Jewish Religious Denominations | The Jerusalem Intercultural Center

Coming Attractions – Groundbreaking Cultural Competency Training Videos

Coming to a hospital / clinic seminar room near you! Four new training videos, produced by the Jerusalem Intercultural Center and Bar Ilan University.

Since we began the Cultural Competency in Health Care project in 2008, we’ve been aiming to offer a comprehensive, multidisciplinary training experience to health care professionals, and recently, we’ve made great strides in providing a broad range of information, training manuals and professional networks for peer learning.

From “For the Children”

This week we added a new layer – four new training videos for our cultural sensitivity training sessions. These are the first such videos to be produced in Israel, addressing specific issues faced by populations here. The videos were produced in full partnership with Bar Ilan University, and its Department of Translation and Interpreting Studies.

From “Our Decision”

The four films are based on actual events. The film “Knows What She Wants” describes a meeting between a patient from the immigrant Ethiopian community, who is requesting an injection of the Depo-Provera contraceptive , and the family doctor who is trying to convince her use alternative methods. The film “Checkup” presents a meeting between a Russian speaking patient who comes with her teenage daughter for a routine visit to manage her diabetes, and a Hebrew speaking nurse. In the film “Our Decision” a Muslim-Arab hospital patient diagnosed with a malignant growth on her thyroid is torn between the opinion of her doctor (also a Muslim-Arab), who thinks that immediate surgery is essential, and that of her husband, who wants her released back home quickly. The film “For the Children” takes place at a charged meeting at the welfare department between a social worker and a Haredi family (from the “Eida Haredit”), regarding the temporary transfer of their children to relatives. All the films have subtitles in Hebrew, Arabic and English. Each film deals with a different cultural group, yet each one addresses all the main core issues in cultural competency.

From “Knows What She Wants”

The videos are used to trigger discussions in our various training and follow-up workshops. Each of them brings up critical points that are essential in striving toward culturally competent care in the health care and welfare systems. And all are helping us make culturally competent care in the health care and welfare systems more of a reality. We’d like to thank the Jerusalem Foundation for their ongoing support of this program since its earliest stages. These videos were also supported by the New Israel Fund.

From “Checkup”

Naomi Roff2014-07-11T09:35:17+00:00March 15th, 2014|Asylum Seekers, Blog, Cultural Competence, Cultural Competence in Health Services, Ethiopian Jews, Identity Groups and Conflicts, Jewish Religious Denominations, New Immigrants, Palestinians/Arabs, Ultra-Orthodox Jews|

Social Entrepreneurship on the Jerusalem Railway Park: Deliberative Democracy at its Best

How do you want to see your neighborhood, your city? And what can you do to get there? Often, in our everyday routines, especially after watching / reading / listening to the news, it is difficult to see how we can have an influence. The JICC’s Deliberative Democracy program seeks to change that.

Over the past few years, with assistance from the UJA-Federation of New York, we’ve been working intensively with a number of community councils to help residents influence and improve – and take responsibility for and ownership of – their neighborhoods, and their city.

As a result of our successful work in individual communities, we were asked to lead a larger process led by three community councils in the southern part of the city – Ginot Ha’ir, Baka’a, and Gonenim. The mission – enabling residents in neighborhoods that include the new Jerusalem Railway Park to fully enjoy and take ownership of this new pearl on the Jerusalem landscape. Here’s the flyer that was posted all over the Internet and social media:

The story of the Railway Park itself is one of social activism (more about it here and here). The park runs along the section of the old Ottoman-era Jaffa-Jerusalem rail line, and includes the neighborhoods of German Colony, Baka’a, the Talpiot Industrial Zone, Katamonim and Beit Safafa, ending at Malcha’s Teddy Stadium and the new train station that is in use today. After being cancelled in 1998 the tracks fell into disrepair, and had become an eyesore and garbage dump. Several years ago a group of environmentally-conscious residents, community activists and architects, successfully lobbied to turn this area into a massive urban park instead. After intense lobbying, this plan was accepted by local and national planning authorities. After several years of construction and support by the Jerusalem Municipality, the entire length of the park is just being completed.

