in general that (1) dehumanizing and demonizing characterizations of the Other are rare in both Israeli and Palestinian books; (2) both Israeli and Palestinian books present unilateral national narratives that portray the Other as enemy, chronicle negative actions by the Other directed at the self‐community, and portray the self‐community in positive terms with actions aimed at self‐protection and goals of peace; (3), there is lack of information about the religions, culture, economic and daily activities of the Other, or even of the existence of the Other on maps; (4) the negative bias in portrayal of the Other, the positive bias in portrayal of the self, and the absence of images and information about the Other are all statistically significantly more pronounced in Israeli Ultra‐Orthodox and Palestinian books than in Israeli state books.

Social Work Studies at a Haredi Women's College: Difficulties and Dilemmas

This paper examines the challenges faced by female Ultra-Orthodox students in a social work program designed for the Ultra-Orthodox community in Israel. Findings were obtained from four focus groups with a total of 32 students. The participants reported being exposed to contents that were inconsistent with the perspectives of their community, fieldwork expectations and requirements that violated strict rules of gender separation, and inconvenient scheduling of exams and field trips that did not take their religious observances into consideration. Despite the considerable distress that these matters caused, most of the students made determined efforts to cope, to learn the course material, to carry out their fieldwork assignments, and to reconcile the discrepancies between some of the contents they learned and behaviors that were expected of them and their deeply held values and ways. Implications of the findings are discussed and recommendations made.

The Legacy of the Linguistic Fence: Linguistic Patterns among ultra-Orthodox Jewish Girls

This study examined linguistic patterns in the Jewish ultra-Orthodox community in Israel, a group that has rarely been studied from a sociolinguistic perspective. Participants were 92 girls, 10-12 years old, who attend a school where Yiddish is the language of instruction and Hebrew, Israel’s official language, is studied only in religious contexts. Results show that the girls use and prefer to use Yiddish in most contexts and rate their fluency level higher in Yiddish than in Hebrew. Their appreciation of Yiddish was significantly correlated with negative attitudes toward Hebrew. Relationships with parents had no linguistic effects. Findings are discussed in light of the role of both languages in their community, the uniqueness of this linguistic minority group, especially in comparison with immigrants, the impact of group ideology, and the relevance of emotional correlates of language usage at both individual and community levels.

‘Tell Me What You Speak and I'll Tell You …’: Exploring Attitudes to Languages in the Ultra-Orthodox Community in Israel

‘Tell Me What You Speak and I'll Tell You …’: Exploring Attitudes to Languages in the Ultra-Orthodox Community in Israel

‘Tell Me What You Speak and I'll Tell You …’: Exploring Attitudes to Languages in the Ultra-Orthodox Community in Israel

This paper article on a study focusing on Israel's Haredi (ultra-Orthodox Jews) community, exploring its members’ perceptions of Hebrew, Yiddish and English in terms of the language's importance, usage, holiness and related emotions. Questionnaires were distributed to 180 participants from five prominent subgroups within the community. Analysis revealed significant differences in the participants’ attitudes towards the three languages, showing preference for Hebrew and Yiddish above English in all dimensions explored. Differences between subgroups correlated with their stance towards the Israeli majority and vis-à-vis one another – the greater the level of segregation, the more negative their attitudes towards English and the more positive their attitudes towards Yiddish, with Hebrew somewhere in between for most groups. These findings reflect the community's attempts to build symbolic fences to sustain and foster segregation on the one hand, and their bonding with the historical heritage on the other. Gender differences also emerged with women, who function as change agents far more often, showing more favourable attitudes towards Hebrew and English than men. In sum, attitudes towards languages emerged as an interesting lens from which to learn about broader ideological world views, reflecting the tension and conflict between the inner community world view and the surrounding world.

