Dear Margaret,
It’s good to see you commenting on life in this little country. Gorenberg’s article is interesting and accurate, but as is often the case when describing a complicated situation in a short article, imcomplete. The ultra-Orthodox community in Israel is far from homogenous. The fanatic community he describes certainly exists – in fact, those crazy burqua-wearing women originated my Beit Shemesh, where I live. But in a parallel movement, there are academic colleges, like the Ono College, which provides a separate campus for the ultra-Orthodox where they can earn BA and MA degress in fields such as law, business administration, etc. The army has also opened a special unit for ultra-Orthodox soldiers which is very successful. This issue is a source of robust debate in Israel, and has yet to be settled.
November 8th, 2011 at 12:10PM
It’s not just Israel. There are Hasidic institutions in Brooklyn and New Haven that don’t offer a secular education past 8th grade.
November 8th, 2011 at 1:46PM
A Nonms: Yes. You’re right.
November 9th, 2011 at 6:41AM
Dear Margaret,
It’s good to see you commenting on life in this little country. Gorenberg’s article is interesting and accurate, but as is often the case when describing a complicated situation in a short article, imcomplete. The ultra-Orthodox community in Israel is far from homogenous. The fanatic community he describes certainly exists – in fact, those crazy burqua-wearing women originated my Beit Shemesh, where I live. But in a parallel movement, there are academic colleges, like the Ono College, which provides a separate campus for the ultra-Orthodox where they can earn BA and MA degress in fields such as law, business administration, etc. The army has also opened a special unit for ultra-Orthodox soldiers which is very successful. This issue is a source of robust debate in Israel, and has yet to be settled.