From Yeshiva to Work the American Experience and Lessons for Israel

THE FLOERSHEIMER INSTITUTE FOR POLICY STUDIES From Yeshiva to Work The American Experience and Lessons for Israel Amiram Gonen Jerusalem, December 2001 1 English Language Editor: Fred Skolnik Principal Editor: Shunamith Carin Preparation for Print: Ruth Lerner Printed by: Ahva Press, Ltd. Published in Hebrew as: מהישיבה לעבודה: הניסיון האמריקני ולקחים לישראל עמירם גונן Available in English and Hebrew on: www.fips.org.il ISSN 0792-6251 Publication No. 4/5e © 2001, The Floersheimer Institute for Policy Studies, Ltd. 9A Diskin Street, Jerusalem 96440 Israel Tel. 972-2-5666243; Fax. 972-2-5666252 [email protected] www.fips.org.il 2 About the Author Amiram Gonen is a Professor of Social Geography at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Director of the Floersheimer Institute for Policy Studies. About the Research As part of the Floersheimer Institute’s ongoing program of studies on religion, society, and state, Prof. Amiram Gonen surveyed the processes of transition from the world of yeshivas (rabbinical seminaries) to the labor market among the Haredi (also known as ultra-Orthodox) population in the New York area. The survey found that men in both cultural groups that make up the Haredi population - Hasidic and Lithuanian - devote fixed periods of time to full-time religious study in yeshiva or kolel (a yeshiva for married men): Hasidic men for a brief period and Lithuanian men for slightly longer. Both groups, however, evince a high labor-force participation rate, unlike the situation in Israel, where young men are draft-deferred as long as they are defined as “professional religious scholars,” i.e., as long as they engage in full-time religious study. The survey examines the various routes along which Haredi men in the New York area make their way to the labor market. In recent years, growing numbers of Haredi men have been gravitating to computer occupations, as manifested in the establishment of vocational-training institutes in these fields. Finally, Prof. Gonen presents a series of lessons for Israel on the basis of the situation among the Haredi men in the New York area. About the Floersheimer Institute for Policy Studies In recent years the importance of policy-oriented research has been increasingly acknowledged. Dr. Stephen H. Floersheimer initiated the establishment of a research institute that would concentrate on studies of long-range policy issues. The purpose of the Floersheimer Institute for Policy Studies is to research fundamental processes likely to be major issues for policy-makers in years to come, analyze the long-range trends and implications of such problems, and propose to the policy-makers alternative options and strategies. The members of the Board of Directors are Dr. Stephen H. Floersheimer (chairman); I. Amihud Ben-Porath, advocate (vice-chairman); David Brodet, former Director General of the Ministry of Finance; and Hirsh Goodman, founding editor of the Jerusalem Report. The director of the Floersheimer Institute is Amiram Gonen, Professor of Geography at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The deputy-director is Shlomo Hasson, Professor of Geography at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. 3 THE FLOERSHEIMER INSTITUTE FOR POLICY STUDIES Publications in English on: Religion, Society, and State in Israel 1. The Cultural Struggle over Jerusalem: Accommodations, Scenarios and Lessons, Shlomo Hasson, 1996. 2. The Cultural Tension Within Jerusalem’s Jewish Population, Shlomo Hasson and Amiram Gonen, 1997. 3. Religion and Democracy in Israel, Benyamin Neuberger, 1997. 4. Ultra-Orthodoxy in Urban Governance in Israel, Yosseph Shilhav, 1998. 5. Religion and Political Accommodation in Israel, Eliezer Don-Yehiya, 1999. 6. The Haredi Educational System: Allocation, Regulation, and Control, Varda Schiffer, 1999. 7. Haredi and Secular Jews in Jerusalem in the Future: Scenarios and Strategies, Shlomo Hasson, 1999. 8. From Yeshiva to Work: The American Experience and Lessons for Israel, Amiram Gonen, 2001. 9. Between Three Branches of Government: The Balance of Rights in Matters of Religion in Israel, Shimon Shetreet, 2001. 10. The Struggle for Hegemony in Jerusalem: Secular and Ultra-Orthodox Urban Politics, Shlomo Hasson, 2001. * Available on the Institute website: www.fips.org.il 4 Table of Contents Introduction: Dilemma and Issues 7 The Dilemma of a ‘Society of Scholars’ 7 Some Policy Issues 12 The American Comparison 14 1 The New York Study 17 The Nature of the Study 17 Main Findings and Lessons 21 2 Between Two Norms: Religious Study and Breadwinning 28 The Different Camps of the Yeshiva World 28 The Role of the Welfare System 34 Pressures on the Norm of Religious Study 35 3 Preparing to Enter the Labor Market 41 The Attitude of the Rabbis 41 Hasidic Men Lack Basic Occupational Skills 43 Hasidic Men Join the Labor Market Earlier 48 Lithuanians Join the Labor Market Later 49 Differences in Income Levels 51 Age of Entry into the Labor Market 53 Routes to the Labor Market 55 4 The Route to Education and Religious Services 57 Education Jobs 58 Religious-Service Jobs 62 5 The Direct Route to Trade and Services 65 Historical Continuity 65 What Are Their Occupations? 