Haredi Judaism ( , ; also spelled  in English; plural  or ) consists of groups within Orthodox Judaism that are characterized by their strict adherence to halakha (Jewish law) and traditions, in opposition to modern values and practices. Its members are usually referred to as ultra-Orthodox in English; however, the term "ultra-Orthodox" is considered pejorative by many of its adherents, who prefer terms like strictly Orthodox or Haredi. Haredi Jews regard themselves as the most religiously authentic group of Jews, although other movements of Judaism disagree.

Some scholars have suggested that Haredi Judaism is a reaction to societal changes, including political emancipation, the Haskalah movement derived from the Enlightenment, acculturation, secularization, religious reform in all its forms from mild to extreme, the rise of the Jewish national movements, etc. In contrast to Modern Orthodox Judaism, followers of Haredi Judaism segregate themselves from other parts of society to an extent. However, many Haredi communities encourage their young people to get a professional degree or establish a business. Furthermore, some Haredi groups, like Chabad-Lubavitch, encourage outreach to less observant and unaffiliated Jews and hilonim (secular Israeli Jews). Thus, professional and social relationships often form between Haredi and non-Haredi Jews, as well as between Haredi Jews and non-Jews.

Haredi communities are found primarily in Israel (13.3% of Israel's population), North America, and Western Europe (most notably Antwerp and Stamford Hill in London). Their estimated global population numbers over 1.8 million, and, due to a virtual absence of interfaith marriage and a high birth rate, the Haredi population is growing rapidly. Their numbers have been further boosted since the 1970s by secular Jews adopting a Haredi lifestyle as part of the baal teshuva movement; however, this has been offset by those leaving.

According to data from a January 2023 report by the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics, Haredim, with their current population growth rate being 4% per year, will by the end of the decade form 16% of the entire Israeli population, including Arabs. A previous report from May 2017 forecasted that Haredim will form 20% of the total population in 2040, and 32% in 2065; by then, 1 in 2 Israeli children would be Haredi.

Terminology

The term most commonly used by outsiders, for example most American news organizations, is ultra-Orthodox Judaism. Hillel Halkin suggests the origins of the term may date to the 1950s, a period in which Haredi survivors of the Holocaust first began arriving in America. However, Isaac Leeser (1806–1868) was described in 1916 as "ultra-Orthodox".

Haredi is a Modern Hebrew adjective derived from the Biblical verb , which appears in the Book of Isaiah (; its plural haredim appears in Isaiah ) and is translated as "[one who] trembles" at the word of God. The word connotes an awe-inspired fear to perform the will of God; it is used to distinguish them from other Orthodox Jews (similar to the name used by Christian Quakers to describe their relationship to God).

The word Haredi is often used in the Jewish diaspora in place of the term ultra-Orthodox, which many view as inaccurate or offensive, it being seen as a derogatory term suggesting extremism; English-language alternatives that have been proposed include fervently Orthodox, strictly Orthodox, or traditional Orthodox. Others, however, dispute the characterization of the term as pejorative. Ari L. Goldman, a professor at Columbia University, notes that the term simply serves a practical purpose to distinguish a specific part of the Orthodox community, and is not meant as pejorative. Others, such as Samuel Heilman, criticized terms such as ultra-Orthodox and traditional Orthodox, arguing that they misidentify Haredi Jews as more authentically Orthodox than others, as opposed to adopting customs and practises that reflect their desire to separate from the outside world.

The community has sometimes been characterized as traditional Orthodox, in contradistinction to the Modern Orthodox, the other major branch of Orthodox Judaism, and not to be confused with the movement represented by the Union for Traditional Judaism, which originated in Conservative Judaism.

Haredi Jews also use other terms to refer to themselves. Common Yiddish words include  (Jews),  (virtuous Jews),  (son of the Torah),  (pious), and  (home-like; i. e., our crowd).

In Israel, Haredi Jews are sometimes also called by the derogatory slang words  (plural ), that mimics the traditional Ashkenazi Hebrew pronunciation of the Hebrew word  (religious), and more rarely,  (blacks), a reference to the black clothes they typically wear; a related informal term used in English is black hat.

History

Throughout Jewish history, Judaism has always faced internal and external challenges to its beliefs and practices which have emerged over time and produced counter-responses. According to its adherents, Haredi Judaism is a continuation of Rabbinic Judaism, and the immediate forebears of contemporary Haredi Jews were the Jewish religious traditionalists of Central and Eastern Europe who fought against secular modernization's influence which reduced Jewish religious observance. Indeed, adherents of Haredi Judaism, just like Rabbinic Jews, see their beliefs as part of an unbroken tradition which dates back to the revelation at Sinai. However, most historians of Orthodoxy consider Haredi Judaism, in its most modern incarnation, to date back to the beginning of the 20th century.

For centuries, before Jewish emancipation, European Jews were forced to live in ghettos where Jewish culture and religious observance were preserved. Change began in the wake of the Age of Enlightenment, when some European liberals sought to include the Jewish population in the emerging empires and nation states. The influence of the Haskalah movement (Jewish Enlightenment) was also evident. Supporters of the Haskalah held that Judaism must change, in keeping with the social changes around them. Other Jews insisted on strict adherence to halakha (Jewish law and custom).

In Germany, the opponents of Reform rallied to Samson Raphael Hirsch, who led a secession from German Jewish communal organizations to form a strictly Orthodox movement, with its own network of synagogues and religious schools. His approach was to accept the tools of modern scholarship and apply them in defence of Orthodox Judaism. In the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (including areas traditionally considered Lithuanian), Jews true to traditional values gathered under the banner of Agudas Shlumei Emunei Yisroel.

Moses Sofer was opposed to any philosophical, social, or practical change to customary Orthodox practice. Thus, he did not allow any secular studies to be added to the curriculum of his Pressburg Yeshiva. Sofer's student Moshe Schick, together with Sofer's sons Shimon and Samuel Benjamin, took an active role in arguing against the Reform movement. Others, such as Hillel Lichtenstein, advocated an even more stringent position for Orthodoxy.

A major historic event was the meltdown after the Universal Israelite Congress of 1868–1869 in Pest. In an attempt to unify all streams of Judaism under one constitution, the Orthodox offered the Shulchan Aruch as the ruling Code of law and observance. This was dismissed by the reformists, leading many Orthodox rabbis to resign from the Congress and form their own social and political groups. Hungarian Jewry split into two major institutionally sectarian groups: Orthodox, and Neolog. However, some communities refused to join either of the groups, calling themselves "Status Quo".

Schick demonstrated support in 1877 for the separatist policies of Samson Raphael Hirsch in Germany. Schick's own son was enrolled in the Hildesheimer Rabbinical Seminary, headed by Azriel Hildesheimer, which taught secular studies. Hirsch, however, did not reciprocate, and expressed astonishment at Schick's halakhic contortions in condemning even those Status Quo communities that clearly adhered to halakha. Lichtenstein opposed Hildesheimer, and his son Hirsh Hildesheimer, as they made use of the German language in sermons from the pulpit and seemed to lean in the direction of Zionism.

Shimon Sofer was somewhat more lenient than Lichtenstein on the use of German in sermons, allowing the practice as needed for the sake of keeping cordial relations with the various governments. Likewise, he allowed extra-curricular studies of the gymnasium for students whose rabbinical positions would be recognized by the governments, stipulating the necessity to prove the strict adherence to the God-fearing standards per individual case.

In 1912, the World Agudath Israel was founded, to differentiate itself from the Torah Nationalist Mizrachi and secular Zionist organizations. It was dominated by the Hasidic rebbes and Lithuanian rabbis and roshei yeshiva (deans). The organization nominated rabbis who subsequently were elected as representatives in the Polish legislature Sejm, such as Meir Shapiro and Yitzhak-Meir Levin. Not all Hasidic factions joined the Agudath Israel, remaining independent instead, such as Machzikei Hadat of Galicia.

In 1919, Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld and Yitzchok Yerucham Diskin founded the Edah HaChareidis as part of Agudath Israel in then-Mandate Palestine.

In 1924, Agudath Israel obtained 75 percent of the votes in the Kehilla elections.

The Orthodox community polled some 16,000 of a total 90,000 at the Knesseth Israel in 1929. But Sonnenfeld lobbied Sir John Chancellor, the High Commissioner, for separate representation in the Palestine Communities Ordinance from that of the Knesseth Israel. He explained that the Agudas Israel community would cooperate with the Vaad Leumi and the National Jewish Council in matters pertaining to the municipality, but sought to protect its religious convictions independently. The community petitioned the Permanent Mandates Commission of the League of Nations on this issue. The one community principle was victorious, despite their opposition, but this is seen as the creation of the Haredi community in Israel, separate from the other Orthodox and Zionist movements.

In 1932, Sonnenfeld was succeeded by Yosef Tzvi Dushinsky, a disciple of the Shevet Sofer, one of the grandchildren of Moses Sofer. Dushinsky promised to build up a strong Jewish Orthodoxy at peace with the other Jewish communities and the non-Jews.

