Haredi Judaism
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Haredi or Charedi Judaism, also referred to as Ultra-Orthodox Judaism, is the most theologically conservative form of Orthodox Judaism. A follower of Haredi Judaism is called a Haredi (Haredim in the plural). The term "ultra-Orthodox" is controversial, as it is often considered to be demeaning, and is rarely used by the Jews to whom it is applied; they generally prefer terms such as Haredi (חֲרֵדִי, derived from Harada (fear, anxiety), which could be interpreted as "one who trembles in awe of God"—cf. Isaiah 66:2,5), Yeshivish, Torah Jew, or Hasidic (in the case of Hasidic Jews).
Haredi Jews, like other Orthodox Jews, consider their belief system and religious practices to extend in an unbroken chain back to Moses and the giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai. As a result, they consider non-Orthodox denominations to be unjustifiable deviations from authentic Judaism, both because of other denominations' doubts concerning the divine revelation of Written and Oral Torah, and because of their rejection of Halakhic (or Jewish legal) precedent as binding.
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[edit] Practices and beliefs
[edit] Views of halakha
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. It believes that two guides to Jewish law were given to the Israelites at that time: the first, known as Torah she-bi-khsav, or the "Written Law" is the Tanakh (Jewish Holy Book) as we know it today; the second, known as Torah she-ba'al peh ("Oral Law"), is the exposition as relayed by the scholarly and other religious leaders of each generation. The traditional interpretation of the Oral Law is considered as the authoritative reading of the Written Law.
Jewish law, known as halakha is considered a set of God-given instructions to effect spiritual, moral, religious and personal perfection. As such, it includes codes of behavior applicable to virtually every imaginable circumstance (and many hypothetical ones), which have been pored over and developed throughout the generations in a constantly expanding collection of religious literature. The earliest written compilation of halakha, the Talmud, is considered authoritative.
Halakha is a guide for everything the traditional Jew does from the moment he wakes up to the moment he goes to sleep. It is a body of intricate laws, combined with the reasoning on how such conclusions are reached. Halakha incorporates as rules many practices that began as customs, some passed down over the centuries, and an assortment of ingrained behaviors. It is the subject of intense study in religious schools known as yeshivas.
Throughout history, halakha has addressed issues on the basis of circumstance and precedent. There have been some significant adaptations, including more formal education for women in the early twentieth century, and the application of halakha to modern technology. While Haredim have typically been more conservative than their Modern Orthodox counterparts regarding new practices and rulings on new applications of halakhic concepts, Orthodox Judaism views these types of innovations as consistent with traditionally expounded halakhic concepts. Haredi Orthodoxy's differences with Modern Orthodoxy usually lie in interpretation of the nature of traditional halakhic concepts and in understanding of what constitutes acceptable application of these concepts.
Modern inventions have been studied and incorporated into the ever-expanding halakha, accepted by both Haredi and other Orthodox communities. For instance, rulings guide the observant about the proper use of electricity and other technology on the Jewish Sabbath and holidays. Most major points are the subject of consensus, although fine points are the subject of a greater range of opinions. While discussions of halakha are common and encouraged, laypersons are not authorized to make final determinations as to the applicability of the law in any given situation; the proviso is: "Consult your local Orthodox rabbi or posek (rabbinical authority)."
[edit] Lifestyle and family
Haredi life is very family-centered. Depending on various factors, both boys and girls attend school and proceed to higher Torah study, in a yeshiva or seminary ("sem") respectively, starting anywhere between the ages of 13 and 18. A significant proportion of students, especially boys, remain in yeshiva until marriage (which is often arranged through facilitated dating. See shiduch), and many study in a kollel (Torah study institute for married men) - for many years after marriage. In many 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 Torah daily. Families tend to be large, reflecting adherence to the Torah commandment "be fruitful and multiply" (Genesis 1:28, 9:1,7).
