Haredim: A Divided People

I found a wonderful article to connect with the first chapter I read in Rosenthal concerning Haredim Jews. I chose to write on this chapter because I knew there would be a plethora of material to be discovered about these "extremist Jews". I had to keep in mind though, that there is little to no uniformity within Israel of the ultra-orthodox Jews. The article that I was able to find on Haaretz attempted to convey the the multiple division within and around the Haredi community. With little socioeconomic security, the people of Israel struggle to hold on to what jobs they can find to support their families. I really enjoyed the article because of its diversity and also its tolerance and respect for a vast number of different lifestyles. As many problems and internal strife the country of Israel endures, the fact still remains that it was founded on Jewish princicples. The reason I say Jewish principles and not Judaism, the religion, is because there is so much contreversy over who is Jewish. The question is not ONLY who is Jewish, but what does it mean to be Jewish and how Jewish are these individuals?

We touched on this in class just a little bit? How can there be any type of census, even if there was someone to conduct surveys, if your committment to the religion is not easily determined? Does being Jewish mean following the rituals? Keeping Kosher, honoring the Sabbath, Shabbot on Fridays.. ? Does it mean knowing the scriptures? Keeping up with prayers? Going to synagogue regularly? What about if your mother is Jewish, but you were raised by a Christian father? There are too many indescrepancies, too many unanswered questions, and too many everything else. To judge someone on their religiousity is un-religious in itself because you are stepping out of your place as God's follower and into God's place as the one entity ever allowed to judge you. Now, this is obviously just my opinion, but these core foundation questions are what keeps Israel so divided. I hope I don't sound negative... that is not how i intended to come off. I find Israel to be a phenomenal country and one that I cannot wait to visit! The issues of the country should be cloesly examined, however.

The article I read described the different types of Haredi Jews and citizens of Israel should not look to blame "Arabs" or "extremist Jews", but the government for abandoning them. The author of the article, Avirama Golan, states there is no connection between Haredi Jews who brea klaws by "stoning women" and the Haredi Jewish woman collecting her children as she walks toward her husband peacefully. He says there is no connection between the extremists who are trying to get their point across through violence and a Bnei Brak student. Has the government turned its back on its citizens? Or is there so many contrasting views that it just takes much more time to pass helpful legislation? It's also vital to examine the practices of Ashskenazi haredim Jews and how they are so easily identifiable. Following the most strict practice of Jewish law, the Haredim can be easily spotted. Rosenthal describes that "all men wear black kippot and cover them with black hats (184)." Women are warned to dress modestly, covering all skin from "collarbone to wrists (Rosenthal 184)." There is no actual wall that encloses the growing Haredi community, but the psychological walls are distinguishable. There is an apparent baby boom as pregnant women are seen in these communities pushing strollers with numerous children playing in the streets. In addition, the Haredi father who granted Rosenthal permission to interview him was exposed as having 10 children. In the beginning the chapter he describes their religiousity and views on various topics. While reading this, I was trying to tie in the chapters and articles I have read over the past couple of weeks. Is this the same country plagued with countless suicide bombers? Is this the same country where army and military personnel are forced to live a life in constant fear of sudden death? And finally, is this the same country where frivolous sexual activity is tolerated at a considerably young age? THIS IS THE SAME COUNTRY!! Look at its diversity!!

Haredim Jews live in Jerusalem, undeniably. This growing population has many issues facing them if their plan on remaining in Jerusalem. The capacity of the city cannot keep everyone forever. When "Benjamin Stein" was speaking of his oldest child, Leah, he went on tell Rosenthal how he envisions Leah's marriage choices. Choices is probably an inapropriate word to use since a profession matchmaker will be used. Genesis 1:28 instructs to "Be fruitful and multiply" so followers of this religion are expected to have many children, but where will all these children live? Surely, a big apartment will ne needed and Sarah confesses, "Really cheap ones are out in the settlements. But what goos is a big apartment is your neighbors want you dead? (Rosenthal 195)" With all the diversity in Israel, and I am speaking now of just the Jews, there is still a sense of universality: constant conflict with the "Arabs". How could I forget that so quickly?! When I say Arabs, I mean Palestinians. Speaking of which, I found a very interesting video on youtube.

