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An ultra-Orthodox Jewish movement that arose at the end of the 18th century in Hungary with the aim of preserving ancient Jewish traditions. Its followers consider the Torah their primary identity and make studying it and adhering to its teachings among their priorities.
The Haredim are divided into multiple and differing intellectual trends, including those who support the establishment of Israel and those who oppose it. They also have their own positions, as some of them consider that democracy is incompatible with Jewish values and show an absolute rejection of military service. Their presence is mainly concentrated in Israel and the United States of America.
Origins and history
Haredism arose at the end of the 18th century as a new Jewish identity in Eastern Europe, especially in Hungary, where it considered itself a movement drawing on ancient Jewish traditions to confront the modernization and secularization of Jewish society.
Rabbi Moshe Sofer had a prominent role in establishing the Haredim, as he laid the foundations for the separation between the Haredim and the modern Orthodox, who, despite considering the Torah as the basis of their identity, did not reject modernity and fully integrated into society.
The Haredim gave the character of holiness to their customs and traditions, through Sofer’s will, which he wrote in 1836, in which he warned against changing the name, language, and dress.
In Palestine, the founding of the Haredi community dates back to the period of the British Mandate, especially between the years 1919 and 1929, when it witnessed the division of the Ashkenazi sects within the indigenous Jewish population, the “old Yishuv,” into two groups.
The first group established the Chief Rabbinate under the leadership of Rabbi Avraham Yitzhak Kook, who adopted a trend leaning toward Zionism and supported its ideas from a religious standpoint. He believed that the establishment of the State of Israel heralded the beginning of salvation.
As for the other group, it established the “City Committee of the Ashkenazi Sects” under the leadership of Yosef Haim Sonnenfeld. In 1937, its name was changed to the Haredi sect and it adopted the idea of complete independence and complete separation from Zionism.
The Haredim in Israel are concentrated mainly in the city of Jerusalem and Bnei Brak, in addition to some neighborhoods in small settlements or their own Haredi settlements.
Statistical data indicate that 40% of Haredi Jews live in Jerusalem and Bnei Brak, while 7% of them live in the Beit Shemesh settlement near Jerusalem, and their percentage reaches 53% in settlements with a Haredi majority, especially in the West Bank.
Haredi currents
The Haredi Jewish community is divided into 3 main streams: “Leitaim”, “Hasidim”, and “Sephardic”. The percentage of the first category represents 40%, while the second category represents 35%, while the third category represents 20%, and the rest belong to sub-currents.
Hasidic Judaism was founded by Rabbi Nachman Barslav, who lived in Ukraine in 1802, and it is the movement that moved to Israel and grew significantly during the end of the 20th century to become one of the most important components of the Haredi sect.
It is characterized by a modern Jewish identity whose members emphasize the psychological dimension and intentions, at the expense of the importance of learning the Torah. They are keen to cling to the type of dress that was common in the 18th century, and the majority of them speak the “Idish” language as a means of communication.
As for the Laitaim, they speak Hebrew, and they are opposed to the Hasidim because they do not prioritize teaching the Torah and downplay the importance of strict adherence to the Jewish religion.
As for the Sephardic Haredim, they belong to the Jews who came from countries of the Islamic world and studied in Lithuanian religious schools, then they turned into Haredim after acquiring religious knowledge in those schools, but they are not extremists in religion, and yet they remain the weakest group that the Ashkenazi Haredim (Westerners) look down upon. They founded the Shas religious movement under the leadership of Rabbi Ovadia Yosef.
In addition to these main movements - which have come to support Israel - there is the Neturei Karta movement, which arose during the mid-1930s under the leadership of Rabbi Amram Blaui (1894-1974).
This movement was famous for its positions rejecting everything Israel does, including its rejection of Israeli identity cards and the abandonment of Israeli citizenship by some of its followers.
Neturei Karta’s opposition to the establishment of Israel comes from religious beliefs that assume that God punished the Jews with exile and diaspora because of their sins, and that they must wait for His will and their repentance to get rid of this punishment, and the establishment of the State of Israel is considered “rebellion against God” for them.
The majority of the members of this community live in Jerusalem and refuse to receive support from the Israeli occupation government. They do not participate in the parliamentary (Knesset) elections, and they recognize the right of the Palestinian people to independence.
One of their prominent leaders was Rabbi Moshe Hirsch, and his followers burned the flag of Israel on its “Independence Day.” Hirsch was close to the late Palestinian President Yasser Arafat, who appointed him Minister of Jewish Affairs in the Palestinian National Authority.
Political participation
After the Holocaust, the Haredi movements were united and the central religious movements were integrated into the Israeli political scene. Religious parties emerged representing the religious Haredim, such as “Agodath Yisrael,” “United Torah Judaism,” and “Degel HaTorah,” in addition to a central party representing the religious nationalists or Zionists, which is the Mifdal Party. .
The primary mission of these parties during the first two decades of Israel's leadership was to preserve the interests of the religious, especially with regard to providing budgets for their educational system.