Many Haredi poskim (authorities in Jewish law) discourage television or films, reading secular newspapers and using the Internet for non-business purposes. Many feel that mobile phones should be programmed to disable internet and other functions that could negatively influence their users, and some companies in Israel now offer basic cellphones with limited capabilities to accommodate Haredim.
[edit] Dress
Many Haredim view manner of dress as an important way to ensure Jewish identity and distinctiveness. In addition, a simple understated mode of dress is seen as conducive to inner reflection and spiritual growth. As such, many members of the Haredi community are wary of modern fashions, and many maintain styles of dress similar to those worn by their 18th and 19th century European ancestors. Many men have beards, most dress in dark suits, virtually all wear a kippah at all times and generally a wide-brimmed hat (typically black) during prayer and outside. Women adhere to meticulous tzeniut (modesty) standards, and hence wear long skirts and armsleeves, high necklines and a form of head covering when married (scarves, snoods, hats, or wigs).
Hasidic men often follow the specific dress style of their group, which may include elegant frock coats (bekeshes), wide or high fur hats (shtreimels or spodiks) and generally a gartel (a long belt wrapped around the frock) during prayer.
[edit] History
[edit] Modern origins
For several centuries before the Emancipation of European Jewry, most of Europe's Jews were forced to live in closed communities, where their culture and religious observances persevered, no less because of internal pressure within their own community as because of the refusal of the outside world to accept them. In a predominantly Christian society, the only way for Jews to gain social acceptance was to convert, thereby abandoning all ties with one's own family and community. There was very little middle ground, especially in the ghetto, for people to negotiate between the dominant culture and the community.
This began to change with the Enlightenment and calls by some European liberals to include the Jewish population in the emerging empires and nation states. For some Jews, the meticulous and rigorous Judaism practiced in the ghetto interfered with the new opportunities. They held that acceptance by the non-Jewish world necessitated the reformation of Judaism and the modification of those principles deemed inconsistent with this goal. In the words of a popular aphorism of the Enlightenment coined by Yehuda Leib Gordon, a person should be "a Jew in the home, and a mensch (good person) in the street."
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.
The former group argued that Judaism had to "reform" itself 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.
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. 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 Russia's western border including most of modern Poland, to which Jewish settlement in Russia was confined. Although Jews here did not win the same official acceptance as they did in Western and Central Europe, that same spirit of change pervaded the air, albeit in a local variant. Since it was impossible to gain acceptance by the dominant culture, many Jews turned to a number of different movements that they expected would offer hope for a better future. The predominant movement was socialism; other important alternatives were the cultural autonomists, including the Bund and the Zionists. These movements were not neutral on the topic of the Jewish religion: by and large, they entailed complete, not infrequently contemptuous, rejection of traditional religious and cultural norms.
One of the most influential, if not the most influential, members of early Haredi Judaism was the Chasam Sofer, from Hungary. In response to those who stated that Judaism could change or evolve, Rabbi Sofer applied the rule Hadash asur min ha-Torah (חדש אסור מן התורה), "The 'new' is forbidden by the Torah," originally referring to new (winter) wheat that had not been sanctified through the wave offering culminating the Counting of the Omer in the Temple in Jerusalem, now liberally understood to mean "major modifications" in general. Rabbi Sofer held that any movement expressing the need to "modernize" Judaism, or expressing dubiety of the verbal revelation of the Written and Oral Torah, were outside the pale of authentic Judaism. In his view the fundamental beliefs and tenets of Judaism should not, and could not, be altered. This became the defining idea behind the opponents of Reform and in some form, it has influenced Orthodox response to other innovations. The traditionalists of Eastern Europe, who fought against the new movements emerging in the Jewish community, were the forebears of the contemporary Haredi movement.
[edit] Effects of the Holocaust
During this time, the Haredi community was engaged in bitter debates with the emerging new philosophies, most notably those that denied the preeminence, or even relevance, of religion in Jewish life. Anecdotes abound: in one case, a reformer sent a leading rabbi a kosher cookie shaped like a pig, knowing that pork was a forbidden food in the Jewish religion. The rabbi responded by sending back a photograph with this note: "Thank you for your gift. You sent me a picture of you, so I am returning the favor in kind with a picture of me."
