Haredi Judaism (Template:Lang-he-n Ḥaredi, IPA: [χaʁeˈdi] pl. Haredim), (also spelt Chuaredi, Chareidi), is the most conservative form of Orthodox Judaism, and is often referred to as ultra-Orthodox outside of Israel. Haredim view themselves as the most religiously authentic group of Jews.^[1][2][3]

Haredi Judaism is not an institutionally cohesive or homogeneous group,^[4] but comprises a diversity of spiritual and cultural orientations, generally divided into a broad range of Hasidic sects, Lithuanian-Yeshivish streams from Eastern Europe, and Oriental Sephardic Haredim. These groups often differ significantly from one another in their specific ideologies and lifestyles, as well as the degree of stringency in religious practice, rigidity of religious philosophy and isolation from the general culture that they maintain. The majority of the Haredim worldwide therefore live in enclosed neighborhoods in which reside mostly other Haredim of their own sect and/or similar sects, though most of them also mingle with the rest of the population in daily life (more so in the U.S. and Europe than in Israel).

Haredim are currently primarily located in Israel, North America and Western Europe. Due to high birth rate and absence of intermarriage^[5] the Haredi population is growing very rapidly.^[6][7][8] Their numbers have also been boosted by the Baal teshuva movement.^[9][10] Estimates of the global Haredi population are difficult to measure, due to its imprecise definition, lack of data collection and rapid change over time. One newspaper article estimated there were approximately 1.3 million Haredi Jews as of 2011.^[11]

Terminology

According to Nachman Ben-Yehuda, "the Hebrew word Haredi derives from harada – fear and anxiety –meaning, 'he who is anxious about, and/or fearful of, the word of the Almighty.'"^[12] Nurit Stadler writes that the word "meaning 'those who fear or tremble', appears in Isaiah 66:5: 'Hear the word of the Lord, you who tremble at His word'".^[13] Other sources give Isaiah 66:5 and Ezra 10:3 ("those that tremble at the commandment of our God") as the sources.^[14] In general, the word "connotes awe-inspired, fearful of God's majesty", similar to the way Quakers use the term.^[15][16]

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The term "ultra-Orthodox" is often used instead of the term Haredi. Some regard this term to be misleading: Ami Ayalon writes that "Haredi" is preferable because

"Haredi" has none of the misleading religious implications of "ultra-Orthodox": in the words of Shilhav (1989: 53), "they are not necessarily [objectively] more religious but religious in a different way."^[17]

Use of the term "ultra-Orthodox" can also be controversial,^[18] and is considered pejorative by Ayalon,^[19] Norman Lamm^[20] and others.^[21] Canada's Centre for Faith and Media, while stating that the term "sometimes... cannot be avoided", advises journalists to

Try to avoid the term ultra-Orthodox to describe very observant Jews, partly because ultra implies extremism. The term also lumps all fervently religious Jews together (there is much diversity among the observant). As well, there is no analogue on the other end of the religious spectrum (there are no ultra-Reform Jews.)^[22]

The Jewish Telegraphic Agency stopped using the term in the 1990s, substituting "fervently Orthodox" or "Haredi" or both. Then-editor Lisa Hostein stated "'ultra-Orthodox' was seen as a derogatory term that suggested extremism". A New Jersey based newspaper, The Star-Ledger, reportedly dropped the term ultra-orthodox in 2009.^[23][24]

More generally, a range of other expressions are used among Haredi Jews to describe themselves and others in the community, such as Yidn (Jews),^[17] erlekhe Yidn (virtuous Jews),^[17] frum (pious), heimish (home-like, i.e. "our crowd"), yeshivish and Anash (anshei-shloimeinu – members of our community). These have varying meanings depending on the context.

In Israel, Haredi Jews are sometimes referred to as "blacks" (Hebrew "shechorim") by the seculars, a derogatory reference to the black clothes they typically wear.^[25] They are also referred to by the slang word "dos" (plural "dosim" or "dossim"), another derogatory term that mimics the traditional Ashkenazi Hebrew pronunciation of the word "datim", meaning religious.^[26]

History

For several centuries before the emancipation of European Jewry, most of Europe's Jews were forced to live in closed communities, where both the culture and their religious observances were preserved. This occurred both because of internal pressure within the communities and because of the outside world's refusal to accept them otherwise. In the overwhelmingly Christian society of the time, the only way for Jews to gain social acceptance was to convert, thereby abandoning all ties with their own families and community. Few avenues existed, especially in the ghetto, for individuals to negotiate between the dominant culture and the community, because this was handled by the larger community as a whole.

This situation began to change with the Age of Enlightenment and calls by some European liberals to include the Jewish population in the emerging empires and nation states, as well as with Jewry's own Haskalah. These adherents held that acceptance by the non-Jewish world necessitated the reformation of Jews themselves, and the modification of those practices deemed inconsistent with this goal. In the words of a popular aphorism coined by Yehuda Leib Gordon, a person should be "a Jew in the home, and a mentsh in the street." For some Jews, the meticulous and rigorous Judaism practiced in the ghetto interfered with these new outside opportunities. This group argued that Judaism itself had to "reform" in keeping with the social changes taking place around them. They were the forerunners of the Reform movement in Judaism. This group overwhelmingly assimilated into the surrounding culture.^{[citation needed]}

Other Jews argued that the division between Jew and gentile had actually protected the Jews' religious and social culture; abandoning such divisions, they argued, would lead to the eventual abandonment of Jewish religion through assimilation. This latter group insisted that the appropriate response to the Enlightenment was to maintain strict adherence to traditional Jewish law and custom to prevent the dissolution of authentic Judaism and ensure the survival of the Jewish people.