This video is a Haredim Jews speaking about the dismantlement of Israel. He states that there is not a Muslim-Jewish problem, but a Israel-Palestine problem. He says that there is no reason Jews cannot co-exist with the Muslims. Zionism, he states, has an agenda and has stolen the symbols of Judaism to create the state. The video is very interesting and only adds to the diversity of the country. I wonder how many different views on the Jewish state there actually is. Also, I never thought I would find a Jew who opposed the state of Israel.

All in all, this has been one of my favorite chapters of the book thus far. The last thing I wanted to discuss in this blog post, was the story about "Josh" at the end of the this chapter. The story is about a young man who wanted to escape his Haredi community and the great lengths he has to go to just to find some inner peace. Even if you are born into one of these ultra-Orthodox communities, it may or may not be what you are destined to become. Many hve dreams of leaaving and finding something that better suits them at any cost. Josh for example, has to leave all his possessions and family behind. Everything he has ever known he will never be able to have again. On top of having to detatch himself from personal belongings, not always an easy task, he has to say goodbye to his family the basis of everything he has ever known. Would you be able to walk away from all you've known since birth for more knowledge? for a better life? But is it a better life? I can only imagine the turmoil this young man was experiencing upon his departure. The story ends with his father telling him that he basically been completely disowned from the family. WHAT!! Disowned from the family for wanting to do something different? I have to remember I have a Western way of thinkig and comprehending. I could never imagine my family holding me back from something I wanted to do. Josh's family doesn't see themselves as holding him back however. I'm sure they are thinking how dare he WANT to leave his family and religion.

What will be the consequence of his actions? We will see in the years to come.

Ethiopians: Lost Brother&Sisters

This was without a doubt the most surprisingly and intriging chapter I have read for this course all semester long. Ethiopian jews? I didn't even know they existed! Where did they come from? How many are there? How did they get to Israel? These are all the questions I asked myself when I first opened up the book to read the last chapter of the reading.

The government of Ethiopia was restricted who was allowed to leave the country. as the hold loosened, it was finally time for Ethiopian jews to return to their homeland. As one of the core principles of Zionism, collecting and returning all jews in diaspora was crucial to the fulfillment of its core principles. The story of how the jews ended up in Ethiopia and how they maintained their religion is a story of great will, persistence, and faith. At the time of their rescue, Ethiopian jews were caught in the middle of an incredibly bloody civil war as well as famine. Needlesstosay, the country was not in the best shape. The question of the matter is not how Jews got to Ethiopia, but how they adopted Judaism. Rosenthal describes a number of theories, but keep in mind they are just theories (Rosenthal 162). There is no accurate depiction of exactly how the religion was absorbed by the Ethiopians.

I was unable to find any current articles about the topic I chose to write on. There were definitely sources I researched, but none were current. By current, I mean in the last month or two. However, I didn find a number of really great, informative, and reliable websites that give a fascinating history of the Ethiopian jews.

Operation Solomon was the biggest rescue airlift in the shortest amount of time in history. That is QUITE impressive and amazing 1)for such a small country 2)for such an oppressed people. Operation Solomon is referred to as so because of the rfurst Ethiopian Israeli officer, Solomon Ezra who bribed Ethiopian officials to smuggle Jews out of Ethiopian villages (Rosenthal 157). Apprehensive passengers boarded nearly three dozen jets on their way to Israel after the Israel government have it the go. This air rescue IS ACTUALLY in the Guiness Book of World Records as the largest number of people on one plane. How absolutely astonishing!! As you can imagine, one may have mixed feelings on leaving their homeland. Not that it was a great place to be with all of its civil strife, but the immigrants had to leave behind all their belongings to ensure the maximum capacity of PEOPLE on the planes. In addition, many left behind other relatives, some of which will never make it to Israel.

