Can we prevent the Haredization of Modern Orthodox Jewry? / Yonatan Benarroch

In the last generation, the Israeli Orthodoxy Jewry has increasingly become more extreme, and has isolated itself from mainstream Israeli society. There is a continued distance and alienation of the Orthodox population from the secular community, and a seeming lack of interest in integrating Halacha and Torah with the concerns and circumstances of modern life. A similar tendency can be seen in the American Modern Orthodox Jewry, having shifted in the past years towards the right (both religiously and politically). This phenomenon is known as the Haredization of Orthodox Jewry.

This article introduces an Israeli organization that strives to promote an alternative route for Israeli Orthodoxy, mainly by returning to the core values of "Torah" with "Derech Eretz".[2]

Ne'emanei Torah Va'Avodah (NTA)

The Ne'emanei Torah Va'Avodah (NTA) organization is a Religious Zionist non-political organization founded in 1978 as a reaction to the “haredization” of Orthodox Jewry and is highly committed to strengthening and restoring the foundations of religious Zionism. NTA promotes tolerance, equality, and social justice as key values within the religious community. We believe these values to be the ones to positively influence and define the unique Jewish and democratic character of Israeli society. The members of NTA, men and women, young and old, rabbis and academics, have come together to volunteer their time and energy in actualizing the potential of religious Zionism in Israel. NTA is committed to Halacha and strives for an open, contemplative and self-critical religious culture engaged in evolving Halachic discourse that is willing to address the challenges of our time.

In order to achieve these goals, the organization focuses on education and advocacy for modification and improvement of the religious public services offered in Israel, as well as high-quality publications, and public relations to bring the ideas we believe in, into the forefront of the social-religious discourse . A few of NTA main activities will be described here.

The "De'ot" Journal

In the religious world many social and educational issues are considered as taboo and therefore are never discussed seriously.

The discussions are mainly related to the holiness of the land and ritualistic stringency, whereas the values of human rights, human dignity and democracy are pushed into a forgotten corner.  We strongly believe the discourse must not exclude any of those issues and promote a pluralistic discussion in the Orthodox society. 

NTA publishes a journal named De'ot. Our main goal is to advance an open and courageous discussion within the orthodox community, of contemporary challenges, on the basis of a commitment to Halacha combined with sensitivity to social issues.  The journal offers a unique platform for enabling different approaches that deal with issues, difficulties and problems that are largely ignored within the religious community.  The writers of the De'ot journal are affiliated with a broad spectrum of the Orthodox community.

De'ot was the first journal to publicly discuss a variety of sensitive and complex topics in orthodox society.  Among those issues are: the participation of women in prayer and in reading of the Torah; homosexuality in the religious community; domestic violence in religious society; Halachic rulings regarding the Internet and their implications; premarital sex, etc.

In addition, the journal also includes essays on a wide range of topics concerning the shaping of a Jewish-Israeli identity, in which alternative ways of thinking are formed. 

In fact, De'ot is unique in being the only orthodox journal in Israel that permits the publication of viewpoints that dissent from what is conventional in the orthodox community. 

Et liDrosh ("A Time to Interpret")

Another publication that is meant to broaden the cultural and religious discourse is a Shabbath-Portion leaflet by the name of Et liDrosh, whose purpose is to provide a platform for a broad spectrum of opinions, and in this way to enrich and vary the Orthodox Meta-discussion that is conducted by means of the Shabbat-Portion leaflets. Young people in the Organization produce the leaflet, which deals with issues of particular concern to them and their outlook. The leaflet discusses a wide range of religious and Israeli topics in an effort to bridge the religious and modern worlds. The writers of Et liDrosh are prominent cultural figures from religious and Israeli society, alongside young leaders who seek to take part in shaping the face of society. Past interviewees were Rabbi Yuval Sherlo and Rabbi Yehuda Gilad, Prof. Aviezer Ravizky, Ilana Dayan and Ehud Banai. We believe that the exposure of the Orthodox public to different voices is likely to assist a formation of openness, tolerance and attentiveness to different approaches.

Beit Midrash Re'im

The Orthodox community offers many institutions for Orthodox youth that are dedicated to the study of Torah in parallel with other daily activities. However, while the vast majority of Torah study institutions are run separately for women and for men, Reim encourages mixed learning of men and women together. We believe that the separation of men and women in the Beit Midrash ("Study Hall") detaches the experience of learning from life, and creates a reality in which the place where young people study Torah does not reflect their way of life.