Even as the debate raged, the rate of integration and assimilation grew proportionately to the degree of acceptance of the Jewish population by the host societies.^{[citation needed]} In other countries, particularly in Eastern Europe, acceptance (and integration) was much slower in coming. This was especially true in the Pale of Settlement, a region along the Russian Empire's western border including most of modern Belarus and Ukraine, to which Jewish settlement in the empire was confined. Although Jews here did not win the same official acceptance as they did in Western and Central Europe, the same enlightened spirit of change pervaded the air, albeit in a local variant. Since it was impossible to gain acceptance by the dominant culture, many Jews either emigrated or turned to a number of different movements that they expected would offer hope for a better future. Some Jews, particularly secularized young people, embraced various versions of social radicalism, particularly Social Democracy in its Bundist, Polish nationalist-socialist (PPS), and Menshevik forms; some later became Communists as well, particularly in the Soviet Union. A much larger number of East European Jews chose a less radical 'politics of exit': they embraced or grew more sympathetic to some version of Jewish nationalism, particularly Zionism (which they often combined with some form of liberal politics vis-a-vis citizenship rights in Eastern European states). Beginning as a popular but insurgent movement in Russia in the 1880s, Zionism attained something like communal dominance by the close of the First World War (except in the Soviet Union, where the Communist regime suppressed it beginning in 1918). In the context of the general shift toward ethnonationalist politics across Eastern Europe during World War I and the devastating effects of the war on traditional Jewish society and its certainties, Jewish nationalist parties (particularly Zionists of various stripes) consistently won a plurality or even a majority of Jewish votes in the various local-communal and national elections that took place in Russia and Ukraine in the brief interim period after the fall of the Tsarist regime and in newly emergent nation-states with large East European Jewish minorities like Poland and Lithuania.^[27] Concomitantly, by the period between the world wars, the leading (i.e. most popular and widely sold) Yiddish daily newspapers in Poland and Lithania were broadly identified with Zionism. Both the socialist and the Jewish nationalist movements were not neutral on the topic of the Jewish religion: by and large, they entailed a complete, not infrequently contemptuous, rejection of traditional religious and cultural norms.

Those who opposed these changes reacted in a variety of ways.

In Germany, the usual approach was to accept the tools of modern scholarship and apply them in defence of Orthodoxy, so as to defeat the Reformers at their own game. One proponent of this approach was Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch, who coined the slogan Torah Im Derech Eretz (Torah with civilization) and led a secession from German Jewish communal organizations to form a strictly Orthodox movement with its own network of synagogues and schools, known as Adath Israel. His movement still has followers, and their standard of observance is very strict, but because of their acceptance of secular learning they are not normally classified as Haredim. Some Galician scholars, such as Zvi Hirsch Chayes, followed a somewhat similar approach. In Eastern Europe there was little in the way of organised Reform Judaism, but the advocates of modernity came under the umbrella either of the Haskalah or of political movements such as Bundism or Zionism. The traditionalist opposition was generally associated either with the various Hasidic groups or with the growing network of yeshivas among the Lithuanian Jews, some of which (e.g. the Volozhin yeshiva) even closed rather than comply with the Russian Government's demand for secular studies to be incorporated into the curriculum.

In Germany the opponents of Reform rallied to Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch and his Adath Israel. In Poland Jews true to traditional values gathered under the banner of Agudas Shlumei Emunei Yisroel.^[28] The decisive event came in 1912 with the foundation of the Agudas Israel movement, which became a potent political force and even obtained seats in the Polish sejm (parliament). This movement contained representatives of several of the streams of traditionalism already mentioned. The traditionalists of Eastern Europe, who fought against the new movements emerging in the Jewish community, were the forebears of the contemporary Haredim.

Formation

The formation of the Haredi stream of Orthodox Judaism is widely attributed to Rabbi Moses Sofer ("the Chasam Sofer"), Rabbi Elija Kramer (Vilna Gaon), Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov and their disciples. Sofer, Chief Rabbi of the Orthodox community in Pressburg (Bratislava) was a pupil of Rabbi Nathan Adler of Frankfurt who was a Master of Kabbalah as well as a pupil of Rabbi Pinchas HaLevi Horowitz of Frankfurt, a renowned Talmudist. Thus Sofer was respected by the Hasidim and Misnagdim alike.

Sofer applied a pun to the Talmudic term chodosh asur min ha-Torah, "'new' is forbidden by the Torah" (referring literally to eating chodosh, "new grain", before the Omer offering is given) as a slogan heralding his opposition to any philosophical, social or practical change to customary Orthodox practice. Thus, he did not allow any secular studies to be added to the curriculum of his Pressburg Yeshiva. Sofer's most notable student Rabbi Moshe Shic together with Sofer's sons Rabbis Shimon and Samuel Benjamin took an active role in arguing against the Reform movement but showed relative tolerance for diversity within the Orthodox camp. Others, such as the more zealous Rabbi Hillel Lichtenstein based a more stringent position to orthodoxy.

Starting in 1830, about twenty disciples of Sofer settled in the Holy Land, almost all of them in Jerusalem. They joined the Old Yishuv, which comprised the Musta'arabim, Sephardim and Ashkenazim. They settled in Jerusalem, Safed, Tiberias and Hebron. Together with the Perushim and Hassidim they formed a similar approach to Judaism reflecting those of their European counterparts

A major historic event that facilitated the redefinition of Judaism was the meltdown after the Universal Israelite Congress of 1868–69 in Pest. In an attempt to unify all streams of Judaism under one constitution, the Orthodox offered the Shulchan Aruch as the ruling Code of law and observance. This notation was dismissed by the reformists, leading many Orthodox Rabbis to resign from the Congress and form their own Social and Political groups. Hungarian Jewry split into two major institutionally sectarian groups, Orthodox and Neolog. However, some communities refused to join either of the groups calling themselves Status Quo.

In 1871 Shimon Sofer, Chief Rabbi of Kraków, founded the Machzikei Hadas organisation with the Hasidic Rabbi Yehoshua Rokeach of Belz. This was the first effort of Haredi Jews in Europe to create a political party and may be seen as a part of the developing rebranding of the traditional Orthodoxy into a self defined group. Rabbi Shimon was nominated as a candidate to the Polish Regional Parliament under the Austraian emperor Franz Joseph. He found favor over his modern counterparts and was elected to the "The Polish Club" in which he took active part until his death.

Shik demonstrated support in 1877 for the separatist policies of Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch in Germany. Schick's own son was enrolled in the Hildesheimer Rabbinical Seminary that taught secular studies and was headed by Azriel Hildesheimer. Hirsch, however, did not reciprocate and expressed astonishment at Schick's halakhic contortions in condemning even those Status Quo communities that clearly adhered to halakhah.^[29] Lichtenstein opposed Hildesheimer and his son Hirsh as they made use of the German language in sermons from the pulpit and seemed to sway to the direction of Modern Zionism.^[30]

Shimon Sofer was somewhat more lenient than Lichtenstein on the use of German in sermons allowing so only if it was a medium for keeping cordial relations with the various governments. Likewise, he allowed extra-curricular studies of the gymnasium for students whose rabbinical positions would be recognized by the governments, stipulating the necessity to prove the strict adherence to the God-fearing (Haredi) standards per individual case.^[31]

In 1912, the World Agudath Israel was founded to differentiate itself from the Torah Nationalists Mizrachi and Secular Zionist organisations. It was dominated by the Hasidic Rebbes and Lithuainian rosh yeshivas. Agudah nominated Rabbis who were elected as representatives in the Polish government Sejm, such as Rabbi Meir Shapiro and Rabbi Yitzhak-Meir Levin. Notably, not all Hasidic factions joined the Agudath Israel, remaining independent such as Machzikei Hadat of Galicia.^[32] In 1924 Agudath Israel obtained 75 percent of the votes in the Kehillah elections.^[33]

In 1919, Rabbi Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld (student of Ksav Sofer) and Rabbi Yitzchok Yerucham Diskin (son of Rabbi Yehoshua Leib Diskin, from Brisk, Lithuania) founded the Edah HaChareidis as part of Agudath Israel in then Mandate Palestine.

