Contemporary Israeli Haredi Society: Profiles, Trends and Challenges

This edited volume offers profiles of contemporary Israeli Haredi (i.e., Jewish Ultra-Orthodox) society from several disciplinary points of view, resisting a generalized approach and examining the different, sometimes competing currents, that define it.

It is argued that Haredi society has undergone a process of rejuvenation in recent history: demographically, it has experienced steady and consistent growth; on the Israeli political stage, Haredi parties have become increasingly influential; and culturally, the Haredi presence is increasingly felt in Israeli news media, popular movies, and TV series. Each of the chapters in the book focuses on a particular topic and combines research findings with an assessment of the current state of the field. These topics encompass Haredi ideology, politics, military service, education, geography, the media, and healthcare – together, they paint a complex picture of Haredi society as one of contradictory layers, dimensions, and aspects.

Making sense of contemporary Haredi society is critical for anyone interested in understanding Israeli society as a whole, but the book will also appeal to historians of religion, scholars of contemporary conservative enclave religious societies and cultures, and those who focus on Jewish studies in the modern era.

Kimmy Caplan teaches Modern Jewish History at the Israel and Golda Koschitzky Department of Jewish History and Contemporary Jewry, Bar-Ilan University. His field of scholarly interest is Jewish Religious History in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and he focuses on American Jewish and Israeli societies.

Nissim Leon teaches in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Bar-Ilan University. His research interests include Contemporary Judaism, Haredi Communities, Religious Fundamentalism, Nationalism, the Emergence of Collective Memory, and the Politics of the Middle Classes.