With such deep roots in the community, it is only natural that the next step, injecting community activities and responsibility, along the course of the park, would involve the community as well. On March 5, we held a town meeting for residents from all communities that border the Jerusalem Railway Park. In all there were some 50 people, coming from the northern to the southern tips of the Park. All came to discuss events, initiatives and characteristics that they wish to see in the Park.

We used Open Space Technology for this event, which enables participants to raise and choose the issues they are passionate about, and work to advance them. Residents broke up into a number of groups. They ranged from a music festival, to a Purim parade, to growing edible plants along the Park, to Jewish-Arab relations to security and cleanliness. All groups are now forming plans of action of the different initiatives in order to bring them to fruition. The evening was so successful that we got this thank you from the different Community Councils:

Naomi Roff2016-03-19T11:42:12+00:00March 10th, 2014|Blog, Deliberative Democracy, Identity Groups and Conflicts, Jewish Religious Denominations, Jewish-Palestinian/Arab, Larger Baka Community Council, Palestinians/Arabs, Railway Park|

Making a Mental ‘Switch’: Cultural Sensitivity Professional Development Workshop for Staff at the Jerusalem Center for Mental Health, Kiryat Hayovel Clinic

What is the essence of cultural competency? More than the manuals, more than the training sessions – cultural sensitivity is the switch in approach to the patient-caregiver relationship, from ‘let me make you better’ (on my terms, using my rules) to ‘let’s work together to enable you to heal’ (mutual communication, bridging communication gaps of language and culture, realization that one’s background and culture dictates one’s actions and reactions).

The intention of the workshop held on October 21, 2013 for members of the Kiryat Hayovel public mental health clinic, part of the Jerusalem Center for Mental Health, was to help the 25 participants make that switch in their approach. The all-day workshop included a discussion of the present situation, and staff members raised a number of examples of social and political tensions in the clinic. As in other Cultural Competency Workshops, we also covered a theoretical section, in which we went over basic aspects of cultural competency – interpersonal communication, core issues, cultural dimensions, medical interpretation, social and political tension and more. In the afternoon the medical actress joined us and we practiced 2 real-life situations.

The director of the Kiryat Hayovel Clinic was very cooperative, both during and after the workshop. He told us that he received positive feedback from his staff, and that everyone recognizes the need for changing their approach, with an emphasis on everyday work. He noted that many of the staff were aware of the concept of cultural competency, but this all-day workshop allowed them to concentrate solely on how cultural competency / or cultural sensitivity influences their work as mental health caregivers.

The workshop also made the director as well as the staff more aware of the need for medical interpreters (translators) when working with patients whose mother tongue is not Hebrew. The workshop therefore increased his motivation for including his staff members in the upcoming medical interpreter’s course at the Jerusalem Center for Mental Health in Givat Shaul.

Naomi Roff2014-04-11T18:41:23+00:00October 23rd, 2013|Asylum Seekers, Blog, Christians, Cultural Competence, Cultural Competence in Health Services, Ethiopian Jews, Identity Groups and Conflicts, Jewish Religious Denominations, Jewish-Palestinian/Arab, New Immigrants, Palestinians/Arabs, Ultra-Orthodox Jews|

Creating a Cultural Competency Learning Community

We’ve talked about our growing national network of cultural competency coordinators here before . As part of this effort, we held our quarterly workshop for 25 cultural competency coordinators from around Israel at the Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center (Ichilov) on October 7. Participants came from hospitals as far north as Tiberias and Hadera, as well as the Jerusalem and Tel Aviv area. There were also representatives of the different HMO’s as well. This workshop focused on the Connection between the Community and Health Care Organizations.

The meeting included a panel discussion of 4 different perspectives:

Mr. Pekadu Gadamo, director of the Tene Briut organization, which works to improve health care for the Ethiopian community in Israel.
Mr. Or-El Ben Ari, director of the Ministry of Health’s clinic for migrants and political asylum seekers at the Central Bus Station in Tel Aviv.
Rabbi Zvi Porath, rabbinic consultant to the ALYN Rehabilitative Hospital
Mr. Gabriel Pransky, the Pransky Project

Each member of the panel spoke about his organization, and the connection each one has to health care organizations. Mr. Ben Ariand Mr. Paransky also distributed information sheets about their organizations. Click here to see the Refugees Clinic information sheet and here to see the information sheet on the Pransky project.