The Edah HaChareidis was actively anti-Zionist and opposed to the armed struggle of the Hagana. They attempted to gain political recognition and peacefully attain autonomic authority over parts of the Holy Land. Their ambassador Dr Jacob Israël de Haan met with Hashemite leader Hussein bin Ali on this issue. Hussein granted him a handwritten letter outlining a draft understanding between the Orthodox Jews and their Arab neighbors, which would require them to denounce the Balfour Declaration in return for autonomy over parts of Transjordan. This letter was presented to the first Agudath Israel Convention in Vienna in 1923 by Rabbi Moshe Blau.

The Orthodox community polled some 16,000 of a total 90,000 at the Knesseth Israel in 1929.^[34] But Sonnenfeld lobbied Sir John Chancellor, the High Commissioner for separate representation in the Palestine Communities Ordinance than that of the Knesseth Israel explaining that the Agudas Israel community would cooperate with the Vaad Leumi and the National Jewish Council in matters pertaining to the municipality, but seeks to protect is its religious convictions independently. The community petitioned the Permanent Mandates Commission of the League of Nations on this issue. The one community principle was victorious despite their opposition., but this is seen as the creation of the Haredi community in Israel separate from the other modern Orthodox and Zionist movements.^[35]

In 1932 Sonnefeld was succeeded by Rabbi Yosef Tzvi Dushinsky (I) a disciple of the Shevet Sofer, one of the grandchildren of Moses Sofer. Dushinsky promised to build up a strong Jewish Orthodoxy at peace with the other Jewish communities and the non-Jews.^[36]

In 1945, the Edah HaChareidis parted ways with Agudat Yisrael. In 1948 Rabbi Zelig Reuven Bengis (1864–1953) succeeded Dushinski and with his passing the Chief Rabbinate was passed onto Grand Rabbi Joel Teitelbaum of Satmar (1887–1979). Satmar chassidism was founded by Rabbi Moshe Teitelbaum (Ujhel) a hasid who paid homage to Moses Sofer.

Rabbi Joel Teitelbaum was a passionate opponent of Modern Zionism and had great influence on the Edah HaCharedit but soon emigrated to the United States, still holding his title of Chief Rabbi of the Edah HaChareidis. In the U.S. he attracted many new followers and influenced many leaders of the Orthodox Hassidic Rabbis and established a large community in the densely Orthodox neighborhood of Williamsburg, located in northern Brooklyn in New York City. Today's Satmar community in New York numbers close to 130,000 adherents (including men, women and children).

Present day

Practices and beliefs

Views of Jewish law

One basic belief of the Orthodox community in general is that it is the latest link in a chain of Jewish continuity extending back to the giving of the Torah to Moses at Mount Sinai. They maintain the position of the Mishnah and Talmud as explained by Maimonides^[37] that two distinct guides to Jewish law were given to the Israelites at that time: the first, known as the Torah she-bi-khtav, or the "Written Law", which is the Torah as Jews know it today. The second, known as the Torah she-ba'al peh ("Oral Law"), is the explanation of the Written Law that was given to Moses as the proper interpretation of the Written law.

Jewish law, known as halacha, are the final conclusions based on the Talmud as to how one should conduct oneself in matters pertaining to the spiritual, moral, religious and personal. As such, it includes codes of law applicable to many hypothetical circumstances, which have been pored over and developed throughout the generations in a constantly expanding collection of religious literature.

Halacha is a guide for everything the traditional Jew does from the moment of awakening until the moment of sleep. It is a body of intricate laws, combined with logical explanations of the reasoning behind each law. Halacha incorporates many traditional practices into those rules, some of which started as customs passed down over the millennia, as well as an assortment of deeply ingrained cultural behaviors. It is the subject of intense study in religious schools known as yeshivas (essentially, Jewish law schools that also study Jewish literature and customs in general).

Throughout history, halacha has addressed issues on the basis of circumstance and precedent. There have been some significant adaptations over the centuries, including more formal education for women in the early twentieth century, and the application of halacha to modern technology. While Haredim have typically been more conservative than their Modern Orthodox counterparts regarding new practices and rulings on new applications of halachic concepts, Orthodox Judaism views these types of innovations as consistent with traditionally expounded halachic concepts. Haredi Orthodoxy's differences with Modern Orthodoxy usually lie in interpretation of the nature of traditional halachic concepts and in understanding of what constitutes acceptable application of these concepts to the modern world.^{[citation needed]} Critics of Haredi Judaism see it as a "reform" movement which has warped the values of traditional Judaism.^[38][39]

Modern inventions have been studied and incorporated into the ever-expanding halacha, accepted by both Haredi and other Orthodox communities. For instance, rulings were made about the proper use of electricity and other technology by Orthodox Jews during Jewish Sabbath (and holidays) to make sure that the Written Laws (Torah she-bi-khtav) were not being violated. There is consensus in the Orthodox community regarding most major points, although fine points are the subject of deep debates with a wide range of opinions. While discussions of halacha are common and encouraged, the final determinations as to the applicability of the law in all situations rests in the hands of the local Orthodox rabbi or posek (rabbinical authority).^{[citation needed]}

Lifestyle and family

Haredi life is very family-centered. Depending on various factors, boys and girls attend separate schools and proceed to higher Torah study, in a yeshiva or seminary respectively, starting anywhere between the ages of 13 and 18. A significant proportion of young men remain in yeshiva until their shidduch, introduction to a woman for the purpose of seeing if the couple wishes to marry. Most couples are not given a choice about their marriage-match ('Shidduch'), and the match is often a financial deal (contracts included) between two families^{[40][41][42][43][44]}. After their marriage, many of the Haredi men continue study in kollel (a Torah study institute for married men) for many years after marriage. In lots of Haredi communities, studying in secular institutions is discouraged, although some have educational facilities for vocational training or run professional programs for men and women. Most men, even those not in kollel, will make certain to study Jewish texts (collectively referred to as Torah) daily (most studies though are focused on the Talmud and Gmara, and the actual Bible is seldom studied in-itself^[45][46][47]). Families tend to be large, reflecting adherence to the Torah commandment "be fruitful and multiply" (Book of Genesis 1:28, 9:1,7).

