Haredi Judaism

There’s a perceptible tension between mainstream Israeli society and its growing ultra-Orthodox minority. It’s on display at a shopping mall in Ramot, a community that’s become more ultra-Orthodox. Ultra-Orthdox rabbis have called for a mall boycott, hurting sales.

Israel’s mainstream Jewish community is upset with the way its Ultra-Orthodox community is exempted from requirements to do military or national service and often doesn’t pay any taxes. That tension provided an opening for an American-born rabbi, Dov Lipman to be elected with a goal of bridging the divide.

Israel’s Haredim community is grappling with mainstream Israeli society in an effort to figure out how the two increasingly divergent lifestyles can co-exist in the same country.

There’s growing tension in Israel between the most ardent, ultra-Orthodox Jews and the country’s more mainstream secular and moderate communities. Some of the Haredim want to impose greater restrictions on the public space in the Jewish state.

One of the biggest conflicts in Israel doesn’t involve the Palestinians. It’s over a shopping mall in a Jerusalem suburb that’s at the center of a culture war. Reporter Daniel Estrin explains.