Post-Holocaust
In general, the present-day Haredi population originate from two distinct post-Holocaust waves:
 The vast majority of Hasidic and Litvak communities were destroyed during the Holocaust. Although Hasidic customs have largely been preserved, the customs of Lithuanian Jewry, including its unique Hebrew pronunciation, have been almost lost. Litvish customs are still preserved primarily by the few older Jews who were born in Lithuania prior to the Holocaust. In the decade or so after 1945, there was a strong drive to revive and maintain these lifestyles by some notable Haredi leaders.
The Chazon Ish was particularly prominent in the early days of the State of Israel. Aharon Kotler established many of the Haredi schools and yeshivas in the United States and Israel; and Joel Teitelbaum had a significant impact on revitalizing Hasidic Jewry, as well as many of the Jews who fled Hungary during the 1956 revolution who became followers of his Satmar dynasty, and became the largest Hasidic group in the world. These Jews typically have maintained a connection only with other religious family members. As such, those growing up in such families have little or no contact with non-Haredi Jews.
 The second wave began in the 1970s associated with the religious revival of the so-called baal teshuva movement, although most of the newly religious become Orthodox, and not necessarily fully Haredi. The formation and spread of the Sephardic Haredi lifestyle movement also began in the 1980s by Ovadia Yosef, alongside the establishment of the Shas party in 1984. This led many Sephardi Jews to adopt the clothing and culture of the Lithuanian Haredi Judaism, though it had no historical basis in their own tradition. Many yeshivas were also established specifically for new adopters of the Haredi way of life.

The original Haredi population has been instrumental in the expansion of their lifestyle, though criticisms have been made of discrimination towards the later adopters of the Haredi lifestyle in shidduchim (matchmaking) and the school system.

Practices and beliefs
The Haredim represent the conservative or pietistic form of Jewish fundamentalism, distinct from the radical fundamentalism of Gush Emunim, and emphasising withdrawal from, and disdain for, the secular world, and the creation of an alternative world which insulates the Torah and the life it prescribes from outside influences.
Haredi Judaism is not an institutionally cohesive or homogeneous group, but comprises a diversity of spiritual and cultural orientations, generally divided into a broad range of Hasidic courts and Litvishe-Yeshivish streams from Eastern Europe, and Oriental Sephardic Haredi Jews. These groups often differ significantly from one another in their specific ideologies and lifestyles, as well as the degree of stringency in religious practice, rigidity of religious philosophy, and isolation from the general culture that they maintain.

Some scholars, including some secular and Reform Jews, describe the Haredim as "radical fundamentalists".

The majority of Haredi Jews worldwide live in neighborhoods occupied primarily by other Haredi Jews.

Efforts to keep clear of external influence is a core characteristic of Haredi Judaism. Historically, new mediums of communication such as books, newspapers and magazines, and later tapes, CDs and television, were dealt with by either transforming and controlling the content or having rabbinic leadership censor it altogether. In the modern digital era, difficulty in censoring the internet and conversely, the internet's importance, resulted in a decades long and ongoing struggle of comprehension, adaption, and regulation on the part of rabbinical leadership and community activists.

These beliefs and practices, which have been interpreted as "isolationist", can bring them into conflict with authorities. In 2018, a Haredi school in the United Kingdom was rated as "inadequate" by the Office for Standards in Education, after repeated complaints were raised about the censoring of textbooks and exam papers which contained mentions of homosexuality, examples of women socializing with men, pictures showing women's shoulders and legs, or information that contradicts a creationist worldview.

Lifestyle and family

Haredi life, like Orthodox Jewish life in general, is very family-centered and ordered. Boys and girls attend separate schools, and proceed to higher Torah study, in a yeshiva or seminary, respectively, starting anywhere between the ages of 13 and 18. A significant proportion of young men remain in yeshiva until their marriage (which is usually arranged through facilitated dating). After marriage, many Haredi men continue their Torah studies in a kollel.

Studying in secular institutions is often discouraged, although educational facilities for vocational training in a Haredi framework do exist. In the United States and Europe, the majority of Haredi males are active in the workforce. For various reasons, in Israel, most (56%) of their male members do work, though some of those are part of the unofficial workforce. Haredi families (and Orthodox Jewish families in general) are usually much larger than non-Orthodox Jewish families, with as many as twelve or more children. About 70% of female Haredi Jews in Israel work.

Haredi Jews are typically opposed to the viewing of television and films, and the reading of secular newspapers and books. There has been a strong campaign against the Internet, and Internet-enabled mobile phones without filters have also been banned by leading rabbis. In May 2012, 40,000 Haredim gathered at Citi Field, a baseball park in New York City, to discuss the dangers of unfiltered Internet. The event was organized by the Ichud HaKehillos LeTohar HaMachane. The Internet has been allowed for business purposes so long as filters are installed.

In some instances, forms of recreation which conform to Jewish law are treated as antithetical to Haredi Judaism. In 2013, the Rabbinical Court of the Ashkenazi Community in the Haredi settlement of Beitar Illit ruled against Zumba (a type of dance fitness) classes, although they were held with a female instructor and all-female participants. The Court said in part: "Both in form and manner, the activity [Zumba] is entirely at odds with both the ways of the Torah and the holiness of Israel, as are the songs associated to it."

Shidduchim
With Haredi Judaism having a heavy emphasis on marriage — especially while young — some members will employ a schadhan (a professional matchmaker) to support them in their search for a spouse. While there is no current statistical data showing how many people use the services of a schadhan, it is estimated that the vast majority of Haredi couples were paired by one.

However, with the broader societal shift to online dating, matchmaking in Orthodox and Haredi Judaism has started making inroads online. Vastly different from the most popular online dating services, apps like "Shidduch" pair couples based upon shfill-out lues and life goals. To do this, users fill-out a digital resume. The app was made possible by a partnership between its developers and the Orthodox Union — the same group responsible for kosher food certification ("Circle-U").

Dress

The standard mode of dress for males of the Lithuanian stream is a black or navy suit and a white shirt. Headgear includes black Fedora or Homburg hats, with black skull caps. Pre-war Lithuanian yeshiva students also wore light coloured suits, along with beige or grey hats, and prior to the 1990s, it was common for Americans of the Lithuanian stream to wear coloured shirts throughout the week, reserving white shirts for Shabbos.

Beards are common among Haredi and many other Orthodox Jewish men, and Hasidic men will almost never be clean-shaven.

Women adhere to the laws of modest dress, and wear long skirts and sleeves, high necklines, and, if married, some form of hair covering. Haredi women never wear trousers, although most do wear pajama-trousers within the home at night.

Over the years, it has become popular among some Haredi women to wear sheitels (wigs) that are more attractive than their own hair (drawing criticism from some more conservative Haredi rabbis). Mainstream Sephardi Haredi rabbi Ovadia Yosef forbade the wearing of wigs altogether. Haredi women often dress more freely and casually within the home, as long as the body remains covered in accordance with the halakha. More modernized Haredi women are somewhat more lenient in matters of their dress, and some follow the latest trends and fashions while conforming to the halakha.

Non-Lithuanian Hasidic men and women differ from the Lithuanian stream by having a much more specific dress code, the most obvious difference for men being the full-length suit jacket (rekel) on weekdays, and the fur hat (shtreimel) and silk caftan (bekishe) on the Sabbath.

Neighborhoods
Haredi neighborhoods tend to be safe and free from violent crime. In Israel, the entrances to some of the most extreme Haredi neighborhoods are fitted with signs asking that modest clothing be worn. Some areas are known to have "modesty patrols", and people dressed in ways perceived as immodest may suffer harassment, and advertisements featuring scantily dressed models may be targeted for vandalism. These concerns are also addressed through public lobbying and legal avenues.

During the week-long Rio Carnival in Rio de Janeiro, many of the city's 7,000 Orthodox Jews feel compelled to leave the town, due to the immodest exposure of participants. In 2001, Haredi campaigners in Jerusalem succeeded in persuading the Egged bus company to get all their advertisements approved by a special committee. By 2011, Egged had gradually removed all bus adverts that featured women, in response to their continuous defacement. A court order that stated such action was discriminatory led to Egged's decision not to feature people at all (neither male nor female). Depictions of certain other creatures, such as space aliens, were also banned, in order not to offend Haredi sensibilities. Haredi Jews also campaign against other types of advertising that promote activities they deem offensive or inappropriate.

To honor the Shabbat, most state-run buses in Israel do not run on Saturdays. In a similar vein, Haredi Jews in Israel have demanded that the roads in their neighborhoods be closed on Saturdays, vehicular traffic being viewed as an "intolerable provocation" upon their religious lifestyle (see Driving on Shabbat in Jewish law). In most cases, the authorities granted permission after Haredi petitioning and demonstrations, some of them including fierce clashes between Haredi Jews and secular counter-demonstrators, and violence against police and motorists.

Sex separation

While Jewish modesty law requires gender separation under various circumstances, observers have contended that there is a growing trend among some groups of Hasidic Haredi Jews to extend its observance to the public arena.

In the Hasidic village of Kiryas Joel, New York, an entrance sign asks visitors to "maintain sex separation in all public areas", and the bus stops have separate waiting areas for men and women. In New Square, another Hasidic enclave, men and women are expected to walk on opposite sides of the road. In Israel, Jerusalem residents of Mea Shearim were banned from erecting a street barrier dividing men and women during the week-long Sukkot festival's nightly parties; and street signs requesting that women avoid certain pavements in Beit Shemesh have been repeatedly removed by the municipality.