The Holocaust brought a pause to the infighting. Until the rise of Nazism, Germany had been the major arena for the Enlightenment policies of acceptance and tolerance. Haredi leaders warned that "if the Jews do not make 'kiddush', the gentiles will make 'havdalah'." 'Kiddush' refers to the beginning ceremonies of the Shabbat, which sanctifies the day through joy and sets it apart from the mundane. 'Havdalah' refers to the ending ceremony, which mourns the departing of the holy as the darkness of the new week commences. Both words connote separation, kiddush meaning literally sanctification, and havdalah meaning separation.
Although illegal, and previously socially suppressed, Anti-Semitism began to spread in the 1930's in many countries of Europe, partly in response to the Great Depression, aided by a readily identifiable ethnic minority on whom to blame it. Such anti-Semitism did not distinguish between Jews, regardless of their religious affiliation or lack thereof. For a time, in the face of destruction, Jews were able to overlook the differences between them as they faced a common enemy bent on their destruction.
In the following years, however, the survivors were forced to come to grips with the theological implications of the catastrophe that had all but eradicated their communities. While they struggled to rebuild themselves, particularly in the United States and in Palestine (later Israel), they also attempted to understand why God had allowed such a disaster to befall them.
This was coupled with the emergence of socialist Jewish nationalism, or Zionism, as a widely accepted, secular Jewish philosophy. Until that time, the Zionists were a small but vocal minority among the Jewish population of Eastern Europe. Suddenly, they experienced a tremendous growth, since settlement of the Land of Israel seemed to offer a viable response to the anti-Semitism that was still prevalent in Europe. The Haredi traditionalists had long rejected Zionism, partly because it was a predominantly anti-religious movement. Now, suddenly, the secular Zionists were in the process of achieving their goal of a Jewish homeland. Meanwhile, unable to return to their old homes in Europe and with quotas on Jewish immigration in the United States, that a Jewish homeland had necessarily become in some cases the only option for Haredi Jews. In effect, they were suddenly at the mercy of their most bitter opponents. However, they were not without their own leverage, including the sensitive fact that the longest-standing Jewish settlements in Palestine were, in fact, Haredi.
It would have been easy for the Haredi community to explain the events of the 1930s-1950s as the direct result of most Jews abandoning their religious beliefs. In fact, some did; but the vast majority chose a less divisive approach, believing that allowing the Holocaust to occur was a Divine act beyond human understanding. This allowed them to focus on rebuilding their communities, rather than to obsess on the past.
Within a generation, two vibrant new centers of Haredi life emerged: one in the United States, and the other in Israel, with smaller, somewhat less influential communities in England, Canada, France, Belgium, and Australia. As these communities became viable, independent entities, some of the old animosities between them and members of other Jewish groups began to resurface. This time, however, they were sharpened by the charge that, as predicted, those groups' actions and prescriptions have often lead to assimilation, thereby threatening the very idea of Jewish continuity. In the post-Holocaust era, that threat is perceived as being more real than ever.
[edit] Present day
[edit] Israel
In Israel, home to the most numerically powerful Haredi population, the situation is different. There, as in the United States, the community 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. Until the Holocaust, 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 (see Neturei Karta for a more complete exposition of this ideology). In this the Haredi Jews mirrored the Reform community, which, with few exceptions, rejected Zionism, since it called into question the loyalty that Jews should feel toward their native countries.
More important, however, was the dislike that the political and cultural Zionism of the time felt toward any manifestation of religion. Spurred on by socialism, they taunted religion as an outdated relic, which should disappear (or, according to some extreme views, even be eradicated) in the face of Jewish nationalism. The Haredi Jews point out that even such liberals as Theodor Herzl, the founder of modern political Zionism, at one time contemplated the mass conversion of the Jews to Christianity as a means of eliminating anti-Semitism. 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.