In the United States and Europe, the majority of Haredi males are active in the workforce. For various reasons, in Israel, around half of their members do not work, and most of those who do are not officially a part of the workforce.^[48][49][50]

Haredim endeavour to ensure that the areas where they live are free of 'immoral' influences. In Israel for example, the entrances to some ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods are fitted with signs asking that modest clothing be worn.^[51] Some areas are known to have "modesty patrols."^[52] It is also impossible for anyone to enter many Haredi neighbourhoods with a vehicle during the Sabbath.^[53].

Haredi rabbis generally recommend very strongly against watching television and films, reading secular newspapers or books not related to Judaism, and using the Internet without filters that block 'inappropriate' material^[54]. Because of this, some Haredim also use mobile phones that are programmed to disable internet and other functions, and most companies in Israel now offer basic cell phones with limited capabilities to accommodate Haredim.^[55][56] Interent has been allowed for business purposes and many Haredim are active in "Haredi chat rooms".^[57][58] In May 2012, 40,000 Haredim gathered at Citi Field Stadium in New York to discuss the dangers of the Internet.^[59]

Dress

Many Haredim view manner of dress as an important way to ensure Jewish identity and distinctiveness^[60][61]. In addition, a simple, understated mode of dress is seen as conducive to inner reflection and spiritual growth (see last references). As such, many Haredim are wary of modern clothing (some of which may compromise their standards of modesty). Many men have beards, most dress in dark suits, and wear a wide-brimmed hat (typically black) during prayer and while outside, and men wear a (typically black) kippah at all times. Women adhere to tznius (modesty) standards, and hence wear long skirts and long sleeves, high necklines and some form of head covering if married: scarves, snoods, shpitzelach, hats, or sheitels (wigs).

The standard mode of dress for males of the Lithuanian stream are black suits with a white shirt and necktie. Headgear includes black Fedora or Homburg hats and black velvet skull caps. Beards are common among married men, while most Hasidic males will never be clean shaven. Women are required to adhere to the laws of modest dress and wear long skirts and sleeves, high necklines and, if married, some form of head covering.

Traditional Hasidic men and women differ from the Lithuanian stream by having a much more specific dress code, the most obvious difference for men being the full-length suit jacket (rekel) and beaver hat on weekdays and fur hat (shtreimel) and silk caftan (bekishe) on the Sabbath.

Hasidic men often follow the specific dress style of their group, which may include long jackets or coats (often called either a frock coat, kapote, or sirtuk), or a full-length suit jacket called a "rekel". Common formal wear include long silken jackets (bekishes), wide or high fur hats (shtreimels or spodiks). These clothes are worn on the Sabbath and festivals as well as to weddings and events of communal importance. During prayer many men wear a gartel (a long belt wrapped around the waist of the outer layer of clothing). Although common to the dress of Hasidic and non-Hasidic Jews in pre-World War II Europe, present-day use of the gartel is primarily relegated to those with Hasidic customs. However, some non-Hasidic Haredim continue to maintain this garb.

Demographics

Estimates for Haredi population are difficult to obtain^[62] and may significantly underestimate the true number of Haredim, due to their reluctance to participate in surveys and censuses.^[63] However, studies do show a very high growth rate with a large young population.^[64]

Israel is home to the largest Haredi population, at approx. 700,000 (out of 6 million Israeli Jews).^[62] The number of Haredi Jews in Israel is rising rapidly. In 1992, out of a total of 1,500,000 Orthodox Jews world wide, about 550,000 were Haredi (half of them in Israel).^[65] The vast majority of Haredi Jews are Ashkenazi. However, some 20% of the Haredi population are thought to belong to the Sephardic Haredi stream. The Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics forecasts that the Haredi population of Israel will number 1.1 million in 2019. It is also projected that the number of Haredim in 2059 may be equal to the number of non-Haredi Israeli Jews, with a population estimated to number between 2.73 and 5.84 million.^[66]

The main Haredi concentrations in Israel are: Jerusalem (Mea Shearim, Beis Yisroel, Geula, Har Nof, Ramat Shlomo, Ramot, Neve Yaakov, Maalot Dafna, Ramat Eshkol, Ezras Torah, Sanhedria Murhevet, Kiryat Mattersdorf, Bayit Vegan, Givat Shaul, Givat Ze’ev ), Bnei Brak, Modi'in Illit, Beitar Illit, Beit Shemesh, Kiryat Ye'arim, Ashdod, Rehasim, Safed and El'ad. Two Haredi cities: Kasif and Harish, are planned.

The United States is home to the second largest Haredi population. In 2000, there were 360,000 Haredi Jews in the U.S. (7.2% of the total American Jewish population).^[6] The University of Manchester cited an estimate of 468,000 as of 2006.^[6] In 1988, it was estimated that there are between 40,000 and 57,000 Haredim in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York, mostly Hasidim. The Jewish population in the Borough Park neighborhood of Brooklyn (70,000 in 1983) was also mostly Haredi (also mostly Hasidim).^[65] The numbers provided are inconclusive, given the tremendous birthrate of Haredi Jews in Wiliamsburg and Borough Park; some estimate their population has doubled or tripled in the last 20 years.^{[citation needed]} Other Hasidic enclaves include Kiryas Joel and New Square. Consequently, the term Hasidim or Hasidic Jew is now used in the United States to describe virtally all Haredim, whether or not they are actually Hasidim.

Large Haredi enclaves exist in New York (Flatbush, Williamsburg and Crown Heights sections of Brooklyn, Monsey), New Jersey (Lakewood, Passaic), Los Angeles, California, Chicago, Illinois, Cleveland, Ohio, Dallas, and Baltimore, Maryland.

The Haredi population in the UK was estimated at 27,000 in 1998, out of 200,000 UK observant Jews.^[65] However, a 2007 study published by the University of Manchester asserted that three out of every four British Jewish births are Haredi, who now account for 45,500 out of around 275,000 Jews in the UK, or 17%.^[6] A new joint study of the Jewish Policy Research and the Board of Deputies in 2010 established that there was 9049 Haredi households in the UK. This would account for a population of nearly 53,400 or 20% of the UK community.^[67] (9,049 households * 5.9 average Haredi household) Within the next three decades, the Haredi community is predicted (by the Board of Deputies) to be the largest Jewish group in the UK: in comparison with the national average of 2.4 children per family, Haredi families have an average of 5.9 children, and as of 2006 membership of Haredi synagogues had doubled since 1990.^[68]

In the UK, the largest Haredi communities are located in London (Stamford Hill, South Tottenham, Golders Green, Hendon, Edgware), Salford/Bury (Broughton Park, Kersal, Sedgley Park and Prestwich) and Gateshead.