There have been few jews that have sacrificed so much to be able to migrate to Israel. "Absorbing the Russians is a huge national challenge, but absorbing the Ethiopians is our national test of honor (Rosenthal 167)." All is not perfect however. The image of a misplaced person should still be fresh in the mind. Some of the Ethiopians who had the opportunity to go to Israel, as a mentioned above, left behind close knit families. There is a story Rosenthal describes also on page 167 about how some reunification was not always so joyful. Even with war, death, famine, and all unimaginable things possible, life goes on. People grow and have new experiences and a lot of the time change their beliefs. It is no wonder that if did not see someone from your family for 8 years that they would have become a completely different person than you remember. This could give such mixed emotions to anyone. How can this person you either married or watched grow and mature be someone else. They would still be part of your family right? And you still love them? These are the questions Ethiopian Jews ask themselves when they are reunited with family members they had been seperated from for so long.

The Ethiopian Jews have a special place in Israeli society. Maybe special isn't the correct word. What I mean is, there has never been another group like them, much like the African Americans of the United States. These "new Jews" were blacks in an all white society and were obviously not urbanized or been introduced to the wonders of industrialization. This is a topic that I can go on and on about for pages and pages!!! There's so much to discuss on this very different part of Israeli society.

As if DATING wasn't already difficult enough, right??

JUST TO BE CLEAR:

I am responding to the last question on the list of blog suggestions. I chose to just discuss the chapter rather than answering specific question so I could give a more broad view of my understanding of the reading. An overview of the chapter along with discussing what the author is trying to convey with her writing is essential to grasping the concepts presented. I obviously looked at the other questions and tried to incorportate them in my post.

I'd like to begin this discussion with a video I found. It is a female muslim lawyer talking about a new form of resistance. In her opinion, Arab men should harrass Israeli women. ubtitles are provided so the english-speaking may understand, so I hope not too much is lost in translation. Something I found particularly interesting was that she mentioned that most Arab countries do not have sexual harrassment laws. Can you imagine the United States without sexual harrassmet laws?! It is so embedded in American culture that I could not imagine doing anything without the mention of proper conduct with the opposite sex. No matter what job or profession you plan on doing, you will surely have something to read or a meeting on sexual harassment. The lack of sexual harassment laws says something about the character and pursuit of Arab men. This is not to glorify Israeli men, but I think this is an important topic to examine.

This is a huge difference between Arabs and Israeli's. WAY TO STATE THE OBVIOUS KRYSTAL!! I know, i know!! But according to Rosenthal, there was no term in Hebrew for sexual harassment until Israel passed a law against it. The law seems to be very black and white. There isn't much room for other translation or manipulation. Even consensual sex between superiors and subordinates is forbidden. A complaint can be filed against a man or women for sexual harassment if this law is disobeyed EVEN IF IT WAS CONSENSUAL.

It'd difficult to determine how well this law is enforced. Army regulations obviously prohibit sexual relations between superios and subordinates, but a lot of the time they are notenforced. However, in 1999 the prmotion of an army official was blocked when he was accused of having sexual relations with a 19 year old soldier. Does that mean it's open to interpretation? The law leaves room for what Israeli law believes to be acceptable. Gay-bashing is completely illegal however. ILLEGAL!! A country that is in such immense turmoil 24/7 seems tobe the most developed in terms of equal rights. Equal rights for whom is the question though. Definitely not for Arabs. Israeli law on sexual harassment is seen by Israeli men as being a bit too strict. I can definitely see how it could be stiffling. You would have to be SO super careful not to cross any lines ever. Even though I personally feel like Israel is ahead of the United States in equal rights for Gays, there are "roughly ten years behind the United states (Rosenthal 44)" concerning public discussion of sexual harassment.

Dating someone of different nationality or culture sounds more challenging than dating someone who would automatically be welcomed and embraced into your family.

I found the story about Natalie and Gil very interesting as well. "In Israel, politics touches everything, even dating (pg. 42, Rosenthal)." Gil took his Jewish date to a binational

bar where Arabs and Jews could associate. He thought that because Natalie did not care about his status that she would be open to other things as well. He was clearly proved

wrong when she stated that she felt uncomfortable being around Arabs. It is saddening how many people's lives could turn out better than they would expect if there was not

such audasity between the nations. The history speaks for itself however. With all the civil strife, war, economic problems, and general hatred for each other since the creation

of Israel, it's no wonder dating between the two is generally undesireable.