The Gendered Display of Work: The Midday Scene in an Ultra-Orthodox Street in Israel

This study examines the spatialization of work and gender in the ultra- Orthodox community in Israel. In this community, most adult men (about 70%) are voluntarily not employed and devote their time to the study of Judaism's holy texts. Consequently, the adherents' standard of living is usually very poor, and many married mothers add paid jobs to their tradi- tional domestic duties in order to support their especially large families. Relying on insights associated with the gender division of labor and social negotiation in urban public space, this study examines and analyzes the midday scene in an ultra-Orthodox street. Based on in-depth interviews, observations and short street interviews, I show that although ultra- Orthodox fathers shoulder some domestic chores to support the mothers' paid work, these are largely outdoor activities that confer visibility upon the men's limited contribution. In the resultant scene, representations of domestic work by women and children are obscured by the vitality of those presented by men, enhancing and reinforcing the ascendancy of men and their unpaid religious work. The overall composition of the ultra-Orthodox public space bolsters the old order at the intersection of gender, work and space. In the Jewish ultra-Orthodox community in Israel, a majority of adult men (60%-70%) 1 are voluntarily not employed, devoting their time instead to the study of Judaism's holy texts. To support their especially large families, many wives and mothers add paid jobs to their primary domestic duties and are the sole breadwinners in their families. To ease the burden on employed mothers, ultra-Orthodox men assume some domestic duties. Research on work in the Israeli ultra-Orthodox community tends to focus on the men's circumstances, 2

The social trajectory of illness: Autism in the ultraorthodox community in Israel

Severe or chronic illness-related events present patients and their family members with a physically and socially changed reality. In analyzing 30 open-ended interviews of ultraorthodox Jewish Israeli mothers of children with autism, this paper addresses the general question of one childhood disorder's social trajectory and examines in particular mothers’ efforts to promote their children's re-inclusion into the community. The illness narratives reveal the mothers’ role as mediators between the child and the community, educating the child in religious praxis on the one hand and striving to bend social norms regarding this praxis to permit inclusion on the other. Despite these daily efforts, the ultraorthodox community challenges these children's status, and mothers turn to religious discourse to establish the status of the child with autism as an able Jewish individual. In utilizing spiritual discourse in daily activities, mothers only employ those cultural elements that advance the child's integration, thus further constructing small changes in religious themes. The findings highlight not only the mothers’ role as mediators, but also their potential ability to set in motion processes of change.

Benign Segregation? A Case Study of the Practice of Gender Separation in Buses in the Ultra-Orthodox Community in Israel

The purpose of this article is to examine, from the perspective of moral and political theory, the practice of separate seating for men and women in buses operating in ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods in Israel. Its approach however differs from much of the discourse concerning multiculturalism. Instead of asking whether preserving cultural practices is a value that overrides the concerns for gender equality, this article suggests that the very characterisation of a practice of gender separation as discriminatory is culture-sensitive and cannot be detached from the political and moral convictions of the community that sustains the practice. This discussion raises questions that are analogous to the ones facing the South African jurist who wishes to reconcile respect for African cultural norms and practices with the provisions of equality and dignity entrenched in the South African Constitution.

Is Profane Work an Obstacle to Salvation? The Case of Ultra Orthodox (Haredi) Jews in Contemporary Israel

In this article I demonstrate how devotees interpret and shape traditional components in a complex process of 'bricolage.' I discuss this process through the examination of explanations and interpretations given by members of the Jewish Ultra-Orthodox community in Israel for their choice of studious life devotion over paid work and livelihood. An examination of the conceptions, attitudes and values regarding work and learning bears upon the way the community relates to worldly affairs and individual existence in the world. My analysis and findings indicate a shift from mainstream Judaism, which stresses work and the importance of wage-earing. In contrast, Haredi male members have revived religious interpretations derived mainly from well-known Biblical narratives and combined them with quotations from specific texts derived from the rabbinical tradition. Accordingly, interpretations that have been considered marginal in the Jewish hermeneutic tradition, and often suppressed by key rabbinical figures, have been drawn out of the concealed textual shelves and reintroduced into the center of religious discourse, thought and practice. In this process, the traditional rabbinical view that stressed hard work and activism in the world is transformed. This is accomplished through the redefinition of work by condemning the productive and activist image of human action bringing about new modes of thought, religious symbols and economic behavior.