About 25,000 Haredim live in France (mostly Sephardim of North African descent).^[65] Important communities are located in Paris, Strasbourg and Lyon. Other important communities, mostly Ashkenazi, are the Jewish Community of Antwerp in Belgium, as well as communities in the Swiss cities of Zurich and Basel, and in the Dutch city of Amsterdam. There is also a Haredi community in Vienna, Austria.

Other countries with significant Haredi populations include Canada, South Africa and Australia.

In Israel

The Haredi community in Israel has adopted a policy of cultural dissociation, but at the same time, it has struggled to remain politically active, perceiving itself as the true protector of the country's Jewish nature.

The issues date to the late nineteenth-early twentieth century, with the rise of Zionism. The vast majority of Haredi Jews rejected Zionism for a number of reasons. Chief among these was the claim that Jewish political independence could only be obtained through Divine intervention, with the coming of the Messiah. Any attempt to force history was seen as an open rebellion against Judaism (for a more complete exposition of this ideology see Three Oaths; Vayoel Moshe; Neturei Karta).

More important was the dislike that the political and cultural Zionism of the time felt toward any manifestation of religion. Influenced by socialism, secular Zionists looked on religion as an outdated relic, which should disappear (or, according to some extreme views, even be eradicated) in favor of Jewish nationalism. As with the nineteenth century Reform Judaism movement in Germany, the result was mutual recriminations, rejection, and harsh verbal attacks. To Zionists, Haredi Jews were either "primitives" or "parasites"; to Haredi Jews, Zionists were tyrannizing heretics. This kulturkampf still plagues Israeli society today, where animosity between the two groups has even pervaded both their educational systems.

Despite the animosity, it was necessary for the two groups to work out some modus vivendi in the face of a more dangerous enemy, the Nazis. This was achieved by a division of powers and authority, based on the division that existed during the British Mandate in the country. Known as the "status quo", it granted political authority (such as control over public institutions, the army, etc.) to the Zionists and religious authority (such as control over marriage, divorce, conversions, etc.) to the Orthodox. A compromise worked out by Labor Zionist leader Berl Katznelson even before statehood ensured that public institutions accommodate the Orthodox by observing the Sabbath and providing kosher food.

Notwithstanding these compromises, many Haredi groups maintained their previous apolitical stance. The community had split into two parts: Agudat Israel, which cooperated with the state, and the Edah HaChareidis, which fiercely opposed it. Both groups still exist today, with the same attitudes. The Edah HaChareidis includes numerous Hasidic groups, such as Satmar, Dushinsky and Toldos Aharon, as well as several non-Hasidic groups of Lithuanian and Hungarian background.

A small minority of Jews, who claim to have been descended from communities who had lived peacefully with their Arab neighbors during the 18th and early 19th centuries, took a different stance. In 1935 they formed a new grouping called the Neturei Karta out of a coalition of several previous anti-Zionist Jewish groups in the Holy Land, and aligned themselves politically with the Arabs out of a dislike for Zionist policies.

Education

Haredim have a separate system of education in Israel, called Chinuch Atzmai. There are four distinct education systems in Israel, the other three being the state system (Mamlachti), the state-religious system (Mamlachti dati) and the Arab system. There is a strong emphasis on Jewish studies in Haredi school programs.

The schools are partially supported by the State; however, the Ministry of Education is not responsible for the hiring and firing of teachers or for the registration of pupils. Chinuch Atzmai's funding has traditionally been supplemented by donations from outside of Israel, particularly from the United States.

The Haredim's lack of mainstream education, and consequent low participation in the workforce, are regarded by many in Israel as a social problem. The Council for Higher Education announced in 2012 that it was investing NIS 180 million over the following five years to establish appropriate frameworks for the education of Haredim, focusing on specific professions.^[71]

Military

As part of the Status quo Agreement worked out between prime minister David Ben-Gurion and religious parties, Haredi leader Rabbi Avraham Yeshayah Karelitz (known as the Chazon Ish) was promised that the government would exempt a group of religious scholars (at that time, 400) from compulsory military service so that they could pursue their studies. That exemption is called Torato Omanuto; it allows Haredi young men whose main occupation is Torah study to delay conscription to the Israel Defense Forces or to avoid it completely. The number of beneficiaries of the Torato Omanuto arrangement has greatly increased over the decades, to the point of most Haredim (Men and Women) being entitled to avoid enlistment. This is resented by most Israelis, for the following reasons:

- Most Israelis who are not Haredim are obligated to enlist by law, for either 3 years (men) or 2 years (women). (see Conscription in Israel)

- Most of those Israelis who enlist consider their service to be a shared national obligation, in which the Haredim refuse to part.

- The Haredim can work on those 2–3 years of their lives in which they do not serve in the IDF, while most soldiers at the IDF are usually payed anywhere between 80-250$ a month^[72]. All the while, the Haredi Yeshiva Students receive significant monthly funds and payments for their religious studies^[73] (up to 4500$).

- The Haredim, if they so choose, can study in the Academia at that time^[74], while most soldiers are not allowed to^[75].

- From a legal constitutional perspective, this situation reflects a violation of the Democratic principles of both Equality and Human Dignity (this is one of the main issues studied in Constitutional Law courses in all Israeli Academia). (broader discussion of this is at: Tal committee)

While a few dozen Haredim did still enlist in the IDF every year in recent decades, the Haredim usually reject those criticisms. Depending on which Haredi is asked, one might argue that:

- A Yeshiva student is equally or more important than a soldier in the IDF, because he keeps Jewish tradition alive and prays for the people of Israel to be safe^[76][77][78].

- The IDF is not forthcoming towards Haredim, as the food is not Kosher enough for their taste^[79], and there is too much immodest exposure to women^[80][81].

- As an IDF soldier, a Haredi would not be given enough time to practice his religion properly^[82].

- While the Haredi Yeshiva students can work during the time they don't serve, and most of them do, the current law does not allow them to work legally (as they already receive state-funds), so those who do work are considered felons (even though there is no regulation of the matter by the state and people are not trialed for such offenses). (see broader discussion at: Torato Omanuto and Tal committee)

- The more extremist Haredim, such as Neturei Karta, are anti-Zionist by self-definition and have the agenda of non-cooperation with the state of Israel. Other Haredim, however, do not refrain from service because of such anti-Zionist motivations.

