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Haredi unemployment costs billions annually
Jonathan Golan
Published: 22.07.10, 14:32
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31. 12 Baruch: Studying the Torah IS work! King Solomon said
Rivkah   (07.23.10)
much study is a weariness of the flesh. Also, most Haredim women work regular jobs to supplement the pittance the government gives to the males for sustenance of their families. A Torah-less society cannot be defended even by the most sophisticated technical weapons. Daniel in the Bible and his three friends illustrate that. Their Torah observant diets and hearts toward Yahweh protected them from fire and from a lions' den. Those who were not Torah-observant were not protected. The soldiers who threw them into the firey furnace were themselves killed by the flames. Those who put Daniel in a lions' den perished there themselves along with their families while Daniel was unharmed since he was protected by Yahweh. Those who study and observe Torah are a defense for Israel and should be paid.
32. no.31
Sharona ,   Ash & IL   (07.23.10)
if you want to save yourself from lion then do it on your own account. You can not bankrupt this country and steal money of tax payers and feed your army of children by cutting our pockets. If you so believe that god will protect you then take a boul and beg on the road for money and as per your belives you won't be starved(???) because you think that the god will provide you, right? And then you can study your whole life without working. Remember, i don't want to give penny to people who are finishing us and this contry but still all these heridim are getting stipents. You are stealing from me against my wish. All these heridim are directly against the law of god that six days you will work and seventh you will rest. You are all lazy thieves who try to find something suitable in tora to suit your lazyness and provide it as a examble. Remember by doing this you and all your rabbies are downplaying the words of god....
33. 19
Zionist forever   (07.23.10)
The problem is the ghetto. In the ghetto the only people they are surround by are their own and if the ghetto culture is 24 hour a day Torah study and not work then nothing will change. They should not be treated as untrustworthy and compared to the traitor Anat Kamm. I do think though the IDF is not the right environment for them we need some kind of national service in the civilian sector. Let them see how people live outside the ghetto and hope they might decide this isn't so bad maybe I will try find at least a part time job. The hared & secular do though need to learn about each other so it's not them against us Prehaps even have some kind of conference run by orthodox jews who live in the real world and can relate to both sides. Give seculars & haredi a chance to meet and there can be things like stands run by orthodox Jews where they learn about the kinds of jobs that they could do. Something similar to a business conference chance for both side to meet and talk and a chance to show what kind of jobs that somebody ultra orthodox would be capable of. Just saying get a job though won't do anything and you can't do things like cut benefits because as long as coalitions need parties like. shas then the price to pay for them to join the coalition will. Always be things like increased benefit and the coalition system makes it just about impossible to form a stable coalition without the religious block. So let's try other tactics than we would if we were dealing with seculars.
34. It's a matter of values and priorities
Zvika ,   Jerusalem   (07.23.10)
Are theater, ballet and the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra a waste of money? Are poets, playwrights, and filmmakers parasites? Are museums, art galleries, and botanical gardens moochers of public funds? Oh yes, and what about the huge amount of funds and other breaks (aside from the ballplayers' salaries) awarded to professional sports? The State considers certain non-tangible, unprofitable endeavors to be worth subsidizing. Even though not all citizens (taxpayers) agree. Studying Torah is no worse than any other humanity/artistic pursuit that the State sees fit to subsidize. Is it because there are so many Torah students? Maybe some people feel there are too many pro soccer players and musicians who are getting govt. subsidies and special consideration from the army regarding their service? Should we unleash an unbridled hate campaign against them? A little more levelheadedness is in order here.
35. Cut all benefits to those that did not
jason white ,   afula, israel   (07.23.10)
serve in the I.D.F. National service should not count. Most of these groups are anti Zionist and their "rebbes" should be jailed for life.
36. Incessant Hatred from both sides
American Sabra ,   Givat Shmuel   (07.23.10)
I see Tisha B'av doesn't seem to having any meaning to most of you. And pointing fingers is not going to bring us any closer. The destruction of the beit hamikdash attributed to the basless hatred of fellow Jews from ALL SECTORS!!! I understand that there has been a devision in Judaism. I think seculars and charedim alike need to apply some tolerance in each other and learn to get along despite the differences. You all need to get over your bias feelings and find a way to live with each other. Yes I equally blame the seculars and the haredim for the Israeli economic crush. I've read some of the readers comments and I see both sides of the story. I blame the seculars for rejecting candidates who have the potential to be of valuable assets to their company. The fact that they are religious seems to be an obstacle to the chiloni. As a dati woman, I have been asked by both religious and non religious interviewers about my marital status and if I were pregnant. I find these questions to be crude and deplorable. But that's bedsides my point. I blame the charedim by in large for not trying to get the equipment they need to make themselves marketable in the workforce thus relying on our tax shekels to support them. Mind you that there are a lot of non charedi dead beats who leech off of welfare spending. The point is pointing fingers at each other is just digging ourselves deeper into the pooper ( for the lack of the better term ). The message I want to convey to both sides is : Seculars chill out and grow up! Charedim do something productive with your lives! Seculars and Charedim: Stop blaming others for your problems!!
37. IMF reported this years ago.
sweeter than honey ,   far away   (07.23.10)
before Israel became member of OEDC. quite simply, Israel has the lowest percentage of economically active persons as a percentage of population amongst OEDC. Israel is 55%, OEDC average is 75%. Israel's economy is thus skewed, with a handicap on economically developed sectors. in world recessionary times the benefactors of these persons might well be less generous with surplus wealth as well. all in all; less institutionalised schnorrering means everyone, and the state, is better off, and that is just.
