Is there an answer to how do you decide who is Haredi?

November 7, 2016   

A beige, black or silver mustache has a permanent place, even if it's a bit crowded. A fifth-generation Rebbe from Ponievich, and in his living room there are fifty-two inches.

Isn't he a nerd? Do you think?

[From Andrados' sketch].

The talented group of comedians from the 'Andrados' band, who belong to the religious-national sector, produced a song that quickly became a hit along with the 'Song of the Text Messages' and 'Ahla Hasuda'.

The performances of the four young people, the background images and the humor naturally gave the song its advantages, but the statement hidden behind it seems deeper and more serious and no less relevant to us, the young Haredi.

The cartoons that interview young people from the religious-national sector are just as relevant for Haredim. Maybe more so.

Who is the new ultra-Orthodox youth, and what does he belong to? Does the fact that so many - 41 percent in 2014 according to the Israel Democracy Institute - have computers connected to the Internet at home, through which they watch the latest series, when not all of them necessarily read 'Shtisel', exclude us from the ultra-Orthodox group?

About 30 years ago, modern Haredim would exchange discs with movies, usually in good condition, among themselves, reassuring each other that the open secret would not leak out.

These days, when 41 percent of the public defined as Haredi is exposed to the Internet, it is difficult to impossible to estimate the viewers of series, current affairs programs, and humorous segments from secular entertainers that are circulated via emails, WhatsApp, and Facebook - so are they not Haredi?

 These questions are of a sociological nature of the first order, for amidst all the conflicts, divisions, conflicts, and encampments that plague the Haredi street, there are weighty questions of identity hidden: Who is a Haredi? Is he the one who proves himself to be a master of observing the commandments and feels a commitment to the law and the halachic tradition that developed in Eastern Europe, as sociologist Prof. Menachem Friedman suggests?

Or maybe it's an ultra-Orthodox person who lives in the ultra-Orthodox space, sends his children to ultra-Orthodox educational institutions, votes for ultra-Orthodox parties, and consumes ultra-Orthodox media - or in other words, exhibits clear external signs of being ultra-Orthodox?

My friend, Dr. Chaim Zichman, raises additional possibilities in his book, such as subordination to Torah gurus in political questions, not just halachic [Torah doctrine], and the self-definition approach according to which a Haredi person is someone who sees themselves as Haredi, and finally the somewhat sarcastic definition of an activist in the world of Teshuvah: A Haredi is someone who is confident enough to tell others that they are not Haredi.

In any case, this question is certainly sociological, but certainly not only, as it carries operational implications: Does the fact that my daughter was not accepted into the seminary because of my use of the 'Internet' prove that I am not Haredi, or does the fact that I am a student at a non-religious university make me one?

Is a journalist in a newspaper who does not receive the blessing of the 'greatest of generations' ['obedience to the law of Torah'] not Haredi, or does the fact that everyone reads him eventually make him one? And what about those serving in the IDF, Nahal soldiers, radio workers, those with the Teshuvah, and academics?

Clear answers to these questions probably do not exist, and sociologists will continue to make a living by delving into them.

On the other hand, the directors of the seminaries and Torah Talmudists will also continue to use the sociological terminology that is correct in their view: "The girl's family does not conform to the spirit of the institution.".

[youtube url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LcEkmYAqMog&spfreload=10" width="600" height="400" responsive="yes" autoplay="no"]

How was it?.On the night of Yom Kippur, the husband leaves the Hebron [or Ateret] yeshiva in a white and clean robe, and meets his wife who is waiting for him in the square outside. His face expresses heaviness from the fear of the terrible Day of Judgment, but still he is unable to avoid uttering the following syllable:

Well???

The woman now has two options. If she is a cruel and mean-hearted woman, she will say: Okay, it reminds me of my father's minyan in the neighborhood, it's just a shame we don't hear the cantor that much.

If she is still engaged or newly married, she will smile dreamily and say softly: Amazing, I didn't know that yeshiva prayer could be so moving, I cried the entire eighteen.

The husband will smile to himself with satisfaction and without being seen, and will feel as if he himself approached the pillar, as if he was the one who organized the entire large and impressive yeshiva prayer himself just for his bride. So that she can experience for once what yeshiva prayer is like in the days of terror.