We’d like to focus on two of them, Mr. Ben Ari, from what was formerly referred to as the Refugees’ Clinic, and Rabbi Porath, from ALYN. Mr. Ben Ari first described his clinic. Located in the Central Bus Station in Tel Aviv, the clinic serves the tens of thousands of refugees and political asylum seekers that live in the Tel Aviv area, none of whom have health insurance. Instead, they often rely on hospital emergency rooms for care, and then only in real emergencies. And it was found that many of the emergencies could have been prevented if they had sought medical care earlier. The clinic was established in 2008 by the Israel Medical Association and other partners and staffed largely by volunteer doctors and other medical personnel. In January 2013 the clinic came under the auspices of the Israel Ministry of Health. Today it includes a staff of 20 and offers a range of medical services, from regular clinics to urgent care facilities, operated by the Terem organization. In the discussion, Mr. Ben Ari asked the cultural competency coordinators to make the clinic known to the refugees / asylum seekers they treat, since after they are released they rarely seek follow-up care that the clinic can provide.

The coordinators were fascinated by the clinic. For most this was the first time they had heard of the clinic and its activities. They were so excited about it that they asked to have a tour. This is now being organized.
Another of the speakers was Rabbi Zvi Porath, of ALYN Rehabilitative Hospital. Rabbi Porath, himself Ultra-Orthodox, has done groundbreaking work in his position as an advisor to the staff and on Jewish law. In most hospitals the Rabbi deals mainly with issues regarding Kashruth and Sabbath observance, Rabbi Porath is the first hospital Rabbi in Israel to utilize his role for cultural competency issues as well. He advises both the staff and patients, especially when there are instances in which there are questions of Jewish law as it relates to specific treatments. Rabbi Porath not only gives his own advice, but also knows whom to go to when other authorities’ opinions are needed. This is because each community within the Ultra-Orthodox world follows its own community leaders, but not necessarily leaders from other communities. In this way Rabbi Porath is not only a consultant and an advisor, he is also a mediator, helping the ALYN staff provide the best care for all its patients, sensitive to the cultural traditions of its Ultra-Orthodox patients and their families.

The participants were also very interested in Rabbi Porath’s work, since all of them deal with issues of caring for Ultra-Orthodox patients in ways that are in line with their strict reading of Jewish law. Many even scheduled private meetings with him, to see how he could help in their respective organizations.

Naomi Roff2016-02-27T15:01:19+00:00October 10th, 2013|Asylum Seekers, Blog, Christians, Cultural Competence, Cultural Competence in Health Services, Ethiopian Jews, Identity Groups and Conflicts, Jewish Religious Denominations, New Immigrants, Palestinians/Arabs, Ultra-Orthodox Jews|

Neighbors…. Haredi and non-Haredi in Kiryat Hayovel and Rehavia

Neighbors. Neighbors can be a problem, even in the best of communities. But what happens when neighbors move in who are very different from you? Or when old-time neighbors’ families grow and grow, and seem to be taking over the very nature of your neighborhood? From the ‘other’ side – you’re just looking to living in a nice neighborhood with your family – what’s all the fuss about?

This has been the dynamic in two Jewish neighborhoods – Rehavia and Kiryat Hayovel – that we’ve been working in recently. Both are traditionally secular / national religious neighborhoods – in fact, they’re considered bastions of these populations in Jerusalem. Recently, Kiryat Hayovel has seen an influx of new Haredi residents. In Rehavia, there has always been a Haredi community, but in recent years more and more Haredi families were getting in the neighborhood, changing the demographics. In a city where the Haredi population is growing quickly and non-Haredi populations are feeling threatened, this can definitely cause tensions.

However, if one of our goals is to work to preserve a diverse Jerusalem, tensions are the last thing we need. So in an effort to assuage building tensions between the Haredi and non-Haredi residents of Rehavia and Kiryat Yovel, and thanks to the support of the Jerusalem Foundation and the UJA-Federation of New York, we’re working with 2 very special neighborhood forums.