After the occupation of the Palestinian territories in 1967 and control of areas such as Jerusalem, Nablus, and Hebron, the Orthodox movement merged with Zionism, which it had previously opposed, and the religious authority dominated this project after the occupation, as they returned to religious places, trying to control them, especially Al-Aqsa Mosque.
According to some studies, the Haredi relationship with the State of Israel can be divided into 3 main periods:
The first period extends before 1977, when the Haredim participated in the labor market and belonged to the middle class, and the average number of members in their families did not exceed the general average.
The second period extends between 1977 and 2002, when this sect played a central role in politics, empowered its schools, increased its isolation rate, and decreased its contribution to the labor market, in addition to increasing the number of its children.
The third period is after 2002, and the Haredim became involved in the labor market, academia, vocational training, and military service, but in smaller numbers.
Rituals and customs
The Haredim believe that life is prayer, learning the Torah, and performing religious duties in order to be saved. Therefore, they do not work to earn a living. Rather, they rely on women to provide the needs of daily life, and they believe that the state should provide them with their living expenses.
This sect has its own method of education. From the birth of the child, he is registered in a circle belonging to a certain rabbi, whom the ultra-Orthodox child considers his role model and accepts all of his ideas without scrutiny or question.
The Haredim have religious schools and do not recognize other sciences, which they consider to corrupt people, and they do not believe in certificates. Despite this, the state obliges them to adopt its curricula in exchange for recognizing and funding their institutions in accordance with the law.
The Haredim have their own institutions for litigation in Israel, called the Haredi Community Court of Justice, which specializes in dispute resolution cases, personal status laws, and the leadership of sects, institutions, and teachers specialized in deciding religious matters.
They hold negative perceptions of religions, cultures, and peoples different from their own, and do not trust non-Jews.
The Haredim are distinguished by keeping their beards long, and letting the hair on their heads grow naturally without shaving. They also usually wear a long coat, a black hat, and a special Jewish prayer shawl called a tallit. As for their women, they maintain modest dress and may wear a burqa, which in Hebrew is called a “fromka.”
Geographical and economic situation
The majority of Haredi Jews live in both Israel and the United States of America, which together represent about 92% of all Haredi Jews in the world.
As for Europe - where about 9% of the world's Jews live - there are 5% of the Haredi sect, and there are also about 3% of the Haredim in South Africa, Canada, and Australia.
Globally, the Haredi Jewish population is estimated at approximately two million and 100 thousand people, representing 14% of the total number of Jews globally (15 million people), according to 2020 statistics reported by a study by the Institute for Jewish Policy Research.
According to the same source, the number of Haredim in Israel in 2020 reached one million and 200 thousand people, which represents 17% of the Jewish community, while in the United States of America they number about 700 thousand, which represents 12% of the Jews.
According to a study by the Israel Democracy Institute, the growth rate of the Haredim in Israel is considered the highest compared to the rest of the population of developed countries, and amounts to about 4% annually, and young people constitute a high percentage of this sect, as about 60% of them are under the age of 20.
Studies indicate that the reasons for the growth of this sect are due to their high fertility rates, as they adopt a policy of heavy childbearing. Each woman from this sect usually gives birth to between 6 and 7 children, and this percentage is much higher compared to fertility rates in other regions of the world, including Middle East and Africa regions.
By 2040, studies expect that the Haredim will constitute 25% of the total Jewish population in Israel, about 20% of American Jews, and 40% of the British Jewish population.
On the economic level, the Haredim in Israel face great challenges that affect their standard of living, as they live in difficult conditions, as their income level is low and the number of family members is large.
In 2022, a high unemployment rate was recorded among them, reaching 46.5%, which is a rate considered higher compared to non-Haredi Jews. The high unemployment rate is attributed to their devoting themselves to studying the Torah in religious schools, where each student spends no less than 3 years in this study. He receives a monthly compensation of $1,200.
Haredim and military service
The exemption of the Haredi category from military service began from the first days of the founding of Israel, when 400 students from religious schools (yishivot) who considered their Torah to be their profession were exempted.
Successive governments in Israel continued to limit the number of students exempted from military service, and in 1977 the limit on the number of students was abolished, and every Haredi received an exemption from it.
Since 1995, the number of people receiving exemption from military service has increased, allowing them to devote themselves to study and receive financial aid from the state.
Despite this exemption, Israel was able to integrate some Haredim into military service during the 1990s, as it established their own military unit, and they also became involved in various military and security fields, including the intelligence service.
In 2017, the Supreme Court in Israel issued a decision to cancel the exemption of the Haredim from military service, considering this discrimination that violates the principle of equality. It ordered the government to find a solution and develop a law for that, and gave it a deadline of March 30, 2024.
But the government requested an extension of the deadline until April 30, a situation that threatens to escalate the situation inside Israel, especially since there are Haredi leaders who have threatened to leave Israel if a law is enacted that forces them to serve in the military.
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