The Torato Omanuto arrangement was enshrined in the Tal Law that came in force in 2002. The High Court later ruled that it could not be extended in its current form beyond August 2012. A replacement was expected. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) was however experiencing a shortage of personnel, and there were pressure to reduce the scope of the Torato Omanuto exemption.^[83]

The Shahar program, also known as Shiluv Haredim ("Ultra-Orthodox integration") allows Haredi men aged 22 to 26 to serve in the army for about a year and a half. At the beginning of their service, they study mathematics and English, which are not well covered in Haredi schools. The program is partly aimed at encouraging Haredi participation in the workforce after military service. Not all beneficiaries however seem to be Haredim.^[84]

Over the years, as many as 1000 Haredi Jews have chosen to volunteer to serve in the IDF, in a Haredi Jewish unit, the Netzah Yehuda Battalion, also known as Nahal Haredi. The vast majority of Haredi men, however, continue to receive deferments from military service.^[85]

Currently, the Israeli parliament is in the process of enacting a law that would eventually lead to the enlistment of most Haredi men<red>http://www.calcalist.co.il/local/articles/1,7340,L-3606950,00.html</ref>. This law had been promoted by Yair Lapid, whose political party was partially based on the promise of creating 'enlistment equality'. The law would also push for Haredi men to volunteer for National Civil Service (as military service replacement) and encourage the Haredim to be incorporated officially into the labour force.

Involvement in the political process

The Agudat Yisrael party, supported by much of the Haredi population, was invited to participate in the governing coalition shortly after the Israeli Declaration of Independence. It agreed, but did not appoint any ministers since that would have implied participation in non-religious actions taken by the government.

Haredim proved to be able politicians, gradually increasing their leverage and influence. In addition, the Haredi population grew substantially, giving them a larger power base. From a small group of just four members in the 1977 Knesset, they gradually increased the number of seats they hold to 22 (out of 120) in 1999. In effect, they controlled the balance of power between the country's two major parties.

In the early 1980s the Shas party of Sephardic Haredim was set up. Shas appealed to Sephardim who felt marginalized by the dominant Ashkenazi Zionist establishment. In 1999, Shas gained 17 Knesset seats (other Haredim won 5 seats). Taking the attitude that restoring Sephardic pride and restoring Sephardic religious observance are one and the same, Shas has created devoted cadres of newly religious and semi-religious men and women with the zeal of neophytes and an animosity toward the country's secular European political establishment.^{[citation needed]} Furthermore, the movement has shown unwavering and determined obedience in its supporters to the teachings of its spiritual leader, Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef.^{[citation needed]}

Following the 2003 elections, the Haredi parties lost their place in the government to the secular anti-religious Shinui party (since defunct). Shinui opposed the funding of Haredi schools and the Torato Omanuto exemption from military service. In 2005 Shinui left the government and Ariel Sharon brought the Haredi United Torah Judaism party into his ruling coalition.

In 2010, the Sephardic Haredi political party Shas broke ranks with Ashkenazi Haredi organizations and joined the World Zionist Organization, becoming the first officially Zionist Haredi political party.^[86]

Employment

As of 2012 it was estimated that 37% of Haredi men and 49% of Haredi women were employed. The Trajtenberg Committee, charged in 2011 with drafting proposals for economic and social change, called, among other things, for increasing employment among the Haredi population. Its proposals included encouraging military or national service and offering college prep courses for volunteers, creating more employment centers targeting Haredim and experimental matriculation prep courses after Yeshiva hours. The committee also called for increasing the number of Haredi students receiving technical training through the Industry, Trade and Labor Ministry and forcing Haredi schools to carry out standardized testing, as is done at other public schools.^[87]

Views on 'immodest female exposure', male-female segregation and associated public controversies

Haredi society is generally intolerant of physical exposure of the female bodies - especially in public, and more so in areas in which Haredim live.^[88] The entrances to the city of Bnei Brak, for instance, include signs which ask those who enter to 'Respect the Haredi lifestyle' (which is universally understood by all Israeli as a demand for people to dress 'modestly' in that city and avoid things like driving a car within it on the Sabbath).^[89] Haredim who live among secular citizens usually either ignore the way the latter are dressed, or in the case of Haredi men, even go as far as looking the other way on purpose to avoid eye contact with the "overly exposed" body of a female^[90][91][92]. To a Haredi men, sometimes even the show of exposed arms and legs might prove too much for their religious tastes and preferences^[93]. Sometimes, it also happens that a Haredi man will use verbal or even physical violence towards a woman he considers to be "not modestly dressed".^[94] This is less common in general public venues, and occurs more often within Haredi neighbourhoods, various religious sites, or when the woman involved is religious herself. Neither verbal nor physical violence is encouraged in such cases by more mainstream rabbis of the Haredi society^[95][96], but the phenomenon had become more common in Israel over the last two decades (interestingly, it is nonexistent in other countries, or at least goes unreported).

Some Haredi publications have a policy of either censuring photographs of women, or not publishing them at all; the newspaper Yated Ne'eman in April 2009 digitally altered photographs of the newly installed Israeli cabinet to replace two female ministers with pictures of men, while another newspaper blacked the women out of their published photograph.^[97][98] There had been more extreme cases, too. Some Haredi publications have been known to censor pictures of female children.^[98] On March 2013, a Haredi magazine in Israel was reported to censor the images of women from a famous photograph from the Holocaust.^[99][100] The publications are not always run by extremists within Haredi society. The magazine operated by the Haredi mainstream Shas party and organization also has a policy of censoring women, which it has expressed openly.^[101] Following these trends in Haredi societies during late 20th and early 21st centuries, additional companies and organizations in Israel have began to eliminate females from their advertisements.^[102][103] The bus company Egged refused to portray women on bus commercial in Haredi populated areas because of intensive Haredi vandalism of such commercials.^[104]

There was much public controversy in Israel during 2010-2012 surrounding the issue of 'Mehadrin' buses - bus lines that serve mostly Haredi public, that segregated men and women and required women to go up from the back of the bus and sit in the back. Tania Rozenblit, a secular Israeli who refused to sit in the back of such a bus in 2011, ignited a heated public debate, and rushed a ruling of the Israeli supreme court against the forcing of women to sit in the back of buses.^{[105][106][107]} The cause for the existence of 'Mehadrin' buses was, to begin with, the wishes of many Haredi communities to further set men and women physically apart, for the same reasons and rational that called for 'modest' female display in public.

In public, Haredi women usually wear clothes that cover the majority of their body, as well as distinct hats (which might be identical or different to those worn by Orthodox Jewish women).^[108] Many women also wear wigs on their hair, or even go as far as wearing a wig on a shaved head.^[109] The wigs and shaved head are meant to make the Haredi woman less attractive to men^{[110][111][112]}, though through the years it has become popular among some Haredi women to wear fancier wigs which are actually more attractive than their own hair (drawing criticism from more conservative Haredi rabbis). Within the home, and unlike on the streets, Haredi women often dress more freely and casually, but usually not to the extent of their secular counterparts.^[113]

Secular and Orthodox Jews have criticized Haredi extremism on matters of Female exposure and male-female segregation, claiming this is a modern phenomenon, which does not reflect traditional Judaism. In 2012, several online reports came up showing major Haredi rabbi Ovadia Yosef in an old photograph with his wife, which is there dressed 'immodestly' with accordance to current Haredi standards.^[114] Some have also suggested that Haredi indulgence in matters of modestly is in itself excessive, and thus 'not modest'^[115].