In Rehavia, we’re working together with the local community council with a group of 20 Haredi and non-Haredi residents, many of them are the leaders of their communities. This includes a fascinating combination of young and older people, national religious, as well as Haredi and secular, men and women. By the end of the second meeting we’d come up with a Summary of Principles for working together. This of course doesn’t mean that individual – and sometimes far-reaching – issues have been solved. But right now we’re focusing on the ‘how we handle issues’, before we move on to the ‘what is the solution’. This includes sometimes basic statements, such as ‘live and let live’, ‘mutual respect’, ‘love of the neighborhood’ and an ’emphasis that we’re all one people’. But we all know that when tension threatens to boil over we need simple, basic principles to guide us through. This group has met twice, and will continue to meet. It has been decided to significantly expand this forum, so that broader agreements can be made and more people and groups can be represented.

In Kiryat Yovel the situation is a bit different. The entrance of Haredi families, even as a small percentage of the population, has raised numerous battle cries against the ‘Haredization’ of Kiryat Yovel, which arises in various forms from time to time. The group in Kiryat Yovel is still smaller – 8 people, all are main leaders – and thus far the two meetings have consist of ‘getting to know you’ conversations. Yet, because Haredi-non-Haredi relations are much terser than in Rehavia, the very existence of these meetings is of utmost importance. While Kiryat Yovel is a tougher nut to crack, we believe we’re on the right path, creating a safe haven for dialogue and conflict resolution. In the last meeting, two Neighborhood Council members hugged each other at the end. This was an unusual occurrence, since one was Haredi and the other was secular who is very active against the Haredization of the neighborhood. “Finally, here, I can give you a hug,” said the Haredi Council member. Another, a secular woman, requested that Haredi women come as well, so that she wouldn’t feel lonely. Currently there is no other place this could happen.

In both neighborhoods, there is energy to continue the processes, and a feeling of hope that is very important for the future of these communities, as well as for Jerusalem.

jicc2014-04-04T12:57:50+00:00May 30th, 2013|Blog, Deliberative Democracy, Identity Groups and Conflicts, Inter-Cultural Community Dialogue, Jewish Religious Denominations, Kiryat Yovel, Rehavia, Ultra-Orthodox Jews|

Prepare Jerusalem for peace now – an Article

We just published an article at the Jerusalem Post and Search for Common Ground (SFCG) News service, focusing on the need for preparing today Jerusalem for potential peace scenarios. Here are the links and the text:

The Jerusalem Post (English).

PDF (English).

Hebrew, Arabic.

Text:

Prepare Jerusalem for peace now
June 26, 2010

By HAGAI AGMON-SNIR

Last month, a Home Front Command exercise was carried out in Israel. The emergency systems were tested for their response to various scenarios in case war breaks out. That same week, someone jokingly disseminated a message on the Internet regarding an emergency exercise that would be carried out to test responses for when peace breaks out. In this imaginary exercise, calming sirens would be sounded and the general public would be required to respond to the cheerful scenarios that may unfold in this new and unfamiliar situation.

In Jerusalem, the idea of preparing for peace should not be a topic of jokes. We are so preoccupied with the struggle over what the city would look like following a permanent status agreement that we are ignoring the fact that present-day Jerusalem is declining before our eyes, becoming a city in which life would be difficult even when peace finally arrives.

In east Jerusalem, Palestinian children suffer from a severely underfunded public education system. As a result, most will not find employment that can afford any kind of social mobility.

Health issues – such as development checkups – are often neglected, and health problems that should be addressed in childhood will become a future economic and social burden, even in times of peace.

Chaos in the material aspects of life is sorely evident in east Jerusalem, where things like dense construction around roads which preempt any future expansion and collapsing sewage systems are creating an irreversible reality on the ground. The poverty and neglect in east Jerusalem will not only cause hardship for the Palestinians living there but will also affect the Jews in west Jerusalem whether the city remains united or divided, because if the city remains united, the need to rectify these problems would affect the funding for the western neighborhoods; if it is divided, poverty and neglect in the east would quickly become fertile ground for crime and terror against the Jews in the west of the city.

In west Jerusalem, the nonharedi Jewish population is dwindling. The city does not attract an economically strong population or young people who are not haredim, as there a few job opportunities. It remains very attractive to the haredim for religious reasons, but they are economically weak. The deterioration of west Jerusalem is bad news for everyone: A Jerusalem that is home to large populations that are economically weak will be a miserable city for all those still left in it.