Since 1973, buses catering to Haredi Jews running from Rockland County and Brooklyn into Manhattan have had separate areas for men and women, allowing passengers to conduct on-board prayer services. Although the lines are privately operated, they serve the general public, and in 2011, the set-up was challenged on grounds of discrimination, and the arrangement was deemed illegal. During 2010–2012, there was much public debate in Israel surrounding the existence of segregated Haredi Mehadrin bus lines (whose policy calls for both men and women to stay in their respective areas: men in the front of the bus, and women in the rear of the bus) following an altercation that occurred after a woman refused to move to the rear of the bus to sit among the women. A subsequent court ruling stated that while voluntary segregation should be allowed, forced separation is unlawful. Israeli national airline El Al has agreed to provide gender-separated flights in consideration of Haredi requirements.

Education in the Haredi community is strictly segregated by sex. Yeshiva education for boys is primarily focused on the study of Jewish scriptures, such as the Torah and Talmud (non-Hasidic yeshivas in America teach secular studies in the afternoon); girls obtain studies both in Jewish education as well as broader secular subjects.

Newspapers and publications

In 1930s Poland, the Agudath Israel movement published its own Yiddish-language paper, Dos Yiddishe Tagblatt. In 1950, the Agudah started printing Hamodia, a Hebrew-language Israeli daily.

Haredi publications tend to shield their readership from objectionable material, and perceive themselves as a "counterculture", desisting from advertising secular entertainment and events. The editorial policy of a Haredi newspaper is determined by a rabbinical board, and every edition is checked by a rabbinical censor. A strict policy of modesty is characteristic of the Haredi press in recent years, and pictures of women are usually not printed. In 2009, the Israeli daily Yated Ne'eman doctored an Israeli cabinet photograph replacing two female ministers with images of men, and in 2013, the Bakehilah magazine pixelated the faces of women appearing in a photograph of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. The mainstream Haredi political Shas party also refrains from publishing female images. Among Haredi publishers which have not adopted this policy is ArtScroll, which does publish pictures of women in their books.

No coverage is given to serious crime, violence, sex, or drugs, and little coverage is given to non-Orthodox streams of Judaism. Inclusion of "immoral" content is avoided, and when publication of such stories is a necessity, they are often written ambiguously. The Haredi press generally takes a non-Zionist stance, and gives more coverage to issues that concern the Haredi community, such as the drafting of girls and yeshiva students into the army, autopsies, and Shabbat observance. In Israel, it portrays the secular world as "spitefully anti-Semitic", and describes secular youth as "mindless, immoral, drugged, and unspeakably lewd". Such attacks have led to Haredi editors being warned about libelous provocations.

While the Haredi press is extensive and varied in Israel, only around half the Haredi population reads newspapers. Around 10% read secular newspapers, while 40% do not read any newspaper at all. According to a 2007 survey, 27% read the weekend Friday edition of HaModia, and 26% the Yated Ne'eman. In 2006, the most-read Haredi magazine in Israel was the Mishpacha weekly, which sold 110,000 copies.

Technology
In the modern era of the internet and mobile phones, it can be confusing as to what is or is not considered appropriate. The Haredi leaders have at times suggested a ban on the internet and any internet-capable device, their reasoning being that the immense amount of information can be corrupting, and the ability to use the internet with no observation from the community can lead to individuation. However, these presented reasons by the Haredi leaders could be influenced by a general fear of the loss of young Haredi members.

Banning the internet for Haredi Jews could be a detriment to possible economic uses from Jewish businesses. Some Haredi businessmen utilize the internet throughout the week, but they still observe Shabbat in every aspect by not accepting or processing orders from Friday evening to Saturday evening. They utilize the internet under strict filters and guidelines. Although Haredi leaders have been unsuccessful in their attempts of banning internet use, they have influenced the world of technology. The Kosher cell phone was introduced to the Jewish public with the sole ability to call other phones. It was unable to utilize the internet, text other phones, and had no camera feature. In fact, a kosher phone plan was created, with decreased rates for kosher-to-kosher calls, to encourage community.

News hotlines

News hotlines are an important source of news in the Haredi world. Since many Haredi Jews do not listen to the radio or have access to the internet, even if they read newspapers, they are left with little or no access to breaking news. News hotlines were formed to fill this gap, and many have expanded to additional fields over time. Currently, many news lines provide rabbinic lectures, entertainment, business advice, and similar services, in addition to their primary function of reporting the news. Many Hasidic sects maintain their own hotlines, where relevant internal news is reported and the group's perspective can be advocated for. In the Israeli Haredi community, there are dozens of prominent hotlines, in both Yiddish and Hebrew. Some Haredi hotlines have played significant public roles.

In Israel

Attitudes towards Zionism

While most Haredi Jews were opposed to the establishment of the State of Israel, and Haredi Jews mostly do not celebrate Yom Ha'Atzmaut (Israeli Independence Day) or any other state-instituted holidays, there were many who gave their backing to the nascent state.

The chief political division among Haredi Jews has been in their approach to the State of Israel. After Israeli independence, different Haredi movements took varying positions on it. Only a minority of Haredi Jews consider themselves to be Zionists. Haredim who do not consider themselves Zionists fall into two-camps: non-Zionist, and anti-Zionist. Non-Zionist Haredim, who comprise the majority, do not object to the State of Israel as an independent Jewish state, and many even consider it to be positive, but they do not believe that it has any religious significance. Anti-Zionist Haredim, who are a minority, but are more publicly visible than the non-Zionist majority, believe that any Jewish independence prior to the coming of the Messiah is a sin.

The ideologically non-Zionist United Torah Judaism alliance comprising Agudat Yisrael and Degel HaTorah (and the umbrella organizations World Agudath Israel and Agudath Israel of America) represents a moderate and pragmatic stance of cooperation with the State of Israel, and participation in the political system. UTJ has been a participant in numerous coalition governments, seeking to influence state and society in a more religious direction and maintain welfare and religious funding policies. In general, their position is supportive of Israel.

Haredim who are stridently anti-Zionist are under the umbrella of Edah HaChareidis, who reject participation in politics and state funding of its affiliated institutions, in contradistinction to Agudah-affiliated institutions. Neturei Karta is a very small activist organization of anti-Zionist Haredim, whose controversial activities have been strongly condemned, including by other anti-Zionist Haredim. Haredi support is often required to form coalition governments in the Knesset.

In recent years, some rebbes affiliated with Agudath Israel, such as the Sadigura rebbe Avrohom Yaakov Friedman, have taken more hard-line stances on security, settlements, and disengagement.

Shas represents Sephardi and Mizrahi Haredim, and, while having many points in common with Ashkenazi Haredim, differs from them by its more enthusiastic support for the State of Israel and the IDF.

Marriage
The purpose of marriage in the Haredi (and Orthodox) viewpoint is for the purpose of companionship, as well as for the purpose of having children.

There is a high rate of marriage in the Haredi community. 83% are married, compared to the non-Haredi community in Israel of 63%. Marriage is viewed as holy, and as the natural home for a man and a woman to truly love each other.

Divorce
In 2016, Haaretz claimed that divorces among Haredim are increasing in Israel. In 2017, some predominantly Haredi cities reported the highest growth rates in divorce in the Israel, in the context of generally falling rates of divorce. In 2018, some predominantly Haredi cities reported drops in divorce. Jerusalem had a decrease of 7%, and the Haredi city of Beitar Illit had a drop of 49%, in the context of generally rising rates of divorce. When the divorce is linked to one spouse leaving the community, the one who chooses to leave is often shunned from his or her communities and forced to abandon their children, as most courts prefer keeping children in an established status quo.

In 2016, the divorce rate was 5% among the Haredi population, compared to the general population rate of 14%.

Education

Haredim primarily educate their children in their own private schools, starting with chederim for pre-school to primary school ages, to yeshivos for boys from secondary school ages, and in seminaries, often called Bais Yaakovs, for girls of secondary school ages. Only Jewish religiously observant students are admitted, and parents must agree to abide by the rules of the school to keep their children enrolled. Yeshivas are headed by rosh yeshivas (deans) and principals. Many Hasidic schools in Israel, Europe, and North America teach little or no secular subjects, while some of the Litvish (Lithuanian style) schools in Israel follow educational policies to the Hasidic school. In the U.S., most teach secular subjects to boys and girls, as part of a dual curriculum of secular subjects (generally called "English") and Torah subjects. Yeshivas teach mostly Talmud and Rabbinic literature, while the girls' schools teach Jewish Law, Midrash, and Tanach (Hebrew Bible).

Between 2007 and 2017, the number of Haredim studying in higher education had risen from 1,000 to 10,800.

In 2007, the Kemach Foundation was established to become an investor in the sector's social and economic development, and provide opportunities for employment. Through the philanthropy of Leo Noé of London, later joined by the Wolfson family of New York and Elie Horn from Brazil, Kemach has facilitated academic and vocational training. With a $22m budget, including government funding, Kemach provides individualized career assessment, academic or vocational scholarships, and job placement for the entire Haredi population in Israel. The Foundation is managed by specialists who, coming from the Haredi sector themselves, are familiar with the community's needs and sensitivities. By April 2014, more than 17,800 Haredim have received the services of Kemach, and more than 7,500 have received, or continue to receive, monthly scholarships to fund their academic or vocational studies. From 500 graduates, the net benefits to the government would be 80.8 million NIS if they work for one year, 572.3 million NIS if they work for 5 years, and 2.8 billion NIS (discounted) if they work for 30 years.