Nevertheless, despite the animosity, it was necessary for the two groups to work out some modus vivendi in the face of a more dangerous enemy, first the Nazis, and then the neighboring Arab states. 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, some Haredi groups maintained their previous apolitical stance. A small minority of Jews, 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. Another Haredi group opposed to Zionism are the Satmar Hasidim, led by Rabbi Joel Teitelbaum. What distinguishes Satmar from Neturei Karta and even other Haredi groups is that they claim to maintain what was until modern times uniformly accepted Jewish teachings on a Jewish state since the Second Temple, and are almost exclusively Hasidic.
Another compromise, worked out between prime minister David Ben Gurion and Haredi leader Rabbi Abraham Yishayahu Karelitz (known as the Chazon Ish), 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. In fact, this "status quo" affected virtually all aspects of life, sometimes with bizarre results. For example, there are no buses on the Sabbath in Tel Aviv, though there are in Haifa, since Haifa had a large Arab population at the time of the British Mandate (though to this day, Haifa still has a proportionally larger Arab population and lower Haredi population than other cities within Israel). Finally, the Agudat Israel party representing the Haredi population was invited to participate in the governing coalition. It agreed, but did not appoint any ministers since that would have implied full acceptance of the legitimacy of non-religious actions taken by the government. In 2000, the "status quo" was still in place, despite marked changes to the society since independence, including the major growth of the Haredi and Arab populations. In fact, it is one of the major factors that has prevented modern Israel from enacting a written constitution.
Signs of the first challenge to the status quo came in 1977, with the fall of the Labor government that had ruled Israel since independence and the formation of a rightwing coalition under Menachem Begin. Rightwing Revisionist Zionism had always been more acceptable to the Haredi, since it did not share the same history of antireligious rhetoric that marked socialist Zionism. Furthermore, Begin needed the Haredi members of the Knesset (Israel's unicameral parliament) to form his coalition and offered more power and benefits to their community than what they were accustomed to receiving, including a lifting of the numerical limit on military exemptions. Haredim proved to be able politicians, gradually increasing their leverage and influence. In addition, the Haredi population grew exponentially, 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 the late 1990s. In effect, they controlled the balance of power between the country's two major parties.
On the other hand, secular (nonreligious) Israelis (Reform Judaism and Conservative Judaism have always had a negligible presence in Israel), began questioning whether a "status quo" based on the conditions of the 1940s and 1950s was still relevant in the 1980s and 1990s, and pervceived that they had cultural and institutional support to enable them to change it regardless of its relevance. They challenged Orthodox control of personal affairs such as marriage and divorce, resented the lack of entertainment and transportation options on the Sabbath (then the country's only day of rest), and questioned whether the burden of military service was being shared equally, since the 400 scholars, who originally benefited from the exemption, had grown to 32,000. Finally, the Progressive (Reform) and Masorti (Conservative) communities, though still minuscule, began to exert themselves as an alternative to the Haredi control of religious issues.
No one was happy with the "status quo"; the Orthodox used their new-found political force to attempt to extend religious control, and the non-Orthodox sought to reduce or even eliminate it.
This situation was exacerbated still further by the rise of a strong Sephardic (Jews of North African and Middle Eastern descent) population with political aspirations of its own. Traditionally, the political elite in Israel consisted of European Jews, who founded the state. They were joined in the 1950s by entire communities of North African and Middle Eastern Jews (especially from Morocco, Iraq, Tunisia, Yemen, etc.), who were kept marginalized and encouraged (in some cases, even forced) to forego their traditional cultures for the dominant European secular one. There were protests, including a small but vocal "Black Panther" movement among unemployed Sephardic youth in the early 1970s, but the most effective voice for empowerment came from a small Haredi party named Shas, which split off from Agudat Yisrael in the early 1980s. With Sephardic disenfranchisement as its platform, it gained 17 of the 22 Haredi seats in the Knesset. 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. Furthermore, the movement has gained unwavering and determined obedience in its supporters to the teachings of it spiritual leader, Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef.