Currently there is much controversy in Israel on the issue of male-female segregation at the sight of the Wailing Wall. Segregation exists at the sight because of Haredi dominance of the area. Opponents of the Haredi agenda have pointed out that in the past, there had not existed such segregation (many pictures exist from the early 20th century which demonstrate this claim, and these have been published in the past on the mainstream Israeli media). A group of Orthodox and Secular Jewish women called 'Neshot Hakotel' (נשות הכותל - Women of the Wall) made a series of provocative actions during recent years, coming to the Wall often to pray in the presence of men (other than in the strictly female area). Following debates in the Israeli parliament and supreme court, it was finally decided to re-segment the prayer regions near the wall to: Male, Female and Mixed (both male and female) areas.^[116]

Other issues

The Haredim are relatively poor, compared to other Israelis, but represent an important market sector.^[117][118] More than 50 percent live below the poverty line and get state allowances, compared with 15 percent of the rest of the population...."^[119] Their families are also larger, usually having six or seven children.^[119]

In recent years, there has been a process of reconciliation and a merging of Haredi Jews with Israeli society,^{[citation needed]} for example in relation to employment.^[120] While not compromising on religious issues and their strict code of life, Haredi Jews have become more open to the secular Israeli culture.^{[citation needed]} Haredi Jews, such as satirist Kobi Arieli, publicist Sehara Blau and politician Israel Eichler write regularly to leading Israeli newspapers. Another important factor in the reconciliation process has been the activity of ZAKA – a voluntary rescue organization run by Haredim, which provides emergency first response medical attention at suicide bombing scenes and retrieves human remains found there to provide proper burial. Another important unifying organization is Yad Sarah, established by Uri Lupolianski (mayor of Jerusalem 2003–2009) in 1977. Yad Sarah is the largest national volunteer organization in Israel, with over 6,000 volunteers^[121][122] representing all ages and backgrounds, including different socioeconomic sectors and cultural and religious backgrounds.^[123] Yad Sarah provides free loans of medical and rehabilitative home-care equipment to Jews, Christians, Muslims and Druze,^[124] enabling hundreds of thousands of sick, disabled, elderly and recuperating patients to live at home.^[122] Its menu of free or nominal-fee services also includes oxygen service, wheelchair transportation, national emergency alarm system, services for the homebound, legal aid for the elderly, geriatric dentistry, day rehabilitation centers, a play center for special needs children, and an education and recreation club for retirees.^{[124][125][126]} Yad Sarah receives no government funding,^[124][127] yet saves the country's economy an estimated $320 million in hospital fees and long-term care costs each year.^[121][125]

Between Haredi Judaism and National Religious or Religious Zionist Judaism, there is also a category of Orthodox Jews known as 'Hardalim', who combine Religious Zionism with a stricter adherence to Halacha.

In the United States

The United States is home to the second largest Haredi population. In 2000, there were 360,000 Haredi Jews in the U.S. (7.2% of the total American Jewish population).^[6] The University of Manchester cited an estimate of 468,000 as of 2006.^[6]

History: A Jewish subculture and debate with more liberal movements

While there has been a Haredi presence in the U.S. since the start of the 20th century, the various groups began to emerge as distinctive communities only in the 1950s, with the influx of refugees from the Holocaust in Eastern Europe, who quickly filled leadership positions. Before then, the distinctions that are now commonly made between Haredi and Modern Orthodox Jews were moot at best; dividing lines between the two camps can now be drawn, though it is important to recognize that there is a substantial overlap between the two communities.

As the tides of Jewish immigrants to the United States in the late nineteenth-early twentieth centuries became more settled and affluent, they looked to Europe to provide rabbis and other spiritual leaders and teachers for their emerging communities. While some rabbis accepted the challenge, a number of them returned to Europe soon after, frustrated by what they found in the United States. Unlike Eastern Europe, where Jews constituted a distinct minority group, the United States offered Jews an opportunity to blend into the dominant culture. Many of the new immigrants dropped their traditional customs and laws, both out of choice (the U.S. offered them a chance to escape what they viewed as the constraints of religious identity) or not (Jews refusing to work on the Sabbath were almost always fired at the end of the week;^{[citation needed]}; the large majority of those who desisted from working on Saturday had to face the formidable challenge of finding new work each week).^{[citation needed]}

The groups that arrived en masse after the Holocaust found a religious and social infrastructure already in place. While they feared that their communities might assimilate into the mainstream of American society, they were also able to create more insular communities, devoid of all but the most necessary contacts with the surrounding society. As the communities became more affluent, they were able to assume more and more roles of the city and state for themselves. Today, there exist many autonomous communities in places such as Borough Park, Williamsburg, and Crown Heights in Brooklyn, as well as more recently the yeshiva centered community of Lakewood, New Jersey, with their own economies, educational systems (yeshivos) welfare institutions and gemachs (free-loan funds for everything from money to household items to tools, clothing, books and services), medical services (such as the Hatzalah ambulance corps), and security (the Shomrim neighborhood patrol). Some smaller, more isolationist Hasidic groups actually founded their own small towns, such as New Square, New York, and Kiryas Joel, New York, patterned after the communities they left in Europe. There are still other, smaller, communities throughout the United States, which at first did not have all the established institutions of the dominant community in New York. Eventually, even they managed to put many of these institutions in place, thereby preserving their cultural separation.

With these in place, the communities were able to grow and flourish, both because of an extremely high birthrate (eight or more children is normal), and because of outreach programs geared toward other Jews. Most notably the Chabad Lubavitch Hasidic movement embraced outreach with a passion, conducting nationwide campaigns to introduce Chabad Judaism to unaffiliated Jews, as well as to Jews of other affiliations. This helped ignite the teshuvah movement that now attracts thousands of new adherents to Haredi Judaism yearly.

On the other hand, despite all their efforts at cultural separation, the Haredi leadership could not ignore the appeal of American life to their own youth. While certain few concessions to American society were made (for example, some groups allowed some of their children to pursue some higher education under certain circumstances), for the most part the response was to adopt an even more extreme approach to insularity. In effect, anything that might be perceived as a threat to the cultural homogeneity of the community was disparaged, including secular newspapers, radio, and television. Instead, a program of total immersion in study was encouraged for the younger generation.