The Council for Higher Education announced in 2012 that it was investing NIS 180 million over the following five years to establish appropriate frameworks for the education of Haredim, focusing on specific professions. The largest Haredi campus in Israel is The Haredi Campus - The Academic College Ono.

Military

Upon the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, universal conscription was instituted for all able-bodied Jewish males. However, the nation's population of military-aged Haredi men were exempted from service in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) under the Torato Umanuto arrangement, which officially granted deferred entry into the IDF for yeshiva students, but in practice allowed young Haredi men to serve for a significantly reduced period of time or bypass military service altogether. At that time, only a small group of roughly 400 individuals was affected, since, due to the historic opposition of Haredi Judaism to Zionism, the population of Haredim was very low. However, the Haredim were and are a rapidly growing population, comprising an estimated 6-10% of Israel's Jewish population by 2008. In 2018, the Israel Democracy Institute estimated that the Haredim comprised 12% of Israel's total population, and just over 15% of the Jewish population. Compounded by the fact the Haredim are disproportionately younger than the general population, their absence from the IDF often attracts significant resentment from secular Israelis. The most common criticisms of the exemption policy are:
 The Haredim can work in those 2–3 years of their lives in which they do not serve in the IDF, while most soldiers at the IDF are usually paid anywhere between $80–250 a month, in addition to clothing and lodging. All the while, Haredi yeshiva students receive significant monthly funds and payments for their religious studies.
 The Haredim, if they so choose, can study at that time.

While a certain amount of Haredim have enlisted in the IDF every year in recent decades, the Haredim usually reject the practice of IDF service. Contentions include:
 A yeshiva student has an important role in protecting the Jewish people because Haredim believe that Torah study brings spiritual protection similar to how a soldier in the IDF brings physical protection. Haredim maintain that each role is important in protecting the Jewish people, and one who is a yeshiva student should not abandon his personal duty in spiritually protecting the Jewish people.
 The Israeli army is not conducive to a Haredi lifestyle. It is regarded as a "state-sponsored quagmire of promiscuity" due to Israel conscripting both men and women, and often grouping them together in military activities. Additionally, the keeping of military procedures makes it difficult to observe the Sabbath and many other Jewish practices.

The Torato Umanuto arrangement was enshrined in the Tal Law that came into force in 2002. The High Court of Justice later ruled that it could not be extended in its current form beyond August 2012. A replacement was expected. The IDF was, however, experiencing a shortage of personnel, and there were pressures to reduce the scope of the Torato Omanuto exemption.

The Shahar program, also known as Shiluv Haredim (Ultra-Orthodox integration), allows Haredi men aged 22 to 26 to serve in the army for about a year and a half. At the beginning of their service, they study mathematics and English, which are often not well covered in Haredi boy schools. The program is partly aimed at encouraging Haredi participation in the workforce after military service. However, not all beneficiaries seem to be Haredim.

Over the years, as many as 1000 Haredi Jews have volunteered to serve in a Haredi Jewish unit of the IDF known as the Netzah Yehuda Battalion, or Nahal Haredi. The vast majority of Haredi men, however, continue to receive deferments from military service.

In March 2014, Israel's parliament approved legislation to end exemptions from military service for Haredi seminary students. The bill was passed by 65 votes to one, and an amendment allowing civilian national service by 67 to one.

There has been much uproar in Haredi society following actions towards Haredi conscription. While some Haredim see this as a great social and economic opportunity, others (including leading rabbis among them) strongly oppose this move. Among the extreme Haredim, there have been some more severe reactions. Several Haredi leaders have threatened that Haredi populations would leave the country if forced to enlist. Others have fueled public incitement against secular and National-Religious Jews, and specifically against politicians Yair Lapid and Naftali Bennett, who support and promote Haredi enlistment. Some Haredim have taken to threatening their fellows who agree to enlist, to the point of physically attacking some of them.

Employment
, figures from the Central Bureau of Statistics on employment rates place Haredi women at 73%, close to the 80% for the non-Haredi Jewish women's national figure; while the number of working Haredi men has increased to 56%, it is still far below the 90% of non-Haredi Jewish men nationwide. , most Haredi boys instead go to yeshivas and then continue to study at yeshiva after getting married.

The Trajtenberg Committee, charged in 2011 with drafting proposals for economic and social change, called, among other things, for increasing employment among the Haredi population. Its proposals included encouraging military or national service and offering college prep courses for volunteers, creating more employment centers targeting Haredim and experimental matriculation prep courses after yeshiva hours. The committee also called for increasing the number of Haredi students receiving technical training through the Industry, Trade, and Labor Ministry and forcing Haredi schools to carry out standardized testing, as is done at other public schools. It is estimated that half as many of the Haredi community are in employment as the rest of population. This has led to increasing financial deprivation, and 50% of children within the community live below the poverty line. This puts strain on each family, the community, and often the Israeli economy.

The demographic trend indicates the community will constitute an increasing percentage of the population, and consequently, Israel faces an economic challenge in the years ahead due to fewer people in the labor force. A report commissioned by the Treasury found that the Israeli economy may lose more than six billion shekels annually as a result of low Haredi participation in the workforce. The OECD in a 2010 report stated that, "Haredi families are frequently jobless, or are one-earner families in low-paid employment. Poverty rates are around 60% for Haredim."

As of 2017, according to an Israeli finance ministry study, the Haredi participation rate in the labour force is 51%, compared to 89% for the rest of Israeli Jews.

A 2018 study by Oren Heller, a National Insurance Institute of Israel senior economic researcher, has found that while upper mobility among Haredim is significantly greater than the national average, unlike it, this tends not to translate into significantly higher pay.

Haredi families living in Israel benefited from government-subsidized child care when the father studied Torah and the mother worked at least 24 hours per week. However, after Israeli Finance Minister Avigdor Liberman introduced a new policy in 2021, families in which the father is a full-time yeshiva student are no longer eligible for a daycare subsidy. Under this policy, fathers must also work at least part-time in order for the family to qualify for the subsidy. The move was denounced by Haredi leaders.

Other issues

The Haredim in general are materially poorer than most other Israelis, but still represent an important market sector due to their bloc purchasing habits. For this reason, some companies and organizations in Israel refrain from including women or other images deemed immodest in their advertisements to avoid Haredi consumer boycotts. More than 50 percent of Haredim live below the poverty line, compared with 15 percent of the rest of the population. Their families are also larger, with Haredi women having an average of 6.7 children, while the average Jewish Israeli woman has 3 children. Families with many children often receive economic support through governmental child allowances, government assistance in housing, as well as specific funds by their own community institutions.

In recent years, there has been a process of reconciliation and an attempt to merge Haredi Jews with Israeli society, although employment discrimination is widespread. Haredi Jews such as satirist Kobi Arieli, publicist Sehara Blau, and politician Israel Eichler write regularly for leading Israeli newspapers.

Another important factor in the reconciliation process has been the activities of ZAKA, a Haredi organization known for providing emergency medical attention at the scene of suicide bombings, and Yad Sarah, the largest national volunteer organization in Israel established in 1977 by former Haredi mayor of Jerusalem, Uri Lupolianski. It is estimated that Yad Sarah saves the country's economy an estimated $320 million in hospital fees and long-term care costs each year.

Population
Due to its imprecise definition, lack of data collection, and rapid change over time, estimates of the global Haredi population are difficult to measure, and may significantly underestimate the true number of Haredim, due to their reluctance to participate in surveys and censuses. One estimate given in 2011 stated that there were approximately 1.3 million Haredi Jews globally. Studies have shown a very high growth rate, with a large young population.

Israel

Israel has the largest Haredi population. In 1948, there were about 35,000 to 45,000 Haredi Jews in Israel. By 1980, Haredim made up 4% of the Israeli population. Haredim made up 9.9% of the Israeli population in 2009, with 750,000 out of 7,552,100; by 2014, that figure had risen to 11.1%, with 910,500 Haredim out of a total Israeli population of 8,183,400. According to a December 2017 study conducted by the Israeli Democracy Institute, the number of Haredi Jews in Israel exceeded 1 million in 2017, making up 12% of the population in Israel. In 2019, Haredim reached a population of almost 1,126,000; the next year, it reached 1,175,000 (12.6% of total population), and by the end of 2022, it reached 1,280,000, or 13.3% of total population. By 2030, the Haredi Jewish community is projected to make up 16% of the total population, and by 2065, a third of the Israeli population.

The number of Haredi Jews in Israel is rising rapidly. The number of children per woman is 7.2, and the share of Haredim among those under the age of 20 was 16.3% in 2009 (29% of Jews). In 1992, out of a total of 1,500,000 Orthodox Jews worldwide, about 550,000 were Haredi (half of them in Israel). The vast majority of Haredi Jews are Ashkenazi. However, some 20% of the Haredi population are thought to belong to the Sephardic Haredi stream. In recent decades, Haredi society has grown due to the addition of a religious population that identifies with the Shas movement. The percentage of people leaving the Haredi population has been estimated between 6% and 18%. The Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics forecasts that the Haredi population of Israel will number 1.1 million in 2019. It is also projected that the number of Haredim in 2059 may be between 2.73 and 5.84 million, of an estimated total number of Israeli Jews between 6.09 and 9.95 million. The largest Israeli Haredi concentrations are in Jerusalem, Bnei Brak, Modi'in Illit, Beitar Illit, Beit Shemesh, Kiryat Ye'arim, Ashdod, Rekhasim, Safed, and El'ad. Two Haredi cities, Kasif and Harish, are planned.

