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Sunday, January 15, 2012

Haredim: ultra-Orthodox Jews

"Haredim", the black-clad ultra-Orthodox Israeli Jews, number over one million in a country of 7.8 million people. The Haredim are the only group in Israel having more children today than 30 years ago.  They have much in common with their fundamentalist Muslim Middle Eastern counterparts. They're vehemently anti-feminist. They're also poor (because they're economically underproductive and living off of government subsidies that allow a 60% male unemployment rate). They do not serve in the military and they focus most of their attention on studying the Torah. Furthermore, they are even ambivalent about the existence of the state of Israel -- because the Messiah has not yet returned.    

Israelis Facing a Seismic Rift Over Role of Women:
http://tinyurl.com/77omr3a

Population Demographics:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Israel#Total_population
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Population_of_Israel.png

Poverty In Israel:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poverty_in_Israel