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Until the late 1970s, Israeli Haredim were known for their strict observance of halakha, their deference to their rabbis, the strictly Orthodox education of their children, and their reliable vote for Haredi political parties. Apart from these mores, most Haredim were comfortable leading a normal Israeli life: dressing as they pleased; living wherever their social, cultural, and economic needs were met; choosing an occupation or place of work that suited their capabilities and professional experience; and taking pride in the state which had accepted them as equal citizens after the Holocaust, supported their particular religious needs, and enabled them to follow their Haredi lifestyle to the full. In the wake of a process which began in the mid-1950s and culminated in the late 1970s, Israel's Haredi society adopted a way of life and attitudes which were different from those they had previously followed. The transformation was driven by three main factors: a growing frustration and the realization that the society, public space, and governing bodies of the country were becoming increasingly secularized. A second factor was the rise to power of Rabbi Menachem Mann Shach who became Haredi society's foremost leader during these years. And the third was the 1977 political turnaround when for the first time, right wing parties established the government. This provided Rabbi Shach with the political opportunity to lead the Haredi sector away from its former lifestyle which sought to integrate into Israeli society, and towards a disdain for Israel, Zionist ideology, and non-Haredi society. Rabbi Shach achieved this by imposing strict and unprecedented religious and social norms, glorified as the return to a 'golden age' that never really existed. Keywords: Haredi/Ultra-Orthodox Society, Contemporary Haredism, Rabbi Menachem Shach, Contemporary Israeli Society, Contemporary Judaism., INTRODUCTION THE EARLIEST STUDIES ON ISRAEL S HAREDI SOCIETY BEGAN TO appear in the second half of the 1980s, but the first book on the subject written by Menachem Friedman, [...]

Author(s): Patrick Henry [sup.1] Author Affiliations: (1) https://ror.org/05axv8155, grid.268242.8, 0000 0001 2160 5920, Whitman College, , Walla Walla, WA, USA It's easy to take ceremonies like this one for granted, [...]

This article examines the work of Rabbi Yosef Knafo (1823-1900), a prolific author writing for the Jewish masses of Essaouira in Morocco. In this article, I suggest that Knafo's work should be read in the light of the local Jewish community's turbulent social context. Through his books, Knafo joined the ranks of the local advocates of modernity, dedicating himself to forging a more egalitarian Jewish society and providing spiritual backing to those struggling for societal democratization. Rather than representing a break with religious tradition or a form of westernization, Knafo's vision of modernity was a rearticulation of Jewish tradition in order to mobilize it toward social change. Using the printing press to subvert the local authority and reach new audiences, Knafo was also the first person in Morocco to quote and translate Hasidic works and he pioneered the diffusion of Judeo-Arabic literature. Key words: Morocco, modernity, Judeo-Arabic literature, Sephardi Jews, At first sight, Yosef Knafo (1823-1900) seems to have been one of those many minor rabbis throughout the centuries who held no official functions and wrote simple books for the [...]

During the night of 9 November 1938, the persecution of the Jewish communities in Germany reached a new level with the systematic and physical destruction of property, the elimination of [...]

These days, it seems, my friends fall into two groups: The Red Hots and the Blue Birds. The Red Hots are the angry sort. They stand, like fly fishermen, knee-deep [...]

Tova Cohen A Silenced Harp: The Life and Works of the Italian-Hebrew Poetess Rachel Morpurgo Jerusalem: Carmel 2016 She was a contemporary of the Bronte sisters, George Eliot and Emily [...]

In recent years, the Israeli 'state conversion system' has occasioned much controversy. Rabbis, state officials, scholars, social activists and, to a lesser extent: converts themselves, have participated with very divergent ideological investments in debates about the shortcomings and cracks in the system. As a convert who experienced this system herself, I attempt herein to offer a different perspective on some aspects of these debates., Disgust and Injury Not long ago, Rabbi Bernard 'Barry' Freundel, a rabbi from Washington D.C., lost his job. Found to have clandestinely peered at female converts while they were preparing [...]

* Introduction A fascinating anecdote preserved in the Babylonian Talmud (b. Abod. Zar. 17a) tells the story of a woman who comes before Rav Hisda and discloses to him that [...]

Drawing on my ethnography of rabbinically mediated fertility treatments for observant Jewish couples in Israel, I illuminate two simultaneous processes: the koshering of medical care and the medicalization of rabbinic law. My findings show how hands-on rabbinic interventions transform doctor-patient relations into rabbi-doctor-patient relations and introduce a network of power relations into clinical practice, at times empowering and at times disempowering patients. This case prompts a reconsideration of scholars' tendency to view biomedicine in hegemonic terms. [assisted conception, religious Judaism, Israel, power relations, authoritative knowledge, medicalization] DOI: 10.1111/j.1548-1425.2010.01277.x

The relationship between Yihye Yishaq Halewi, Yemen's chief rabbi, and Imam Yahya, Yemen's ruler, is analyzed with respect to the rabbi's rise to authority in the Jewish community. The rabbi's influence grew as a result of his special ties with the Imam. The rabbi's leadership style, particularly in dealing with outlaws from San'a, is examined.

This paper explores the meaning and social functions of referral letters sent to a mental health clinic in Israel by Haredi (ultra-orthodox) rabbis. The letters exemplify social mechanisms by which various institutions and individuals (careproviders, therapists, and other social actors) negotiate different therapies, advice, and interventions in cross-cultural encounters. We argue that beyond the practical functions of the letters, the rabbis--representatives of a 'popular' and religious social sphere--use them to negotiate their position in relation to the psychiatric clinic as a representative of a professional and secular sphere. We show that the rabbis 'submit' to the professional and secular therapists by using a local adaptation of Western psychological and psychiatric discourses (instead of a religious or mystical discourse), but also that by choosing a letter as their preferred medium of communication (instead of a personal visit to the clinic), they distance themselves from it. We suggest that the rabbis reconstitute, via the letters, social boundaries within their religious community and between their community and secular society. Hence, through analysis of discourses of mental illness in a cross-cultural encounter we examine ways in which illness is practically managed among diverse groups in society. Specifically, we analyze such discourses as part of a power relationship between careproviders who belong to different therapeutic social spheres, using a phenomenological exploration of how mental illness is perceived and constructed as both 'a medical problem' and as 'social deviance'. Keywords: Referrals; Cross-cultural encounters; Mental illness treatment; Haredim; Israel

'Wordsworth and the Rabbis, ' an essay written by the American Jewish critic Lionel Trilling, shows that both Trilling and Wordsworth sympathize with rabbinic Judaism. Trilling's essay is influenced by the ideas of American exceptionalism and high culture and aims at resolving the dichotomy between Jewish and Christian ideas, secular and religious outlook, American and British cultures, and literary and critical sensibilities.