DESPITE ALL these threats to the future of the city, too often Jerusalem’s municipal decision-making process is shaped by considerations that contradict local interests and cater to global politics. One example is Jewish construction beyond the Green Line. The construction in Ramat Shlomo in north Jerusalem and in Gilo in the south made headlines across the world. Yet, anyone who has taken part in Israeli- Palestinian negotiations on Jerusalem knows that in any reasonable scenario, these neighborhoods will remain on the Israeli side. Moreover the construction in these neighborhoods is of high importance to the Jewish sector in the city, since construction for haredim in the north and for non- Orthodox in the south decreases the need for the haredi population to move into the secular neighborhoods in southern Jerusalem.

Reducing this pressure would strengthen west Jerusalem and this in turn, would benefit the residents in the east. Whether Jerusalem is united or divided, economic and employment cooperation between the two parts of the city keeps them intertwined and interdependent.

However, as Israel refuses to differentiate between legitimizing the building in Gilo and legitimizing the settling in the heart of the Palestinian neighborhoods, the Palestinians and the rest of the world do not make this distinction either. The world hears about Jews who enter homes in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood after its Palestinian inhabitants are evicted. The result: worldwide political pressure to stop the construction in Gilo and Ramat Shlomo, the same construction that can contribute to the prosperity of the city.

Israel, in response, toughens its stance on Palestinian construction in Silwan. This brings only harm to all the residents of Jerusalem Almost 800,000 people live in Jerusalem, from a variety of religions, nationalities, religious outlooks and ethnic groups. When peace comes this diversity can turn into a wonderful resource for anyone who is interested in visiting or living in Jerusalem – if only we could save the city from its current decline.

For this to happen the decision-making process on the municipal level must shift to a professionalism dedicated to improving services for all the residents of the city, one that sets aside global considerations. A greater focus on these issues at the municipal level will make Jerusalem friendlier to its inhabitants. And paradoxically, focusing on its own population’s needs can help turn Jerusalem, even in the eyes of the world, from a political burden into a universal resource.

The writer is the director of the Jerusalem Intercultural Center and can be reached at hagai@jicc.org.il. This article is published in conjunction with the Common Ground News Service and forms part of a special series on Jerusalem.

jicc2014-10-08T19:44:13+00:00June 26th, 2010|Blog, Cultural Competence, Identity Groups and Conflicts, Inter-Cultural Community Dialogue, Jewish Religious Denominations, Jewish-Palestinian/Arab, On Jerusalem, Palestinians/Arabs, Ultra-Orthodox Jews|

Hot Summer 2009 – the JICC Involvement in the Ultra-Orthodox Conflicts

Summer 2009 was very dense with issues related to the Ultra-Orthodox (Haredi) community in Jerusalem. One issue was around the opening on Saturday of a public parking lot in close proximity to the old city. Another major case was the arrest of a Haredi mother who allegedly starved and hurt her son for more than a year. Every weekend throughout the summer, Haredis rioted in their neighborhoods and near the parking lot. Also, throughout the week of the arrest of the Haredi mother, the Haredi neighborhoods were on riots, and municipality services were prevented from approaching them. Specifically, welfare services did not function for several weeks as a result of the Haredi community blaming them for being active in the arrest of the mother.

The JICC has become the main mediating agent in these conflicts. It was our work during the week when the mother was arrested that enabled all sides to sit together and achieve a solution that allowed the riots to stop. Since then, we have been working closely with all sides to respond to the many conflicting issues, which could each develop into a full blown crisis. We were involved in the court discussions, in the children’s interrogation, in the mother’s visits of the relevant child etc.

This story is not over yet. As we write this post, during Succot Hol Hamoed, we are handling another crisis around the Welfare Department’s involvement in the case. We observed professional people on all sides who act according to their best professional judgment in this case. However, in a complex culturally-sensitive environment, the usual best professional practices are not always best for the situation at hand – and we try to help all sides to redefine what would cultural competent professional work mean in their respective areas – health, welfare etc. The story was covered on a Jerusalem Post article on July 23, when our work on this issue just begun. We hope that when the issue is resolved, we will be able to write the full story as an important case study for the need for cultural competency in all services.