A chief Haredim antagonist from the Haredim point of view is the Israeli Supreme Court, which does not base its rulings on Haredim beliefs or policy. The Supreme Court has limited the power of Haredi community by granting equal powers to competing bodies. [citation needed] A notable case of this trend is the "Who Is a Jew?" case, in which the Supreme Court ruled that the Ministry of the Interior (then controlled by Shas) must recognize Reform and Conservative converts to Judaism. More recently, even the Orthodox Zionist establishment has come under attack by the Court, since it often allies itself with the Haredi in matters of control of municipal and national religious councils. In many instances, the Haredim have responded to these and other threats angrily, verbally defending against those who would challenge their hegemony. At the same time, they recognize the animosity many secular Israelis feel toward them and have embarked on various public relations campaigns and other media projects to improve their image among the general public. In practice, the Israeli Haredim remain firmly entrenched in seats of political power, with both blocs doing everything they can to gain their support.
Following the 2003 elections, the Haredi parties lost their place in the government to the ultra-secular anti-religious Shinui party. In 2005 Shinnui left the government and Ariel Sharon brought the Haredi United Torah Judaism back into his ruling coalition. Shinui runs under the flag of stopping extra funding to mostly Haredi schools and resistance to Tal Law which gives legal status to their exemption from military service. Nevertheless, in recent years as many as 1000 Haredi Jews have chosen to volunteer to serve in the IDF, in a specifically Haredi Jewish battalion, the Netzah Yehuda Battalion.
In recent years, there has been a process of reconciliation and a merging of Haredi Jews with Israeli society. While not compromising on religious issues and their strict code of life, Haredi Jews have become more open to the secular Israeli culture. 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 which provides emergency first response medical attention at suicide bombing scenes and rescues human remains found there to provide proper burial. Another important Haredi insititution of charity is Yad Sara, established by Uri Lupolianski (mayor of Jerusalem from 2003) in 1977. Yad Sara, the only Israeli institution of its kind, provides patients and the handicapped with medical equipment (such as wheelchairs) on loan for free, and it is open to all Israelis. Religious Zionists, mainly from the Mafdal and publicly-involved Haredi Jews are trying to bridge the gaps between secular Jews and Haredi Jews.
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.
[edit] United States
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 large area of gray between the two communities to this day.
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; the large majority of those who desisted from working on Saturday had to face the formidable challenge of finding new work each week).
The groups that arrived en masse after the Holocaust found a religious and social infrastructure already in place. While they also 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, with their own economies, educational systems (yeshivos) welfare institutions and gemachs (free loan societies for everything from money to household items to tools to furniture), medical services (such as the Hatzolah 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 due to 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 threatening 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, Chaim Berlin and Ner Israel 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 perceive 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 and Traditional groups were in open conflict over control of the communities. At that time, both groups attacked each other incessantly in the struggle for hegemony over the Jewish community. Until most 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, hoping to consume the smaller community. To the Haredim, however, they were seen as a steppingstone to assimilation, 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 authentic Judaism and, as such, rejected.
The Haredim maintain a delicate balancing act: on an individual level, Conservative and Reform Jews are seen as "innocents led astray"(R' Moshe Feinstein). As such Haredim have created extensive outreach programs, conducted out of a deep love and concern for the spiritual well-being of other Jews; on a philosophical level, the generation and beliefs of these movements are condemned as stemming from the widespread denigration of religion of the 1800's. It is this viewpoint that defines the Haredi community's relationship to the larger Jewish community to this day.