NTA, for the past few years, has operated a unique Orthodox Beit Midrash, named Re'im [Companions] open to both men and women. The Beit Midrash, is composed of a group of about young Orthodox men and women in their twenties, most of them students, graduates of institutes of higher Jewish learning. In the Beit Midrash Re'im, participants diligently study the Bible and Talmud and discuss issues in Jewish Thought, including a wide spectrum of topics connected to the general world's culture. The teachers combine in their lessons different historical and cultural perspectives, and special emphasis is given to the relevance of the study to the critical issues that concern day-to-day life in Israeli society in the 21st century.

Activities to Improve Religious Services in Israel

Religious services in the State of Israel are in a serious crisis. The lack of proper marriage and divorce proceedings, burial arrangements that are not always fitting, the piling up of difficulties in the conversion process and other issues that are not addressed properly – all create many situations of injustice and anguish to a wide sector of the Israeli and Jewish society who come into contact with the institutions responsible for religious services in Israel. These problems cause a severance of the general public from religious institutions and ultimately from Judaism itself. The public's lacks of trust, and the increasing discoveries of corruption, have brought about the dismantling of the Ministry of Religious Affairs, but a solution has not yet been put into place for providing appropriate religious services in a well-administered way.

Report of the Religious Services Committee

In attempt to address these problems, NTA established a committee of experts, including rabbis and academics, whose task was to formulate a comprehensive program that will provide religious services in Israel. The committee – which operates on a volunteer basis – formulated its recommendations in a report entitled; "Report of the Religious Services Committee" whose main conclusion speaks of the need to transfer administrative responsibility for matters pertaining to religion from the political echelon to the civilian realm.

NTA promotes the implementation of the Committee's recommendations through activities both on the political level: by an effort to form a lobby in the Kneset (the Israeli Parliament) for changing the current structure of religious services in Israel. There is also a level of public awareness: our efforts are also focused on exposing the wider public to the religious services crisis, and to possible solutions for solving this situation.

NTA is the only organization in Israel that has dealt in a comprehensive way with the issues of religious services and has formulated a detailed proposal for changes. In this regard, the Organization has dealt not only with the problem of marriage and divorce – with which many women's organizations are also engaged with– but also with the entirety of the issues related to the connection between religion and state. The Implementation of the Report’s recommendations has the potential to initiate substantial, positive change in the relationship of citizens to religious services, and to constitute a turning point in the Jewish character of the State of Israel.

The Ikar coalition

 NTA cooperates with other organizations in working for a solution to specific problems in the area of religious services. In the Ikar coalition, we work together with many organizations struggling for a solution to the problem of "aginut" – in which women whose husbands have refused to grant them a religious divorce are not free to remarry.

We take part in running the non-profit organization- Menucha Nechona- Jerusalem. This organization was founded in order to provide an inclusive burial procedure to all Jewish identities (Orthodox, Conservative, Reform and Non-Religious) in Jerusalem. It is a known fact that an exclusively Haredi, Ultra Orthodox monopoly, runs all of the Religious services in Israel, including all the burial procedures. This reality is even further emphasized in Jerusalem's cemetery, which is dominated by strict Halachic rules. A daughter can't say Kadish on her father, a wife can't to eulogize her husband and a conservative Jew won't easily be buried. These are just a few examples of the problems of an exclusive orthodox monopoly. NTA together with Menucha Nechona strive to change this reality, and offers inclusive burial procedures in Jerusalem's cemetery. We already approved by the supreme court of Israel, getting a 3.5 square yard (approx) of burial area in Jerusalem's cemetery, and we plan to start burying  in the coming year.

Alternative Beit Din

Together with the Women’s organizations Mavoi Satum and Kolech, we are teaming up with liberal Orthodox rabbinic groups in Isareal and in America, for a landmark initiative to create an alternative rabbinical court. This is an attempt to create a real reform in the religious apparatus that chains woman, converts, immigrants, non-Orthodox Jews, and others, and holds the entire country hostage to an antiquated system of a Haredi monopoly. We believe that this Alternative Beit could be the only way to breaking this monopoly, and we hope that it will start functioning in the coming months.

In conclusion, getting back to the title of this article: Can we prevent the Haredization of Modern Orthodox Jewry? There isn't of course any way to predict what would be the direction that the Orthodox Jewry will chose to go to. But,  We can promises that in NTA we are doing everything that  is possible in limit of our means – to promote  a more pluralistic, tolerant and inclusive Judaism that will restore the basic values of  Torah with Derch Eretz; Halacha with Morality and Human rights; the ancient Jewish tradition, with Modern World. By doing all of that, we hope we will succeed in preventing at least a little, of the Haredization trend in Modern Orthodox Jewry.

Yonatan Benarroch

For comments please contact by email:  ntaisrael@gmail.com [3]