38. If we can negotiate with the Palestinians
Ilan ,   Ariel   (07.23.10)
Then why not with the Chareidim? There must be some mix of Torah and work that will benefit society as well as this important sector. When the government was militant socialist and atheist there was some justification for the Chareidim keeping a distance. Now is the time for integration and building social cohesion.
39. Haredi In U.S. Work - In Israel They're Leaches
Seth ,   Washington, DC   (07.23.10)
40. so the never ending story we keep feeding parasits! a shame
joe ,   kfar saba   (07.23.10)
41. THE ONLY GUILTY FOR THIS LAZY PEOPLE IS ..OUR STATE!!!!! END
joe ,   kfar saba israel   (07.23.10)
42. This People Are a Schonda Big Time
Dav Lev ,   Burbank. CAUSA   (07.24.10)
I am an American Jew. I daily observe tens of Jews (Orthodox) who work locally (wear the Jewish garb). My physican is Jewish and Orthdox. There was a protest in upstate NY by a 1,000 Jewish boys who are fighting the desecration of a grave site. What are they doing protesting in upstate NY, making fools of themselves. Let them move to Israel..vote, work and pay taxes and go into the military. But in the USA they are a small minority..so who cares? Israel should give them a few choices: work/go into the army, or move (relocate) to Monsey New York and Kiyrat Joel..where you can deal with other Jews and "Locals". Shame, a schonda. A disgrace. I am ashamed to be a Jew.
43. #31
Ben ,   Monroe USA   (07.24.10)
Rivkah, we saw just how the 6 million were protected by Hashem. Biblical stories are for the children, reality is for the adult world. You wish to study Torah; go ahead. Nobody wants to stop you. Just look at facts, 6 million dead were not protected by Hashem and Israel today is protected by the IDF; not by religious zealots.
44. 32 Sharona, Ash & IL: Rabbi Yeshua would not order Mary to
Rivkah   (07.24.10)
help her sister Martha in the kitchen when Mary was sitting at Rabbi Yeshua's feet learning the Torah and the Tanakh from him. Working in the kitchen and serving people food is important but sitting at the Rabbi's feet and learning about Yahweh is more important. Take a look at a map and see the 56 Muslim nations with two billion people who all hate Israel. Prayer for the nation and the study of Yahweh's Holy Word is a protection for the nation and those who devote themselves to that should be paid. After World War II, my mother's husband decided to go to seminary and teach the Bible. After graduating it took six months to get a job as a country preacher with seven churches in Mississippi. He had a wife and five children to support but was not able to on chickens and sugar cane people gave him for wages. They tried so hard with my mother canning blackberries in the summer to put on pancakes and oatmeal for the children to eat. When he asked his senior pastor if he could teach part time at a college to make ends meet, he was told that was not allowed. People who teach the Bible are supposed to starve, I guess. So he went back into the US Army in the Korean War to support his family because the people of Mississippi thought impoverishing pastors by not paying tithes was the way to treat God's representative on earth to an area. He never went into a church again except for weddings or baptisms or funerals he could not escape the obligation to go to. What did Yahweh do to Mississippi fror treating His servant so badly? Yahweh impoverished Mississippi the way Mississippi impoverished him. It is the poorest State in the Union and no wonder. What you want for Israel is a similar impoverishment. You want the blessings of Yahweh obstructed by the impoverishment of His teachers of the Torah and Tanakh because that is what will happen if you don't pay the preachers, the rabbis, the haredim and the people at yeshivas. THAT will impoverish Israel, not paying people to pray and study and teach and follow Yahweh.
45. #3: if one does not WANT to work, one should NOT get welfare
from the state   (07.24.10)
46. Per Rivkah
Ben ,   Monroe USA   (07.24.10)
religious extremism should be paid for by those who work. Only in Israel does that have a chance of happening. In every other nation, you want, you work for it. The Torah says, you work six days a week. Sitting in a yeshivah does not constitute work. Israel unfortunately had as it's founder a man who caved in to the religious. Had he put into action the simple solution to Israeli ills, everybody contibutes, no bloodsuckers, if service to the state that protects you is good for the secular, then it is just as good for the religious. Rivkah, the dung of the religious is no sweeter than the dung of the secular.
47. #23 I welcome that
Avi ,   Israel   (07.25.10)
They do not accept the rules of the game - equal work, equal pay and equal duties. They said, 'No, we have a special status in which we do not work and we do not pay taxes and we do not defend the country; you defend it for us, they riot on what has become a daily basis, while the good hard honest decent men and women of this country are expected to pay for this so called life style of theirs. I very much welcome a civil war , when the chardeem will be put in their place once and for all.
48. Ben , for you info : this rivka is NOT Jewish at all
Charles ,   Petach Tikva   (07.25.10)
49. #4
Eric ,   Toronto, Canada   (05.29.11)
Face it, Israeli workers (especially farmers are the most productive in the World).
50. haredim and the workforce
jeffrey bowker ,   haifa israel   (05.31.11)
Such slander coming from a Jewish member of the Knesset is in itself unbelievable. That the article is rife with un-truths and void of actual statistics is a slap in the face of whoever has the gall to publish it. Hate-mail is the word for this article and shame on the YNet for publishing it.
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