However, the issue is more complicated when considering their position vis à vis the Modern Orthodox community. There is a mutual dependency between the two communities: the Modern Orthodox generally respect and adhere to the religious rulings of the Haredi leadership, while the Haredi often depend on university trained Modern Orthodox professionals to provide for needs that members of their own community cannot. For example, since there are so few Haredi doctors, the community will prefer to go to a Modern Orthodox doctor, since he or she will have a better understanding of the implications of the treatment in Jewish law (halakha). Furthermore, Haredi rabbis will consult with Modern Orthodox doctors before issuing rulings on medical procedures (an example of this is on issues relating to the precise moment of death). Nevertheless, the leadership is unwilling to accept the liberalism of their Modern Orthodox colleagues. In some cases, Modern Orthodoxy is perceived as balancing precariously on a very narrow wire between the Jewish and secular worlds: a tenable but, to the Haredi, unnecessary position. In other cases, Modern Orthodox leaders are considered to have passed the bounds of religious propriety and condemned for this in severe terms, since those leaders, unlike Reform and Conservative rabbis, are believed to have the requisite learning and should have known better.
This fight however, no matter how sharp the discourse, does not have the same intensity as earlier arguments that led to or threatened real schisms among the Jewish people. For instance, with the rise of Hassidism, Rabbi Elijah of Vilna declared that his followers must not marry Jews adhering to the hassidic movement (the ruling was never put into practice). While, as tensions mount between Haredi and other Jews, the possibility of such a schism exists, the leadership of all the factions involved have taken care to prevent a complete break, while respecting the desire of the Haredi for autonomy and separatism. And there is common ground too, especially in the field of learning. It is not uncommon for Haredi scholars to take advantage of the vast library holdings, including rare manuscripts, in the libraries of Yeshiva University (Modern Orthodox), the Jewish Theological Seminary (Conservative), and Hebrew Union College (Reform).
[edit] United Kingdom
In the UK, the largest Haredi communities are located in London (Stamford Hill, Golders Green, Hendon, Edgware), Salford (Broughton Park and Prestwich) and Gateshead. The majority of UK Haredim descend from Eastern-European immigrants. Its main organisational body is the Union of Orthodox Hebrew Congregations (UOHC).
The UK Haredi community is vibrant and growing, maintaining hundreds of synagogues, although many are smaller scale Shtiebels. The community also supports dozens of Kosher food shops, bakeries and to a lesser extent, restaurants.
[edit] Organizations
Haredi Jewish groups include:
- United Torah Judaism - Ashkenazi ultra-orthodox party
- Shas - Mizrahi Sefardi ultra-orthodox party
- Agudath Israel of America
- Hasidic Jewish groups such as: Chabad Lubavitch, Satmar, Belz, Bobov, Boston, Ger, Vizhnitz, Breslov, Puppa, Boyan, Munkacz, Rivnitz, and Karlin.
[edit] Rabbinical leaders
- The Baal Shem Tov (18th century founder of Hasidism)
- The Vilna Gaon (originally of Lithuania)
- Rabbi Chaim of Volozhim (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 Moshe Feinstein, Supreme Halakhic authority for much of the twentieth century.
- Rabbis of the Gerrer Hasidim (originally Poland, now Israel)
- Rabbis of Lubavitch
- Rabbi Avraham Yishayahu Karelitz (leader of Haredim in Israel)
- Rabbi Aharon Kotler (founder of the Lakewood yeshivas in America)
- Rabbi Ovadia Yosef (leader of Israeli Sephardi Haredim)
- Rabbi Yosef Shalom Eliashiv (present-day leader of Israel's non-Hasidic Ashkenazi Haredim)
[edit] See also
- Agudath Israel of America
- Bnei Brak
- Chabad Lubavitch
- Degel HaTorah
- Divine Providence in Contemporary Jewish thought
- Hardal
- Ha-Redeye (African tribe of same name)
- Hasidic Judaism
- Hasidic and Haredi Jewish population growth
- Hasidim and Mitnagdim
- Mashgiach
- Orthodox Judaism
- Posek
- Rebbe
- Relationships between Jewish religious movements
- Rosh yeshiva
- United Torah Judaism
- ZAKA
- World Agudath Israel
[edit] External links
- Cross-Currents, A Blog by Haredi Rabbis and Authors
- Online Community of Haredi Jews "database for finding frum Jews"
