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WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
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Israel
Index
Within the Orthodox or dati category one can distinguish
between the ultra-Orthodox or haredi, and the "modern" or
"neo-Orthodox." At the very extreme, the ultra-Orthodox consists of
groups such as the Neturei Karta, a small fringe group of antiZionist extremists, who reject Israel and view it as a heretical
entity. They want nothing to do with the state and live in enclaves
(Mea Shearim in Jerusalem and towns such as Bene Beraq), where they
shut out the secular modern world as much as possible.
Nevertheless, among the ultra-Orthodox one can also count some of
the adherents of the Agudat Israel Party, who accept the state,
although not its messianic pretensions, and work within many of its
institutions. These adherents are exempt from compulsory military
service and do not volunteer for police work, yet they demand that
the state protect their way of life, a political arrangement known
as the "preservation of the status quo"
(see The Role of Judaism
, this ch.). In practice, they live in the same neighborhoods as the
more extreme haredi and maintain their own schools,
rabbinical courts, charitable institutions, and so on. The state
has not only committed itself to protecting the separate
institutions of different Orthodox Jewish groups but also,
especially since 1977, to their financial subvention.
The modern or neo-Orthodox are those who, while scrupulously
adhering to halakah, have not cut themselves off from society at
large. They are oriented to the same ideological goals as many of
the secularists, and they share the basic commitment to Israel as
a Zionist state. Furthermore, they participate fully in all the
major institutions of the state, including the Israel Defense
Forces (IDF). This group is also referred to as "Orthodox
Zionists." They have been represented historically by a number of
political parties or coalitions, and have been the driving force
behind many of the extraparliamentary social, political, and Jewish
terrorist movements that have characterized Israeli society since
the June 1967 War
(see
Exraparliamentary Religio-nationalist Movements
, ch. 4). Most Orthodox Zionists have been "ultra-hawkish"
and irredentist in orientation; Gush Emunim, the Bloc of the
Faithful, is the most prominent of these groups. A minority of
other Zionist groups, for example, Oz Veshalom, an Orthodox Zionist
movement that is the religious counterpart to Peace Now, have been
more moderate.
Relations between the ultra-Orthodox and the neo-Orthodox have
been complicated and not always cordial. Nevertheless, the
neo-Orthodox have tended to look to the ultra-Orthodox for
legitimacy on religious matters, and the ultra-Orthodox have
managed to maintain their virtual monopoly on the training and
certification of rabbis (including neo-Orthodox ones) in Israel.
(The neo-Orthodox university, Bar-Ilan, as part of the
parliamentary legislation that enabled it, was prohibited from
ordaining rabbis.) Thus ultra-Orthodoxy has an aura of ultimate
authenticity, a special connection to tradition that has been
difficult for others to overcome. Even a staunch secularist such as
David Ben-Gurion lamented during a confrontation that the
ultra-Orthodox "look like our grandfathers. How can you slap your
grandfather into jail, even if he throws stones at you?"
Data as of December 1988
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