A clandestine undertaking on behalf of Israel, the Jets and the Jews.

 
Religious and Successful in Mainstream Israel

I've seen several mentions in the Jewish blogosphere of the awarding this week of the Nobel Prize in Economics to Robert (a/k/a Johnny; a/k/a Yisrael) Aumann, but less than would be expected given that Aumann is a very religiously observant Jew who grew up in Boro Park before making aliyah to Israel. Most likely, the lack of posts are due to Yom Kippur.

I'm sure the award to Aumann is the source of much pride among the American community in Jerusalem, especially in the Rechavia neighborhood, where Aumann lives and among the congregants at Beit Knesset Hanassi, the shul led by Rabbi Berel Wein that I most often attend when in Israel - where Aumann davens.

Professor Aumann is the latest refutation to the mentality among Israel's charedi leadership that insists on cutting itself off from mainstream Israeli society.

Many charedim in Israel continue to believe that they (or their children) will throw away their religious heritage if exposed to secular society.

But there is a long list of religious Jews in Israel who have achieved prominence and distinction in Israel's secular society while remaining deeply religious and completely observant. Supreme Court Justice (and former Attorney General) Elyakim Rubinstein and leading attorney (and former Finance Minister) Yaacov Neeman are among the leaders in the legal field.

Many Israeli charedim who have entered into their country's "real world" have also done quite well without compromising their values. Shlomo Kalish is among the leaders of Israel's venture capital industry, and of course, Uri Lupolianski serves as Jerusalem's mayor.

Of course, service in the IDF is the main entry to mainstream Israel. While charedim should not be fully exempt from the army (an issue that is beyond the scope of this post), the charedi rabbinical leadership does have legitimate concerns about exposing yeshiva boys to the IDF's sexually mixed units, especially in light of recent reports about a significant rise in pregnancies (and abortions) among female IDF soldiers. But shutting off charedim from all of Israel's mainstream society has proven disastrous for charedim in Israel, many of whom are mired in unnecessary poverty due to the unjustified and often paranoid concerns of its leadership.
posted on 10/14/2005