United States
The United States has the second largest Haredi population, which has a growth rate on pace to double every 20 years. In 2000, there were 360,000 Haredi Jews in the US (7.2 per cent of the approximately 5 million Jews in the U.S.); by 2006, demographers estimate the number had grown to 468,000 (30% increase), or 9.4 per cent of all U.S. Jews. In 2013, it has been estimated that there were 530,000 total Orthodox Jews in the United States, or 10% of all American Jews.

As of 2020, it has been estimated that there were approximately 700,000 total Orthodox Jews in the United States, or 12% of all American Jews. This number is expected to grow significantly in the coming years, due to high Haredi birth and growth rates in America.

New York state
Most American Haredi Jews live in the greater New York metropolitan area.

New York City

Brooklyn

The largest centers of Haredi and Hasidic life in New York are found in Brooklyn.

 In 1988, it was estimated that there are between 40,000 and 57,000 Haredim in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York, Hasidim most belonging to Satmar.
 The Jewish population in the Borough Park neighborhood of Brooklyn, estimated at 70,000 in 1983, is also mostly Haredi, and also mostly Hasidic. The Bobov Hasidim are the largest single bloc that mainly live in Borough Park.
 Crown Heights is the home base of the worldwide Chabad-Lubavitch movement, with its network of shluchim ("emissaries") heading Chabad houses throughout the Jewish world.
 The Flatbush-Midwood, Kensington, Marine Park neighborhoods have tens of thousands of Haredi Jews. They are also the centers for the major non-Hasidic Haredi yeshivas such as Yeshiva Torah Vodaas, Yeshiva Rabbi Chaim Berlin, Mir Yeshiva, as well as a string of similar smaller yeshivas. The Torah Vodaas and Chaim Berlin yeshivas allow some students to attend college and university, presently at Touro College, and previously at Brooklyn College.

Queens
The New York City borough of Queens is home to a growing Haredi population, mainly affiliated with the Yeshiva Chofetz Chaim and Yeshivas Ohr HaChaim in Kew Gardens Hills and Yeshiva Shaar Hatorah in Kew Gardens. Many of the students attend Queens College. There are major yeshivas and communities of Haredi Jews in Far Rockaway, such as Yeshiva of Far Rockaway and a number of others. Hasidic shtibelach exist in these communities as well, mostly catering to Haredi Jews who follow Hasidic customs, while living a Litvish or Modern Orthodox cultural lifestyle, although small Hasidic enclaves do exist, such as in the Bayswater section of Far Rockaway.

Manhattan
One of the oldest Haredi communities in New York is on the Lower East Side, home to the Mesivtha Tifereth Jerusalem.

Washington Heights, in northern Manhattan, is the historical home to German Jews, with Khal Adath Jeshurun and Yeshiva Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch. The presence of Yeshiva University attracts young people, many of whom remain in the area after graduation.

Long Island
The Yeshiva Sh'or Yoshuv, together with many synagogues in the Lawrence neighborhood and other Five Towns neighborhoods, such as Woodmere and Cedarhurst, have attracted many Haredi Jews.

Hudson Valley
The Hudson Valley, north of New York City, has the most rapidly growing Haredi communities, such as the Hasidic communities in Kiryas Joel of Satmar Hasidim, and New Square of the Skver. A vast community of Haredi Jews lives in the Monsey, New York, area.

New Jersey
There are significant Haredi communities in Lakewood (New Jersey), home to the largest non-Hasidic Lithuanian yeshiva in America, Beth Medrash Govoha. There are also sizable communities in Teaneck, Englewood, Mahwah, Passaic and Edison, where a branch of the Rabbi Jacob Joseph Yeshiva opened in 1982. There is also a community of Syrian Jews favorable to the Haredim in their midst in Deal, New Jersey.

Maryland
Baltimore, Maryland, has a large Haredi population. The major yeshiva is Yeshivas Ner Yisroel, founded in 1933, with thousands of alumni and their families. Ner Yisroel is also a Maryland state-accredited college, and has agreements with Johns Hopkins University, Towson University, Loyola College in Maryland, University of Baltimore, and University of Maryland, Baltimore County, allowing undergraduate students to take night courses at these colleges and universities in a variety of academic fields. The agreement also allows the students to receive academic credits for their religious studies.

Silver Spring, Maryland, and its environs has a growing Haredi community, mostly of highly educated and skilled professionals working for the United States government in various capacities, most living in Kemp Mill, White Oak, and Woodside, and many of its children attend the Yeshiva of Greater Washington and Yeshivas Ner Yisroel in Baltimore.

Florida
Aventura, Sunny Isles Beach, Golden Beach, Surfside and Bal Harbour are home to a large and growing Haredi population. The community is long-established in the area, with several synagogues including the Shul of Bal Harbour, Young Israel of Bal Harbour, Aventura Chabad, Beit Rambam, Safra Synagogue of Aventura, and Chabad of Sunny Isles; mikvehs, Jewish schools and kosher restaurants. The community has recently grown much further, due to many Orthodox Jews from New York moving to Florida during the COVID-19 pandemic.

North of Miami, the communities of Boca Raton, centered around the Boca Raton Synagogue, Boynton Beach,  and Hollywood have significant Haredi populations.

California
Los Angeles has many Hasidim and Haredi Jews who are not Hasidic. Most live in the Pico-Robertson and the Fairfax (Fairfax Avenue-La Brea Avenue) areas.

Illinois
Chicago is home to the Haredi Telshe Yeshiva of Chicago, with many other Haredim living in the city.

Philadelphia
Haredim in Philadelphia primarily live in Bala Cynwyd, and the community is centered around Aish HaTorah and the Philadelphia Community Kollel.

Colorado
Denver has a large Haredi population of Ashkenazi origin, dating back to the early 1920s. The Haredi Denver West Side Jewish Community adheres to Litvak Jewish traditions (Lithuanian), and has several congregations located within their communities.

Massachusetts
Boston and Brookline, Massachusetts, have the largest Haredi populations in New England.

Ohio
One of the oldest Haredi Lithuanian yeshivas, Telshe Yeshiva, transplanted itself to Cleveland in 1941. Beachwood, Ohio has a large and growing Haredi community, and is a heavily Jewish suburb of Cleveland. The haredi community is centered around the Beachwood Kehilla and Green Road Synagogue, has a mikvah and a Jewish day school.

United Kingdom
In 1998, the Haredi population in the Jewish community of the United Kingdom was estimated at 27,000 (13% of affiliated Jews). The largest communities are located in London, particularly Stamford Hill, Golders Green, Hendon, Edgware; in Salford and Prestwich in Greater Manchester; and in Gateshead. A 2007 study asserted that three out of four British Jewish births were Haredi, who then accounted for 17% of British Jews (45,500 out of around 275,000). Another study in 2010 established that there were 9,049 Haredi households in the UK, which would account for a population of nearly 53,400, or 20% of the community. The Board of Deputies of British Jews has predicted that the Haredi community will become the largest group in Anglo-Jewry within the next three decades: In comparison with the national average of 2.4 children per family, Haredi families have an average of 5.9 children, and consequently, the population distribution is heavily biased to the under-20-year-olds. By 2006, membership of Haredi synagogues had doubled since 1990.

An investigation by The Independent in 2014 reported that more than 1,000 children in Haredi communities were attending illegal schools where secular knowledge is banned, and they learn only religious texts, meaning they leave school with no qualifications and often unable to speak any English.

The 2018 Survey by the Jewish Policy Research (JPR) and the Board of Deputies of British Jews showed that the high birth rate in the Haredi and Orthodox community reversed the decline in the Jewish population in Britain.

As of 2020, it has been estimated that there were approximately 76,000 total Orthodox Jews in the United Kingdom, or 25% of all British Jews, significantly increasing in size from 1998 and 2010.

Elsewhere
About 25,000 Haredim live in the Jewish community of France, mostly people of Sephardic, Maghrebi Jewish descent. Important communities are located in Paris, Strasbourg, and Lyon.

Other important communities, mostly of Ashkenazi Jews, are the Antwerp community in Belgium, as well as in the Swiss communities of Zürich and Basel, and in the Dutch community in Amsterdam. There is also a Haredi community in Vienna, in the Jewish community of Austria. Other countries with significant Haredi populations include: Canada, with a total number of 30,000 Haredim, with large Haredi centres in Montreal and Toronto; South Africa, primarily in Johannesburg; and  an estimated 7,500 Haredim in Australia, centred in Melbourne. Haredi communities also exist in Argentina, especially in Buenos Aires, and in Brazil, primarily in São Paulo. A Haredi city is under construction (2021) in Mexico near Ixtapan de la Sal. Decades after The Holocaust, Haredim are growing again in Budapest, opening several new synagogues and two mikvehs in the city over the past couple of years.

Present leadership and organizations

Rabbis and rabbinic authority

Notwithstanding the authority of Chief Rabbis of Israel (Ashkenazi: David Lau, Sephardi: Yitzhak Yosef) or the wide acknowledgement of specific rabbis in Israel (for example, Rabbi Gershon Edelstein of the non-Hasidic Lithuanian Jews, and Yaakov Aryeh Alter who heads the Ger Hasidic dynasty, the largest Hasidic group in Israel), Haredi and Hasidic factions generally align with the independent authority of their respective group leaders.

