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.
Agudath Israel of America is an American organization that represents Haredi Orthodox Jews. It is loosely affiliated with the international World Agudath Israel. Agudah seeks to meet the needs of the Haredi community, advocates for its religious and civil rights, and services its constituents through charitable, educational, and social service projects across North America.
United Torah Judaism, often referred to by its electoral symbol Gimel, 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.
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.
Degel HaTorah is an Ashkenazi Haredi political party in Israel. For much of its existence, it has been allied with Agudat Yisrael, under the name United Torah Judaism.
Yated Ne'eman is a semi-major Israeli daily Hebrew language newspaper based in Bnei Brak. The Hebrew edition is published daily except on the Jewish Sabbath. A weekly English language edition was published in Israel and distributed in Israel, South Africa and Britain until December 2006.
Shemaryahu Yosef Chaim Kanievsky was an Israeli Haredi rabbi and posek. He was a leading authority in Haredi Jewish society on legal and ethical practice. Known as the Gadol HaDor and the "Prince of Torah", much of his prominence came through Torah education and advice about Jewish law.
Yaakov Yisrael Kanievsky, known as The Steipler or The Steipler Gaon, was a Haredi rabbi, Talmudic scholar, and posek ("decisor" of Jewish law), and the author of Kehilos Yaakov, "a multi-volume Talmudic commentary".
Aharon Yehuda Leib Shteinman, also Shtainman or Steinman, was a Haredi rabbi in Bnei Brak, Israel. Following the death of Yosef Shalom Elyashiv in 2012, he was widely regarded as the Gadol HaDor, the leader of the non-Hasidic Lithuanian Haredi Jewish world. Along with several other rabbis, Shteinman is credited with reviving and expanding the appeal of European-style yeshivas in Israel.
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.
Rav Nosson Tzvi Finkel was an American-born Haredi Litvish rabbi and rosh yeshiva (dean) of the Mir Yeshiva in Jerusalem, Israel. During his tenure from 1990 until his death in 2011, the Mir Yeshiva grew into the largest yeshiva in Israel with nearly 6,000 undergraduate students and over 1,600 avreichim. According to one estimate, he taught 25,000 students over his lifetime. He continued to work during the last 28 years of his life, when he had Parkinson's disease, experiencing involuntary spasms and slurred speech. He raised an estimated US$500 million for the Mir during his tenure as rosh yeshiva. He was a member of the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah of Degel HaTorah. He was known for his Torah erudition and his warmth and concern for his students.
Matisyahu Chaim Salomon was an English-born American rabbi, author and public speaker. He served as the mashgiach ruchani of Beth Medrash Govoha, one of the world's largest yeshivas, located in Lakewood, New Jersey, United States. An opponent of unrestrained internet access in the Orthodox Jewish community, he spearheaded a campaign to have internet filters installed on all computers and smartphones.
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.
Moshe Meiselman is an American-born Orthodox rabbi and rosh yeshiva (dean) of Yeshiva Toras Moshe in Jerusalem, which he established in 1982. He also founded and served as principal of Yeshiva University of Los Angeles (YULA) from 1977 to 1982. He is a descendant of the Lithuanian Jewish Soloveitchik rabbinic dynasty.
Yaakov Perlow was an American Hasidic rabbi and rosh yeshiva, and Rebbe of the Novominsk Hasidic dynasty. From 1998 until his death in 2020, he was president of Agudath Israel of America, a Haredi advocacy organization. He was also head of that organization's Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah. He was one of the most respected leaders of the American Orthodox Jewish community, known for his scholarly and oratorical skills.
Dov Schwartzman, also called Berel Schwartzman, was a Russian-born American Haredi Jewish rabbi, educator, Talmudic scholar, and rosh yeshiva (dean) of Bais Hatalmud, which he founded in the Sanhedria Murhevet neighborhood of Jerusalem and led for over 40 years. He also founded and led the Talmudical Yeshiva of Philadelphia together with Rabbi Shmuel Kamenetzky, and co-founded the first yeshiva in Israel for baalei teshuva. He taught tens of thousands of students, many of whom received semicha from him.
Conscription of yeshiva students refers to the conscription of Orthodox yeshiva students in Israel. Since 1977, this community had been exempted from military duty or national service. In 2012, service became mandatory with a penalty of imprisonment for up to five years for draft-dodgers, although that law has never been enforced.
U'Bizchutan is an Israeli political party formed in early 2015 by social activist Ruth Colian. It is the first political party in Israel focused on Orthodox Jewish women. The two previously existing Haredi Israeli parties, Shas and United Torah Judaism, do not allow female candidates to run on their election slates. Colian says the party will represent all women who are dissatisfied with the current state of Israel's religious establishment. In the 2015 election, the party failed to pass the electoral threshold necessary to win seats in the Knesset, receiving only 1,802 votes (0.04%).
The Jerusalem Faction is an Israeli Haredi political organization based in Jerusalem. It was founded in 2012 by Shmuel Auerbach as a reaction to the Bnei Brak-based Degel HaTorah's perceived moderate approach to the question of conscription of Haredim into the Israel Defence Forces by the Israeli government that came up following the expiration of the Tal Law.
Yerachmiel Gershon Edelstein was a Soviet-born Israeli rabbi who was rosh yeshiva of the Ponevezh Yeshiva, president of the Vaad Hayeshivos, and the spiritual leader of the Degel HaTorah party in Israel. He was widely considered to be a Gadol Hador by the Litvish community.
