The Jerusalem Post has an interesting series of articles today about changes afoot in the haredi (ultra-Orthodox) world. Behavior previously considered unthinkable is now permitted, or at least ignored. Some yeshivot (schools of Talmud study) are tolerating secular studies at well. Computers, slowly but surely, are finding their way into haredi homes.
The Post characterizes this as a good thing, and on its surface, perhaps it is. But there's a darker side lurking beneath.
The haredi community was never as monolithic as outsiders saw them but they are becoming more diverse than ever. Before our eyes, two types of ultra-orthodoxy are forming. One consisting of those who still steadfastedly refuse to have anything to do with the Zionist state and modernity, out of fear that even the smallest crack will bring the walls tumbling down. Another one will be made up of those willing to play a productive role in the workplace and take part in deciding on the country's future, without inferiority complexes and proud of their haredi heritage. The merging of the haredim into the mainstream is a victory for the vitality of Israeli society.
Yes, indeed it could be. But the fragmentation of that Israeli society is already approaching a breaking point. There are too many dichotomies that tend to war with each other on a regular basis. Ashkenazim and Sephardim, native born and immigrants, leftist and rightists, kibbutznics and urban dwellers, religious and secular, just to name a few. A split between two different "types" of haredim could wreak havoc in that very close-knit community, dividing extended families and creating a great deal of bitterness and rancor.
I hope that the Post's optimism turns out to be warranted and that these changes will truly result in the emergence of the haredi community into the fullness of Israeli society, whole and intact, with their values and traditions preserved. That would indeed be a blessing for the rapidly approaching New Year.
Shabbat Shalom.