68 Where Do They Work? 71 5 6 The Route of Vocational Training 73 Consent of Rabbis and Yeshiva Heads 75 Where Vocational-Training Institutes Are Located 79 Separation of Men and Women 83 The Shift to Computer Occupations 85 Placement in Skilled Jobs 89 7 The Academic Route 91 The Yeshiva as a College 92 Combining Yeshiva and College Studies 93 A Yeshiva-Compatible Haredi College 94 College Credits for Yeshiva Studies 96 Fields of Academic Studies 99 Government Assistance 99 8 Geographical Patterns 101 Working at Home 101 A Haredi Labor Niche 102 Concentrating in Haredi Neighborhoods 103 Building a Haredi Economy in the Suburbs 104 9 Lessons for Israel 106 Consent of Rabbis and Yeshiva Heads 107 Who Will Join the Labor Market, and When? 109 How to Encourage Haredi Men to Join the Labor Market 113 Routes of Entry into the Labor Market 121 Separate Haredi Workplaces 126 The Relationship between Place of Residence and Place of Work 127 Overview 129 References 130 6 Introduction: Dilemma and Issues The Dilemma of a ‘Society of Scholars’ During the past few decades, Israel’s Haredi or ultra-Orthodox population has produced a large ‘society of scholars’ (Friedman, 1991). Most young Haredi men have come to embrace the norm of full-time religious study in institutes of higher talmudic education: the yeshiva for bachelors and the kolel for married men. This time-honored Jewish tradition was first institutionalized by the State of Israel during and immediately after the War of Independence. At that time, the Israeli government established a quota of 400 yeshiva students formally defined as ‘professional religious scholars.’ Their induction into the army was to be deferred as long as they continued to study. The government justified this decision by the need to revive the yeshiva world that had been annihilated in the Holocaust (Tal Commission, 2000: Report of the Yisraeli Committee, Part B-1, p. 92). In subsequent years the state developed a system of financial support for these yeshiva and kolel students in the form of stipends provided through the Ministry of Religious Affairs and distributed through the yeshivas and kolels rather than directly to the students. Receiving such stipends did not depend on receiving a draft deferment; it was sufficient to be engaged in full-time religious studies in a recognized institution, whether under a deferment or under a full exemption from military service. The term ‘professional religious scholar’ was thus used in two senses: for those receiving deferments and for those receiving stipends, the former definition being used by the Ministry of Defense and the latter by the Ministry of Religious Affairs. The stipends evolved over the years into an important financial mainstay of yeshiva and kolel studies, though they never provided more than a minimal standard of living. The protracted deferment of yeshiva students from military service and the evolution of the system of state financial support made it possible for the 7 Haredi ‘society of scholars’ to grow steadily from several hundred in the 1950s to tens of thousands in the 1990s. It is still growing at a substantial pace as high birth rates produce new members and the norm of full-time religious study is effectively inculcated. One such increase took place in 1968, when a ministerial committee decided to double the annual quota of yeshiva students to 800 (ibid., p. 92). Further growth occurred mainly after 1977, when, as part of the coalition agreement in the Begin government, the annual quota of 800 yeshiva students recognized by the IDF Manpower Branch as ‘professional religious scholars’ was abolished (ibid., p. 93). Since that time, the number of draft deferments on grounds of full-time yeshiva and kolel study has grown continually. There were now no legal limits to this number. Consequently, more and more young Haredi men joined the ranks of ‘professional religious scholars’ whose induction into the army was deferred year after year until final exemption was granted on grounds of age or number of children. Moreover, the financial support of ‘professional religious scholars’ irrespective of draft-deferment status, became in itself an important economic incentive for the continuation of full-time religious studies among Haredi men well into middle age. In 1995, the Yisraeli Committee, set up by the Ministry of Defense, made it possible for an increasing number of persons with the status of ‘professional religious scholar’ to receive exemptions from military service by IDF administrative fiat. The main grounds for such exemptions were, again, number of children and age (Tal Commission, 2000: IDF Manpower Branch Survey, Volume B-2, p. 387). In effect, since 1995 it has been the practice of the IDF to exempt many yeshiva students from induction at a younger age than had been the case in previous years.

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