Rabbi Yehoshua Pfeffer defines ultra-Orthodox or “Haredi” Jews as those who maintain that to preserve the integrity of what they consider “true Judaism,” they must disconnect from the outside world and their reality and practice maximum isolation from the culture, practices, and values ​​of the world around them.

For the Haredi community, Pfeffer explains, what matters are their institutions, not the individual, who must sacrifice their individuality for the sake of the collective. Haredi Judaism is designed so that it can only be practiced within their own environment, in their yeshivot, synagogues, and other community institutions. To achieve this, they have their own social structure, rules that define their world in matters such as education, internal justice, charity, and culture, where the Chief Rabbi is the ultimate authority. They consider communal autonomy essential, often placing it above the larger society to which they belong.

Rabbi Irving Greenberg believes that Haredim literally interpret the biblical concept that God controls and decides everything that happens in this world. Absolutely nothing happens except by His Will. They firmly believe that as long as people please God by performing mitzvot, God will reward them. Therefore, Haredi theology sees all natural or human catastrophes as divine punishment for failing to fulfill His commandments. Similarly, the other side of their coin is the Haredi teaching that if you fulfill His Precepts, God will keep you safe. «Those who are agents who perform a mitzvah will not be harmed» (Talmud Pesachim 8B). This attitude is nothing more than magical thinking. Magic claims that, through certain words or actions—in this case, religious faith or behavior—God is «obliged» to do what the practitioner wants, says Greenberg. They believe that studying the Torah and rabbinic texts guarantees them special protection and preservation.

Some groups of Haredi Jews, such as the Satmar Hasidim or Neturei Karta, oppose the existence of the State of Israel, arguing that it was not created by the Messiah, but by man, who acted against God’s will. But the true basis of their position is different. Rabbi Pfeffer explains this with an anecdote: The leader of one of Israel’s religious parties was once asked what would happen if, after an election, the religious parties held the majority in the Israeli parliament. He first said that this could never happen and then added that they would immediately call the President of the United States to ask him to make Israel the 51st state of the American Union.

The Haredi world cannot fulfill the functions of an independent state on its own. To survive, they depend on a higher state to shelter them under its mantle. Someone to carry out all the tasks required for the state to function every day, including Shabbat. Activities such as national defense, healthcare, tax collection, infrastructure construction, professional education, and so on. Ultra-Orthodox yeshivot do not prepare their people for any of this. The Haredi Jewish identity model has limitations; it can only exist as a «state» within a state.

By Marcos Gojman

Bibliography: Articles by Orthodox rabbis Irving Greenberg and Yehoshua Pfeffer.