Some Haredi leaders realized that the communities could not be kept completely insular and established ways to connect to society without compromising on their intrinsic beliefs. In several instances, yeshivos such as Torah Vodaas, Yeshivas Rabbeinu Yitzchok Elchonon, Chaim Berlin and Ner Yisroel started allowing the boys (or bochurim) to pursue a secular education while remaining in the yeshiva. This was helped largely by the establishment of Touro College by Dr. Bernard Lander, a college based in New York City geared towards Haredi students seeking college degrees. One of the most noticeable things in Touro is the fact that the classes are separate for men and women to keep in line with strict Haredi lifestyles.

Another, perhaps greater threat, was seen in those Jewish groups that attempted to bridge the gap between the religious and secular worlds, since this was perceived as possibly more alluring to the youths of the community, including those who could not conceive of a total break from their Jewish upbringing. Reform, Conservative, and even Modern Orthodox Judaism were seen as threatening to the very continuity of the community.

In the case of Reform, this animosity could be traced to the early nineteenth century in Germany, where Reform waged a battle to wrest control of the communities from Traditional Jews. At that time, both groups attacked each other incessantly in the struggle for hegemony over the Jewish community. Until quite recently, the Reform movement felt secure and was not leveling the same attacks on the Orthodox. In many instances, they sought ways to cooperate on common issues. To the Haredim, however, the new Judaism of the Reformers was a movement that did away with the basic tenets of what they felt was authentic Judaism, a hoax to be disparaged and discouraged within their own communities. The criticisms of two centuries earlier were also applied to the Conservative community. Their beliefs and practices were held to be incompatible with Judaism and, as such, rejected.

On an individual level, Conservative and Reform Jews are seen as "innocents led astray" (Rabbi Moshe Feinstein), and some Haredi groups have created extensive programs to reach out to them. However, the beliefs of these movements are condemned as stemming from the widespread denigration of religion of the 19th century. It is this viewpoint that defines the Haredi community's relationship to the larger Jewish community to this day.

In Western Europe

United Kingdom

In the UK, the largest Haredi communities are located in London (Stamford Hill, South Tottenham, Golders Green, Hendon, Edgware), Salford/Bury (Broughton Park, Kersal, Sedgley Park and Prestwich) and Gateshead. The majority of UK Haredim descend from Eastern-European immigrants. The Haredi community in London is organized into a group known as the Union of Orthodox Hebrew Congregations (UOHC).

The UK Haredi community is growing, maintaining hundreds of synagogues, although many are smaller scale shtiebels. It also maintains numerous schools, yeshivas, kolels and mikvehs. The community also supports dozens of kosher food shops, bakeries and to a lesser extent, restaurants.

Organizations

Streams within Haredi Judaism

• Lithuanian Jews
• Hasidic groups such as: Belz, Bobov, Boston, Boyan, Breslov, Chabad Lubavitch, Ger, Karlin, Munkacz, Pittsburg, Puppa, Satmar, and Vizhnitz.

Organized Haredi Jewish groups

• Agudath Israel, worldwide and local (such as Agudath Israel of America)
• Shas: Mizrahi / Sefardi Haredi party in Israel
• Edah HaChareidis: rabbinical council of anti-Zionist Haredi groups in and around Jerusalem, including Satmar, Dushinsky, Toldos Aharon, Toldos Avrohom Yitzchok, Neturei Karta Mishkenos Horoim, Spinka, Brisk and a section of other Litvish Haredim.

Organizations

• Toldos Yeshurun: Organization of Haredi Russian Jews.
• United Torah Judaism: Ashkenazi Haredi political grouping in Israel

Rabbinical leaders

• The Baal Shem Tov (18th century founder of Hasidism)
• The Vilna Gaon (of Lithuania)
• Rabbi Chaim of Volozhin (19th century founder of the Lithuanian yeshivoth)
• Rabbi Moses Sofer (18th–19th century leader of Eastern European ultra-Orthodox)
• Rabbi Yisrael Meir HaCohen Kagan, the Chafetz Chaim
• Rabbi Avrohom Mordechai Alter, Third Gerrer Rebbe, driving force behind Agudas Yisroel in Poland
• Rabbi Moshe Feinstein, one of the highest halachic authorities for much of the twentieth century
• Rabbi Avraham Yeshayahu Karelitz (leader of Haredim in Israel)
• Rabbi Elazar Shach (leader of the Lithuanian community of Haredim in Israel)
• Rabbi Aharon Kotler (founder of the Lakewood yeshivas in America)
• Rabbi Ovadya Yosef (leader of Israeli Sephardi Haredim)
• Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv (leader of Israel's non-Hasidic Ashkenazi Haredim until 2012)

Rabbinical organizations and dynasties

• Rabbis of the Edah HaChareidis rabbinical council of Jerusalem
• Rebbes of the Satmar Hasidim (originally Hungary, now New York)
• Rebbes of the Gerrer Hasidim (originally Poland, now Israel)
• Rebbes of Chabad-Lubavitch

See also

• Torah study commandment
• Hesder
• Sherut Leumi
• Tal committee
• Torato Omanuto (the "Tal law")
• Status quo (Israel)
• FaceGlat
• Claims to be the fastest-growing religion
• Degel HaTorah
• Divine Providence in Contemporary Jewish thought
• Fundamentalism
• Hasidim and Mitnagdim
• Mashgiach Ruchani
• Posek
• Relationships between Jewish religious movements
• Rosh yeshiva

Bibliography

• Ben Yehuda, Nachman (2010). Theocratic Democracy: The Social Construction of Religious and Secular Extremism. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199813230. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Bryant, Clifton D. D. (2012). The Handbook of Deviant Behavior. Routledge International Handbooks. CRC Press. ISBN 1134015577. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Cohen, Asher; Susser, Bernard (2000). Israel and the Politics of Jewish Identity: The Secular-Religious Impasse. JHU Press. ISBN 0801863457. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Cohen, Yoel (2012). "Mikva News". God, Jews and the Media: Religion and Israel's Media. Routledge Jewish Studies Series. Routledge. pp. 77–95. ISBN 1136338586. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Heilman, Samuel C. (2002). "Haredim and the Public Square". In Mittleman, Alan L.; Licht, Robert A.; Sarna, Jonathan D. (eds.). Jewish Polity and American Civil Society: Communal Agencies and Religious Movements in the American Public Sphere. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 0742521222. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Ilan, Shahar (July 12, 2012). "The myth of Haredi moral authority: Haredi Judaism isn't our forefathers' religion, but a radical and dangerous new cult". Haaretz. Retrieved 02 August 2013. {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Invalid |ref=harv (help)

References

External links

• Haredi and technology
• Hasidic and Haredi Jewish population growth
• Map of the main Haredi Communities in Jerusalem
• Dei'ah Vedibur – Online Haredi newsweekly

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