Major representative groups and political parties
 World Agudath Israel (including Agudath Israel of America)
 Edah HaChareidis (representing anti-Zionist Haredi groups in and around Jerusalem, including Satmar, Dushinsky, Toldos Aharon, Toldos Avrohom Yitzchok, Mishkenos HoRoim, Spinka, Brisk, and a section of other Litvish Haredim)
Other representative associations may be linked to specific Haredi and Hasidic groups. For example:
 Breslov Hasidism maintains an umbrella group known as Vaad Olami D'Chasedai Breslov
 Chabad Lubavitch maintains an international network of organizations, and is formally represented under the umbrella group Agudas Chasidei Chabad
 The Hasidic umbrella group Central Rabbinical Congress is associated with Satmar

Haredi political parties in Israel include:
 Shas (representing Mizrahi and Sephardic Haredim)
 United Torah Judaism (alliance representing Ashkenazi Haredim)
 Agudat Yisrael (representing many Hasidic Jews)
 Degel HaTorah (representing Lithuanian Jews)
 U'Bizchutan (representing Haredi women and the Orthodox Jewish feminist movement)
 Noam
 Yachad

Controversies

Shunning

People who decide to leave Haredi communities are sometimes shunned and pressured or forced to abandon their children.

Pedophilia and sexual abuse cases

Cases of pedophilia, sexual violence, assaults, and abuses against women and children occur in roughly the same rates in Haredi communities as in the general population; however, they are rarely discussed or reported to the authorities, and frequently downplayed by members of the communities.

Divorce coercion

To receive a religious divorce, a Jewish woman needs her husband's consent in the form of a get (Jewish divorce document). Without this consent, any future offspring of the wife would be considered mamzerim (bastards/impure). If the circumstances truly warrant a divorce, and the husband is unwilling, a dayan (rabbinic judge) has the prerogative of instituting community shunning measures to "coerce him until he agrees", with physical force reserved only for the rarest of cases.

The New York divorce coercion gang was a Haredi Jewish group that kidnapped, and in some cases tortured, Jewish men in the New York metropolitan area to force them to grant their wives gittin (religious divorces). The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) broke up the group after conducting a sting operation against the gang in October 2013. The sting resulted in the prosecution of four men, three of whom were convicted in late 2015.

Political controversies involving Haredi communities and parties in Israel
In January 2023, the Times of Israel reported that Haredi Jewish citizens in Israel pays just 2% of the country's total income tax revenues, despite making up 12% of the nation's population. Furthermore, the article's author described their communities as an epicenter of poverty, with over 60% of Haredi households classified as poor on the government's socioeconomic index, with that figure remaining nearly constant in every Haredi community.

While this disparity has been present in Israel for decades, it has garnered more attention since December 2022 for numerous reasons. First, Haredi families have the highest fertility rate in Israel at 6.6 births per woman. In comparison, the average fertility rate in Israel is much lower at 2.9 per woman. Current projections estimate that the Haredi population will double by 2036, and they will comprise 16% of the total population by 2030.

The second aspect of the controversy surrounds their political connections to Israel's Religious Zionist alliance. Historically, they have remained politically uninvolved, but since the 1990s, they have continuously engaged more. Today, members of Israel's ultra-Orthodox community have long enjoyed benefits unavailable to many other Israeli citizens: exemption from army service for Torah students, government stipends for those choosing full-time religious study over work and separate schools that receive state funds even though their curriculums barely teach government-mandated subjects. Today, many Israeli Haredi men do not work, preferring to study the Torah full-time, since they receive government funding for it, thus resulting in their high poverty rate.

See also

 Jewish religious movements
 Relationships between Jewish religious movements
 Schisms among the Jews#Hasidim and Mitnagdim
 Who is a Jew?

References

Bibliography

 Heilman, Samuel. Defenders of the Faith: Inside Ultra-Orthodox Jewry.

External links

 Benjamin Brown, "Orthodox Judaism", in: The Blackwell Companion to Judaism, 2001.
 Haredi and technology
 Hasidic and Haredi Jewish population growth
 Map of the main Haredi Communities in Jerusalem

Orthodox Judaism
Jewish religious movements

Haredi Judaism


Syzygy is a 1981 novel by Frederik Pohl.  It was inspired by the non-fiction work, The Jupiter Effect by John Gribbin and Stephen Plagemann, in which an alignment of the planets of the Solar System in March 1982 was predicted as possibly causing disasters on Earth, including a large earthquake in California, by its effect on the solar wind.  The prediction did not come to pass, the theory was debunked, and Gribbin himself announced that he regretted publishing it.

Plot
The novel contains few science fiction tropes, instead focusing on the reactions of people in 1982 to the possibility of disaster.  Politicians, cult leaders, and hucksters use the prediction for their own benefit.  Two characters, a geologist and a NASA mission director, encounter each other during this time.  The novel also focuses on Danny Deere, a real estate speculator who sponsors a cult called the "Jupes" to spread panic and drive down values so he can cash in.

Tib Sonderman, a geologist, reads The Jupiter Effect on his way to Los Angeles in late 1981.  Rainy Keating, mission director of the deep space probe Newton-8, has to defend her funding after the probe goes dead just as it is about to observe a transit of Jupiter across the sun from beyond the orbit of Saturn.  They are thrown together during committee meetings overshadowed by rising panic among the population, especially when typical California disasters like wildfires occur.  In the final chapter, it is discovered that the Newton-8 probe shut down as it passed through an intense burst of radio transmission from an extraterrestrial source.  The transmission was intensified by the combined gravitational lensing effect of the Sun, Jupiter and Saturn.  The novel ends with people realizing that civilizations can survive the self-destructive phase of their technological progress.

External references

1981 novels
Novels by Frederik Pohl
1980s speculative fiction novels

Syzygy (novel)


Scott Burley (born January 2, 1986) is an American football offensive lineman. He played college football for the Maryland Terrapins at the University of Maryland.

Early years
Scott was born in Baltimore, Maryland to mother Sabrina Burley. He attended Woodlawn Senior High School where he was a four-year starter as an offensive tackle. He also played the position of defensive tackle as a junior and senior. As a junior, he allowed only one quarterback sack, and as a senior, he recorded 45 pancake blocks while allowing no sacks. That final season, he also recorded six sacks while playing on defense.

As a junior, Burley was named an Associated Press all-state, Baltimore Sun second-team All-Met, all-city, all-county, and all-division player. During his senior year, he was named a Maryland High School Football Coaches Association all-state, Baltimore Sun first-team All-Met, all-city, all-county, and al-division player. He was also a SuperPrep All-American and PrepStar "Dream Team" member. Rated the third-best overall player in the Mid-Atlantic region and one of the top 150 players in the nation, SuperPrep ranked him the 11th-best offensive tackle in the game. Burley was recruited by Florida, Maryland, Miami, Notre Dame, Penn State, and Virginia Tech. The Palm Beach Post named Burley the Terrapins' top recruit in the 2004 class.

College career
Burley attended the University of Maryland, where he majored in criminology and criminal justice. He saw action in four games as a true freshman in 2004. In 2005, he missed the first three games due to a back injury, but saw action in the final eight games for a total of 44 plays, while committing one penalty and allowing one sack. In 2006, he played in the season-opener against William & Mary, before suffering a season-ending injury, for which he was awarded a medical redshirt.

In 2007, Burley played in all 13 games at left tackle including 12 starts. That season, he was part of the offensive line unit that helped tailbacks Lance Ball and Keon Lattimore run for a combined 1,600 yards and 25 touchdowns, and allowed quarterback Chris Turner to rank as the third-most efficient in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). He received the team's James M. Tatum Award as its top offensive lineman. Rivals.com named Burley a second-team All-ACC player.

In 2008, he played in all 13 games, with six starts at left tackle and six at right tackle. Lindy's and Athlon had named him a preseason second-team All-ACC player and The New York Times included him among the "players to watch". Burley played on the offensive line that helped tailback Da'Rel Scott rush for 1,133 yards, and quarterback Chris Turner to throw for 2,516 yards. He was named an honorable mention All-ACC player.

Professional career

Washington Redskins
Burley was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Washington Redskins shortly after the 2009 NFL Draft.  However, he was cut at the end of the preseason.  On October 19, he signed with his hometown Baltimore Mariners of the AIFA.

References

External links
Maryland Terrapins bio
Improved outlook: His mother's lupus is in remission, his grades are up and Terps tackle Scott Burley is ready to thrive as a senior, Baltimore Sun, August 22, 2007.
Injury to Burley blurs line for Terps' offense, Friedgen, The Baltimore Sun.
Winged Terrapins play on, The Washington Post, October 20, 2007.
Quality is (tape) job one, The Washington Times, November 15, 2007.
Burley's grade among best ever, Rivals.com, November 20, 2007.

American football offensive tackles
Maryland Terrapins football players
Players of American football from Baltimore
1986 births
Living people

Scott Burley


Arnold Lawrence Finkelstein (July 10, 1938 in Brooklyn, New York – April 22, 2005 in Jerusalem, Israel) was an American jazz saxophonist.

Career
Lawrence studied clarinet in his youth before switching to saxophone. He played from age 12 in clubs in the Catskills, and by age 17 was performing at Birdland, at one point working a double bill with John Coltrane. He played with Charles Mingus, Thad Jones, Maynard Ferguson, Clark Terry and Duke Pearson but did not make his first recordings until 1966, playing on Chico Hamilton's The Dealer. He worked for several years with Hamilton, and became a soloist on The Tonight Show from 1967 to 1972. His first records as a leader appeared in 1968.

