Orthodox Israelis and the next Bangalore?

[Guest guest]

"Ben-David said haredi communities such as the Mea Shearim neighborhood in

Jerusalem could become Israel's answer to India's Bangalore, where many

international companies have placed operations such as call centers to lower

costs. "The moment you have (Internet) broadband, and the moment these guys

have the basic tools -- they know English, they know how to use computers --

they can sit within their own community, even in their own house in most cases,

and you can build them all kinds of access to the outer world," said Ben-David.

"

By Steven Silber Mon Oct 3, 8:20 AM ET

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Dudi Zilbershlag is an ultra-Orthodox Jew who wears the

beard, black coat and skullcap of a community steeped in centuries of

tradition. A key difference between him and most of the hundreds of thousands

of ultra-Orthodox Jews -- or haredim -- in

Israel is that Zilbershlag, a consultant and newspaper publisher, works.

More than 60 percent of ultra-Orthodox adults in the country do not work, says

the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC), and 55 percent of the

community of up to 800,000 lives below the poverty line.

Government subsidies, especially for child care, and a fear army service will

erode their way of life have kept many haredim studying Judaism's holy books

full time, even though their cousins outside the Jewish state work.

Their absence from the army can isolate them and prevent them from integrating

fully into the workforce.

"When we didn't have our own country almost all the haredim had to have an

occupation. The rabbis in the Talmud were shoemakers and farmers and

blacksmiths, because they needed to have a livelihood," said Shlomo Maital,

academic director of the Technion School of Management in Tel Aviv.

"Now that we have our own country and a welfare state, the welfare state is

regarded by them as something that should support all haredim rather than just

a tiny select few."

Maital said if groups such as the haredim, handicapped people and students

worked, Israel could add another $12 billion to its 2004 gross domestic product

of $122 billion.

Zilbershlag said he works partly because his father, a Holocaust survivor,

believed one should give what one could to the country and serve in the army.

"That enabled me to be part of the creative workforce, and had I not had my

army experience, I would not have had those opportunities."

But many traditionally insular haredim fear the secular atmosphere in the

military. Even Zilbershlag cringes at the language they use there and the fact

that in Israel women serve -- a practice the haredim oppose.

GOVERNMENT TRANSFERS

The biggest bone of contention between the haredim and the millions of secular

Israelis is probably the tax money that goes to a community that largely does

not work or serve in the army.

Momi Dahan, an economist at Hebrew University's School of Public Policy, found

that well over half of average haredi household income a decade ago came from

government transfers.

The government has since cut child allowances, a move that has capped budget

deficits and hit communities with big families like the haredim and Israeli

Arabs, who number more than 1 million out of a total population of more than 6

million.

Benefits to large families are gradually being cut by as much as around 70

percent, while funds for large yeshivas -- traditional Jewish religious schools

-- are falling 40 percent.

A secular party called Shinui, or change, has made a career out of campaigning

to lower haredi entitlements. Many Israelis also regret the ultra-Orthodox

community's role in providing the votes that have, through the years, enabled

the leading party after an election to form a coalition government.

"Basically they sit on the fence and can decide whether it's going to be right

this time or left this time," said Dan Ben-David, an economist at Tel Aviv

University.

"One of the biggest decisions this country has made is to pull out of Gaza, and

these guys are neutral, 'just keep our school system out of it and we don't

care what you do in Gaza.'

"That political clout, though, is hurting their voters, because these guys are

living pretty much in abject poverty," he said, arguing that the haredi school

system did not provide students with a "basic toolbox" for life.

WALK HUMBLY

Economists say Israel should require haredi children to study more of subjects

such as mathematics and English. This would augment skills gained from bible

study.

"We're not talking about a culture of ignorance," said Ben-David.

"It's a culture of study, and if their education stops at the 8th grade (13-14

years old), you don't need four extra years of school to give them what they

lack," he said.

"They have study habits that our kids don't."

Many young haredim, including women, who have ventured into the working world

have succeeded in computer programming.

Ben-David said haredi communities such as the Mea Shearim neighborhood in

Jerusalem could become Israel's answer to India's Bangalore, where many

international companies have placed operations such as call centers to lower

costs.

"The moment you have (Internet) broadband, and the moment these guys have the

basic tools -- they know English, they know how to use computers -- they can

sit within their own community, even in their own house in most cases, and you

can build them all kinds of access to the outer world," said Ben-David.

The JDC launched a vocational training program for the haredim in 1996, allowing

married students of the Torah, the Jewish sacred teachings, to study the holy

books by day and receive job training in the evening.

The budget cuts boosted interest. Amir Ben-Zvi, a project manager for haredi

employment at the JDC, said 2,500 ultra-Orthodox from around Jerusalem came to

a recent jobs market.

Many working ultra-Orthodox find they can support their families and still

follow the prophet Micah in the Bible, who said one should "do justice, love

mercy, and walk humbly (hatznea lechet) with your God."

Ben-Zvi tells of a student who remodeled the data management program for Elta

Electronics Industries.

"He didn't change his way of life and he's still hatznea lechet."