Westernization and Israelization within Israel’s Extreme Orthodox Haredi Society
in Israel Studies ReviewAll currencies in US Dollar
abstract
Belying its conservative and old-fashioned image, Haredi society is constantly changing. Scholars examining these changes debate their direction and scope as well as their future implications. In this article I address the most striking example of these social changes. I argue that not only is Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) society adopting Western social values in addition to certain Israeli characteristics, but that these processes are occurring even within the most extreme sub-group of Haredi society, which I refer to as Extreme Orthodoxy. I then proceed to offer several examples to demonstrate how, in recent decades, Extreme Orthodoxy has appropriated many Western and Israeli social and behavioral traits.
Contributor Notes
menachem keren-kratz holds a DMD from the Hebrew University (1985). He also has a PhD in Yiddish Literature from Bar-Ilan University (2009) and an additional PhD in Jewish History from Tel Aviv University (2013). His recently published book is titled Maramaros-Sziget: Extreme Orthodoxy and Secular Jewish Culture in the Foothills of the Carpathian Mountains (2013, in Hebrew). His forthcoming book is a biography of Rabbi Yoel Teitelbaum, the Satmar Rebbe.