In the early 1970s Lawrence played with Willie Bobo, then joined Blood, Sweat & Tears in 1974. He did a world tour with Liza Minnelli in 1978–79, and released a few more records under his own name before touring with Louie Bellson in the early 1980s. He composed a symphony entitled Red, White and Blues, which was premiered by an orchestra in Williamsburg, Virginia; Lawrence, Dizzy Gillespie, and Julius Hemphill all soloed in the performance.

Lawrence had taught from the middle of the 1970s, working as an artist in residence in Kentucky and Kansas. In 1986, he stopped recording and touring and founded the New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music in New York City; among the program's students were Roy Hargrove, Brad Mehldau, Larry Goldings, John Popper, Peter Bernstein and Spike Wilner of Smalls Jazz Club. He moved to Israel in 1997, where he founded the International Center for Creative Music, an education facility open to both Jewish and Arab students. He played regularly in Israel and owned his own nightclub called Arnie's Jazz Underground. He suffered from lung and liver cancer late in life, and died in Jerusalem in 2005.

Discography

As leader
 You're Gonna Hear from Me (Project 3, 1966)
 Look Toward a Dream (Project 3, 1968)
 Inside an Hour Glass (Embryo, 1970)
 Unobstructed Universe (Adamo, 1976)
 Renewal (Palo Alto, 1982)
 Arnie Lawrence and Treasure Island (Doctor Jazz, 1983)

As sideman
With Chico Hamilton
 The Dealer (Impulse!, 1966)
 El Exigente: The Demanding One (Flying Dutchman 1970)
 Peregrinations (Blue Note, 1975)

References

Jason Ankeny, [ Arnie Lawrence] at Allmusic

1938 births
2005 deaths
Musicians from Brooklyn
Jazz musicians from New York City
American jazz saxophonists
American male saxophonists
Musicians from New York (state)
Palo Alto Records artists
20th-century American saxophonists
20th-century American male musicians
American male jazz musicians
The Tonight Show Band members

Arnie Lawrence


Dragon Nest: Warriors' Dawn () is a 2014 Chinese animated fantasy-romance-adventure film directed by Song Yuefeng and based on the Dragon Nest video game.

Plot
The movie takes place fifty years before the game. Alteria is a land divided among humans, elves, goblinoids (called "beasts"), and dragons. Decades ago, the elves and humans drove the beasts and dragons back into the Dark Mountains. However, with the beasts vanquished, the humans and elves eventually came into conflict with each other, thereby remaining unaware that evil begins to thrive and gain strength again within the Dark Mountains, all centered on a gem of power embedded in the chest of the sleeping Black Dragon Karas, under whose influence the beasts have united into an army.

A cocky, adventurous human boy named Lambert and his dogs One and Two have a run-in with a large beast band on a raid. Just before they end up killed, they are saved by a trio of famous adventurers: Barnac, a famous mercenary and captain of a flying ship; Geraint, a famous dragon fighter; and Argenta, Geraint's sister. They proceed to the human kingdom of Saint Heaven, to which two Elven maidens, Princess Nerwin and her companion Liya, have secretly travelled to beseech the king for an alliance against the beasts. While trying to get himself a sword, Lambert encounters Liya and ends teaming up with her and his heroic companions against a band of beasts attacking the city, holding them off until the Imperial Knights under Velskud can bring the situation under control. With evidence of the new threat on his literal doorstep, the terrified king finally agrees to the alliance.

While the newly-found allies gather their forces, Liya spots a shadow near the king's dining hall and follows it, accompanied by Lambert. There, they sneak into a meeting between the king, Terramai (his priest and advisor), Karacule (a sorceress), Nerwin, Barnac, Geraint, Argenta, and Velskud discussing the threat of Karas and the gem forming both his base of power and his most vulnerable spot. An argument over who should assume custody of the gem breaks out until Lambert interrupts them with a plan for a combined diversionary attack and infiltration, upon which - although the plan is accepted - he and Liya are kicked out. However, by listening in they learn that the gem's dark power corrupts those of weak heart and will therefore have to be destroyed.

Later that night, Velskud is joined by Princess Elena, a Dark Elf who desires the gem for herself and the infiltrator Liya saw earlier. Velskud, seduced by Elena's promises to be made ruler of all Alteria, kills the king before joining the other heroes for the secret mission. Lambert, who also comes along with Liya, receives a sword from an old blacksmith in return for holding onto One and Two until his return. Under the cover of darkness, they travel to the Dark Mountains on Barnac's ship. Lightning strikes the ship, and while Lambert tries to retrieve his sword which has slipped from his hand, he accidentally disables the ship's wheel. The ship crashes, and the group is forced to continue the journey on foot.

Along the way, the companions reach a set of ruins which were the site of a battle between the elves and humans and are still haunted by the ghosts of the fallen elves. Forced to cross them following one of Lambert's mishaps, they are discovered and taunted by a bat scout serving the Black Dragon. When Velskud attacks it, it tries to slip away to the Dark Mountains before the heroes manage to kill it. As the journey continues, Lambert and Liya develop a romantic interest in each other, and Geraint and Argenta are shown to hide a secret connected to the Dragon's gem. Using this link, Geraint finds and unseals a secret entrance to the Dragon's lair in the wall of a glacier, but while traversing the ice ravine beyond the door, they are ambushed by Karas' beast guardians. They escape by collapsing the exit, but Geraint and Argenta stay behind, and Geraint uses the power of the gem in his chest to awaken a giant beast frozen in the ice. They escape and reunite with the others.

The companions do not make it in time before the Alliance begins its attack, causing Karas to awaken. The beasts fighting against the Alliance retreat but run into Lambert's group. In the ensuing confusion, Liya and Lambert are left behind and forced to fight the monsters by themselves. When Lambert is about to get eaten by a beast, Liya uses her last arrow to save him, sacrificing herself. The others hear Lambert's cries of anguish and race to aid him, but are quickly overrun by the beasts. Geraint uses his secret power to transform into a Golden Dragon and save his companions, but accidentally hurts Karacule in the process. It turns out that he and Argenta are Half-Dragons and therefore bearers of Dragon Gems themselves. The others, seeing Geraint's dragon form, start to distrust the siblings, claiming that dragons need to be killed.

Karas appears and attacks, and is immediately engaged by Geraint. As they fly above Lambert, he notices the glowing gem on Karas' chest, and remembering what was said about it - including that it holds the power to raise the dead - he decides to get it for Liya. He jumps onto Karas as he flies past and climbs his way up to the chest. The others join in to dislodge the dark gem, and Argenta transforms into a Silver Dragon to help her brother. By combining their powers, they are eventually able to detach the dark gem from Karas, killing the monster at last.

Lambert demands the gem from Geraint in order to resurrect Liya, but Geraint warns him from touching it, for fear that its power will corrupt him, and instead gives him his own gem. While Lambert runs off to apply the gem on Liya, Velskud seizes Karas' gem; but before he can slay Geraint, Lambert interferes and returns Geraint's gem to its owner. As he and Velskud duel, the dark gem begins to corrupt the knight and transform him into a new Black Dragon. Before the warped knight can kill Lambert, an elven arrow distracts him, allowing Lambert to grab Velskud's own sword and fatally wound his opponent.

The arrow was guided by Liya, who has returned from the brink of death, and she and Lambert embrace each other in a kiss. The Alliance army arrives and picks the heroes up for a ride home; but Elena has gained possession of Karas' gem. Following the end credits, Lambert reunites with his dogs and respectively renames them Bow and Arrow.

Cast

Reception

Box office
The film earned  at the Chinese box office.

Sequel
A sequel, Dragon Nest 2: Throne of Elves, was released in 2016.

References

External links
 Official site

2010s fantasy adventure films
2010s romantic fantasy films
2014 films
Chinese children's films
Animated adventure films
Animated romance films
Chinese animated fantasy films
2014 computer-animated films
Animated films based on video games
Chinese computer-animated films
Chinese fantasy adventure films
2014 directorial debut films
Universal Pictures films

Dragon Nest: Warriors' Dawn


Torta caprese is a flourless Italian cake made with chocolate and either almonds or hazelnuts. Named for the island of Capri from which it originates, the cake is widely known and especially popular in nearby Naples, Italy.

With many variations, the core recipe combines softened butter at room temperature with sugar followed by egg yolks. Once combined, the remaining ingredients are added, including finely minced almonds, chocolate (melted using a bain-marie), and whipped egg whites. After baking, the cake has a moist interior with a thin, hard shell—typically dusted with powdered sugar. It is sometimes made with a small amount of Strega or other liqueur.

History
The origins of torta caprese are not clear, though it seems likely it was created by the hospitality industry of Capri, which catered to tourists.

One background story suggests Caprese cake was created when the King of Naples' Austrian wife requested a Sacher cake (an Austrian chocolate cake), Neapolitan chefs improvised by using a typical Neopolitan ingredient, almonds. Another unauthenticated story suggests Caprese cake was created in the 1920s, when a baker fulfilling a tourist's order for an almond cake mistakenly forgot to add flour—resulting in a simultaneously soft and crunchy delicacy. Another account attributes the recipe to two Austrian women who inherited a guest house in Capri's Marina Piccola during the 1930s, the Strandpension Weber, from Munich-born August Weber (1846–1928).

