Haredi Judaism is a branch of Orthodox Judaism that is characterized by its strict interpretation of religious sources and its accepted halakha and traditions, in opposition to more accommodating values and practices. Its members are usually referred to as ultra-Orthodox in English, a term considered pejorative by many of its adherents, who prefer the terms strictly Orthodox or Haredi. Haredim regard themselves as the most authentic custodians of Jewish religious law and tradition which, in their opinion, is binding and unchangeable. They consider all other expressions of Judaism, including Modern Orthodoxy, as deviations from God's laws, although other movements of Judaism would disagree.
United Torah Judaism is a Haredi, religious conservative political alliance in Israel. The alliance, consisting of Agudat Yisrael and Degel HaTorah, was first formed in 1992, in order to maximize Ashkenazi Haredi representation in the Knesset. Despite the alliance splitting in 2004 over rabbinical differences, the parties reconciled in 2006, in order to prevent vote-wasting. In April 2019, the party achieved its highest number of seats ever, receiving eight seats.
Shas is a Haredi religious political party in Israel. Founded in 1984 under the leadership of Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, a former Israeli Sephardi chief rabbi, who remained its spiritual leader until his death in October 2013, it primarily represents the interests of Sephardic and Mizrahi Haredi Jews.
Jewish religious movements, sometimes called "denominations", include diverse groups within Judaism which have developed among Jews from ancient times. Today in the west, the most prominent divisions are between traditionalist Orthodox movements and modernist movements such as Reform Judaism originating in late 18th century Europe, Conservative originating in 19th century Europe, and other smaller ones, including the Reconstructionist and Renewal movements which emerged later in the 20th century in the United States.
Ovadia Yosef was an Iraqi-born Talmudic scholar, a posek, the Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel from 1973 to 1983, and a founder and long-time spiritual leader of Israel's ultra-Orthodox Shas party. Yosef's responsa were highly regarded within Haredi circles, particularly among Mizrahi communities, among whom he was regarded as "the most important living halakhic authority".
Religious Zionism is a religious denomination that views Zionism as a fundamental component of Orthodox Judaism. Its adherents are also referred to as Dati Leumi, and in Israel, they are most commonly known by the plural form of the first part of that term: Datiim. The community is sometimes called 'Knitted kippah', the typical head covering worn by male adherents to Religious Zionism.
Agudat Yisrael is a Haredi Jewish political party in Israel. It began as a political party representing Haredi Jews in Poland, originating in the Agudath Israel movement in Upper Silesia. It later became the party of many Haredim in Israel. It was the umbrella party for many, though not all, Haredi Jews in Israel until the 1980s, as it had been during the British Mandate of Palestine.
Yissachar Dov Rokeach is the fifth, and present, Rebbe of the Hasidic dynasty of Belz. He is the son of Rabbi Mordechai of Bilgoray, the grandson of the third Belzer Rebbe, Rabbi Yissachar Dov Rokeach, and the nephew of the fourth Belzer Rebbe, Rabbi Aharon Rokeach, who raised him. He has led Belz since 1966.
Har Nof is a neighborhood on a hillside on the western boundary of Jerusalem with a population of 20,000 residents, predominantly Orthodox Jews.
Elazar Menachem Man Shach was a Haredi rabbi who headed Lithuanian Orthodox Jews in Israel and around the world from the early 1970s until his death. He served as chair of the Council of Sages and one of three co-deans of the Ponevezh Yeshiva in Bnei Brak, along with Shmuel Rozovsky and Dovid Povarsky. Due to his differences with the Hasidic leadership of the Agudat Yisrael political party, he allied with Ovadia Yosef, with whom he founded the Shas party in 1984. Later, in 1988, Shach criticized Ovadia Yosef, saying that, "Sepharadim are not suitable for leadership positions", and subsequently founded the Degel HaTorah political party representing the Litvaks in the Israeli Knesset.
Dushinsky is one of the few Hasidic dynasties not named after the place where it originated; instead, it is named after the rebbe's surname. It is relatively new, and became a dynasty in Jerusalem, where it is centered today. Unlike other Hasidic groups, it does not originate from a Hasidic background, but from the talmidim (students) of Moses Sofer.
The Charedi Council of Jerusalem is a large Haredi Jewish communal organization based in Jerusalem. It has several thousand affiliated households and is chaired by the Gaon Convenor (Ga'avad). The Council provides facilities such as dietary laws supervision, ritual baths, a Sabbath enclosure, and welfare services.
Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah is the supreme rabbinical policy-making council of the Agudat Yisrael and Degel HaTorah movements in Israel; and of Agudath Israel of America in the United States. Members are usually prestigious Roshei Yeshiva or Hasidic rebbes, who are also usually regarded by many Haredi Jews to be the Gedolim ("great/est") sages of Torah Judaism. Before the Holocaust, it was the supreme authority for the World Agudath Israel in Europe.
From the founding of political Zionism in the 1890s, Haredi Jewish leaders voiced objections to its secular orientation, and before the establishment of the State of Israel, the vast majority of Haredi Jews were opposed to Zionism, like early Reform Judaism, but with distinct reasoning. This was chiefly due to the concern that secular nationalism would redefine the Jewish nation from a religious community based in their alliance to God for whom adherence to religious laws were "the essence of the nation's task, purpose, and right to exists," to an ethnic group like any other as well as the view that it was forbidden for the Jews to re-constitute Jewish rule in the Land of Israel before the arrival of the Messiah. Those rabbis who did support Jewish resettlement in Palestine in the late 19th century had no intention to conquer Palestine and declare its independence from the rule of the Ottoman Turks, and some preferred that only observant Jews be allowed to settle there.
The Sikrikim is a Haredi Jewish organization based in the Israeli Haredi neighbourhoods Meah Shearim in Jerusalem and in Ramat Beit Shemesh. The anti-Zionist group is thought to have roughly 100 activist members. The Sikrikim gained international attention for acts of violence they committed against Orthodox Jewish institutions and individuals who would not comply with their demands.
Religious relations in Israel are relations between Haredim, non-Haredi Orthodox, Karaite, Ethiopian, Reform, Conservative, and secular Jews, as well as relations between different religions represented in Israel. The religious status quo, agreed to by David Ben-Gurion with the Orthodox parties at the time of Israel's declaration of independence in 1948, is an agreement on the role that Judaism would play in Israel's government and the judicial system. Tensions exist between religious and secular groups in Israel.
Rav Reuven Elbaz is a Sephardi Haredi rabbi, rosh yeshiva, and a leader of the baal teshuva movement among Sephardi and Mizrahi Jews in Israel. He is the founder and head of the Ohr Hachaim network of institutions, which operates educational, humanitarian, prison, and drug rehabilitation programs in 350 branches across Israel. He is also the founder and dean of Yeshivat Ohr Hachaim in Jerusalem, which enrolls more than 500 students. He is a senior member of the Moetzet Chachmei HaTorah of the Shas political party.
The Yosef family is an Israeli family noted for prominent Mizrahi Rabbis, and for its involvement in Israeli politics through the Shas political party. Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Israel from 1973-1983 and founder of Shas, was considered the pre-eminent leader of Mizrahi Jews during and after his lifetime. Yosef also founded the Badatz Beit Yosef, an agency for certifying a food's kosher status. The agency is one of the largest in Israel, and is a major source of wealth for the family.
Haredi nationalism is a recent ideological current among Haredi communities in Israel. The group is distinct from the Hardal, who are not Haredim, but rather Religious Zionists who have adopted aspects of Haredi beliefs and lifestyle.