Despite the uncertainty surrounding its origins, Caprese cake has been called "uno dei pasticci più fortunati della storia" ("one of history's most fortunate mistakes").

See also
 List of almond dishes
 List of desserts

References

External links
Torta Caprese - Italian Flourless Chocolate Cake RecipesFromItaly.com - Milano

Italian cakes
Italian pastries
Chocolate desserts
Cuisine of Campania
Capri, Campania
Almond desserts

Torta caprese


Colin Gregg (born 10 January 1947) is a British film and television director, editor and photographer. His work includes the films To the Lighthouse (1983), Lamb (1985), and We Think the World of You (1988). He has also directed episodes of television series including Kavanagh QC and Inspector Morse, both starring John Thaw, and the BBC's Screen Two. In addition, Gregg has directed adverts, including the award winning commercial for the British drink Blackcurrant Tango.

Career
Gregg's first film was the 1969 documentary Once upon a Time ... . In 1977, he was the photographer for a series entitled Those We Love to Hate produced by Devon County Educational Television Service for Paignton Zoo's Education Office, including Those We Love to Hate: Bats.

In 1982, Gregg's film Remembrance gave Gary Oldman his film debut. The following year, Gregg directed the BBC's 1983 adaptation of Virginia Woolf's To the Lighthouse, with a cast which included Rosemary Harris, Michael Gough, Kenneth Branagh, and Suzanne Bertish. Reviewing the film in The New York Times, John J. O'Connor began by noting, "Few works of literature would seem to lend themselves less readily to dramatization than Virginia Woolf's To the Lighthouse, but the BBC and Colin Gregg Ltd. have made the effort and the result is very special indeed"; although, he added, "Purists should be warned that changes have been made". He concluded by writing, "Colin Gregg's direction relies openly and rewardingly on the cool distancing manner of Ingmar Bergman in remaining faithful to the tone and mood of Mrs. Woolf. With Alan Shallcross as producer, the admirable dedication of all concerned is apparent throughout." To the Lighthouse was nominated for a British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) award in the Best Single Drama category in 1984.

Gregg directed British drama film Lamb in 1985; it starred Liam Neeson, Hugh O'Conor (in his first film appearance) and Ian Bannen. The film was based on the novel by Bernard MacLaverty, who also wrote the screenplay, and won the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury at the 1986 Locarno International Film Festival. In 1988, Gregg worked with Gary Oldman again in We Think the World of You, which also starred Alan Bates. It was adapted from J.R. Ackerley's novel of the same name.

He directed the first two episodes of Kavanagh QC, "Nothing but the Truth" and "Heartland", in 1995, as well as the episode "A Sense of Loss" in the following year's Series 2.

The 1996 television St George advertisement for the British drink Blackcurrant Tango, which was directed by Gregg, won several awards, including a Cannes Gold Lion and a D&AD silver Pencil, and in 2008 was voted number 2 in the funniest TV adverts of all time in an online poll organised by advertising industry publication Campaign. It also won the grand prize in the 1997 London International Advertising Awards, but was also one of the top 10 most complained about adverts reported to the Independent Television Commission in 1996, with complainants citing it as 'insulting and xenophobic'.

References

External links

Colin Gregg at the British Film Institute

British film directors
British television directors
1947 births
Living people

Colin Gregg


The Taito NESYS (Network Entry System) is an arcade game network communication system by Taito. It connects up arcade machines via a network, and allows players to participate in national rankings and online play, as well as allowing arcade operators to download updates for games. The Taito NESiCAxLive digital distribution system uses NESYS as its networking system.

The system uses the NESYS IC Card smart card to allow players to save game data at arcade machines; one example of this is Street Fighter IV. These cards will remain compatible with the machine even as the games it hosts change. The card itself can hold data for multiple different games at the same time. This is similar to the Konami e-AMUSEMENT system, and the smart card function of the SEGA ALL.Net system.

See also
 Taito NESiCAxLive

References

External links

Taito arcade system boards
Taito
Online video game services

NESYS


Boyer Chute National Wildlife Refuge, created in 1992, is a National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) located along the banks of the Missouri River in the U.S. state of Nebraska. The  refuge preserves an area that had been cultivated and neglected before the early 1990s. Channelization projects along the Missouri River to improve flood control and navigation resulted in the closing off a side branch of the river, known since the early 19th century as Boyer Chute. Between 1820 and 1937 the Missouri River had migrated  eastward and the area of the chute had originally been on the east bank of the river; today, the chute is west of the main channel of the Missouri. In 1937, the Army Corps of Engineers began to rechannel portions of the Missouri River, cutting off the chute to flowing water. Overgrowth and cultivation took over the lands now preserved in the refuge. Restoration of the area commenced in 1993; this included planting 9,100 native plants and trees and restoring the inflow to the chute from the main channel of the Missouri River.

Today, the refuge is home to dozens of mammal species, including white-tailed deer, beavers, opossum, raccoon, bobcat, fox and coyote. Bald eagle, heron, duck, belted kingfisher and hawks are known to inhabit the refuge.  Restoration projects also improved sport fishing opportunities by providing better breeding habitat. The refuge is along one of the primary bird migration routes in North America; the population of migratory birds increases substantially during spring and fall months.

Several miles of nature trails provide access through portions of the refuge and a concrete pedestrian bridge crosses over the chute to an island. During low water flow levels along the Missouri River in the late fall and winter months, the chute may have little or no water in it. Hunting is allowed in season with a permit and there are several fishing piers. Dogs are allowed, but must be on a leash no longer than 6 feet.

The refuge sustained extensive damage during the 2011 Missouri River floods. As of spring 2012, the refuge roads remained closed and no date had been determined for when they would be reopened. 300,000 dollars has been requested to remove six flood damaged structures in an effort to get the refuge reopened. Planners indicated that structures may not be rebuilt since there is no method to protect them from future flooding events.

Boyer NWR is located  north of Omaha, Nebraska; most visitors follow U.S. Highway 75 to Fort Calhoun, Nebraska, and then follow the signs east for  to the refuge. Built in the 1820s, Fort Atkinson, the first U.S. Army post west of the Missouri River, is  west of the refuge.

See also
 DeSoto National Wildlife Refuge
 Fort Atkinson State Historic Park

References

External links
 Boyer Chute National Wildlife Refuge

National Wildlife Refuges in Nebraska
Missouri River
Protected areas of Washington County, Nebraska
Protected areas established in 1992
1992 establishments in the United States

Boyer Chute National Wildlife Refuge


The 68th Corps () was a corps formation of the German Army in World War I.  It was formed in March 1918 and was still in existence at the end of the war.

Chronicle
The 68th Corps (z.b.V.) was established in March 1918.  Previously, it had been known as Nordkorps.

With the onset of trench warfare, the German Army recognised that it was no longer possible to maintain the traditional Corps unit, that is, one made up of two divisions.  Whereas at some times (and in some places) a Corps of two divisions was sufficient, at other times 5 or 6 divisions were necessary.  Therefore, under the Hindenburg regime (from summer 1916), new Corps headquarters were created without organic divisions.  These new Corps were designated
General Commands for Special Use ().

68th Corps was still in existence at the end of the war.

Commanders
The 68th Corps was commanded throughout its existence by Generalleutnant Adolf von Seckendorff.

See also

German Army (German Empire)

References

Bibliography

Corps of Germany in World War I
Military units and formations established in 1918
Military units and formations disestablished in 1919

68th Corps (German Empire)


Christian Augustus (German: Christian August) (26 July 1622 – 23 April 1708) was the Count Palatine of Sulzbach from 1632 until 1708.

Life
Christian Augustus was born in Sulzbach in 1622 as the eldest son of Augustus, Count Palatine of Sulzbach. He succeeded his father in August 1632, at the age of 10. Christian Augustus was a tolerant ruler. He granted his citizens the right to choose their Christian denomination and introduced the Simultaneum, whereby churches had both Protestant and Catholic services. In 1666 he permitted Jews to settle in the Duchy of Sulzbach. Under his rule, Sulzbach also became an intellectual center and the site of a regionally significant printing industry.

He had a close relationship with his granddaughter Sibylle of Saxe-Lauenburg, wife of Louis William of Baden-Baden and Regent of her son's dominions.

Christian Augustus died in Sulzbach in 1708 and was buried in the Church of Sancta Maria in Sulzbach.

Marriage and issue
Christian Augustus married Amalie of Nassau-Siegen (12 September 1615 – 24 August 1669), daughter of Count John VII, on 27 March 1649 and had the following children:
 Hedwig of the Palatinate-Sulzbach (15 April 1650 – 23 November 1681), married on 9 April 1668 Duke Julius Francis of Saxe-Lauenburg
Amalie (31 May 1651 – 11 December 1721) Nun in Cologne, St. Maria Monastery
John Augustus Hiel (11 December 1654 – 14 April 1658)
Christian (14 August 1656 – 9 November 1657)
Theodore Eustace (14 February 1659 – 11 July 1732) married Landgravine Maria Eleonore of Hesse-Rotenburg and had issue

Ancestors

1622 births
1708 deaths
House of Wittelsbach
Counts Palatine of Sulzbach

Hereditary Princes of Sulzbach

Christian Augustus, Count Palatine of Sulzbach