In the case of the Karta parking lot, we were also involved in most of the negotiations and with the efforts that allowed the “ceasefire” in September. We are still involved, together with the highest officials at the municipality, police and Haredi community, in the endeavors to calm the issues for the future.

Altogether, we must admit that with all these unfortunate and difficult events, this was a very interesting and fruitful summer for us. We accumulated a great deal of knowledge and experience and demonstrated our important role and significant contribution in the city. Most important – we created even better contacts and relationships with the innermost circles of the Haredi community. A clear outcome of this development is that at present, whenever problems are about to erupt, all sides call us to intervene – it took us 10 years to acquire this legitimacy in Jerusalem!

jicc2016-11-07T19:36:26+00:00October 7th, 2009|Blog, Identity Groups and Conflicts, Jewish Religious Denominations, Ultra-Orthodox Jews|

A Strategic Group on Ultra-Orthodox – Non-Ultra-Orthodox Relations in Jerusalem – August 31, 2009

Since the last post on this forum we convened twice more and concluded our in-depth discussion on housing issues in Jerusalem in the context of Haredi – non-Haredi relations in the city. This was not an easy task since while we were discussing long-term strategy the city experienced tensions between Haredi and non-Haredi populations, which resulted in riots in the streets. Such tensions could be easily reflected in our work. Yet, all participants in the forum made every effort to maintain our focus on the long-term issues. At the same time, many of the participants helped the JICC in the parallel behind-the-scenes process of responding to the riots and tensions.

During today’s meeting the detailed housing plan of the city was presented by the municipality, specifically highlighting potential housing solutions for Haredi and non-Haredi populations. It became obvious that while prospective areas for non-Haredi neighborhoods do exist, there aren’t enough options for Haredi neighborhoods. Obviously, this was bad news for the high-level Haredi participants. However, it was well understood that this may reflect negatively on all the others too, since in practicality it means that young Haredi couples will be forced to look for residential solutions in a number of other neighborhoods and tensions between the populations will continue. Yet, the mutual understanding of the problem created the motivation to demand of the municipality professional planners to increase their efforts to find better solutions. Hence, the process of solving the housing issues will be continued on the municipality level, with us at the background. We will communicate our conclusions to the decision makers, many of which are active members of the forum, and continue to our next topic of discussion – the tensions in Jerusalem. Stay tuned to read about our October meeting.

jicc2014-04-07T20:04:46+00:00August 31st, 2009|Blog, Citywide Religious Denominations Dialogue, Identity Groups and Conflicts, Inter-Cultural Community Dialogue, Jewish Religious Denominations, Ultra-Orthodox Jews|

A strategic group on Ultra-Orthodox – non-Ultra-Orthodox relations in Jerusalem – May 24, 2009

Today we convened once again for the meeting of Jewish Jerusalemite leaders that discuss and negotiate a strategic approach to relations between Ultra-Orthodox and non-Ultra-Orthodox Jews in Jerusalem. The meeting took place at the office of the Municipality Engineer, with 15 participants – municipality council members, high-level Rabbis, and non-Ultra-Orthodox leaders and professionals.

The meeting focused mainly on housing issues in Jerusalem, and the feeling was that the group had an important breakthrough. In previous meetings we understood that demographic changes in different neighborhoods create most of the tensions. The main way out is to find proper solutions for expansion for both Ultra-Orthodox and non-Ultra-Orthodox populations, while minimizing co-living in the same neighborhoods. The religious autonomy required in Ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods, and the extremely different perspectives that the two groups hold on the character of the public sphere, require separation between the communities as much as possible. The main solution for the short term is the creation of 15,000 new apartments for each of the two populations, in different parts of the city. Obstacles for moving forward with this solution exist and important questions and issues were raised.

Yet, additional housing is only part of the solution. While the Ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods are very appealing to the Ultra-Orthodox Jews, many non-Ultra-Orthodox residents do not find their neighborhoods attractive, leading them to decide to leave the city. Frequently they sell their apartments to Ultra-Orthodox Jews and then again mixed neighborhoods – with their many tensions – are created. An integral part of the solution must be the effort to make these neighborhoods more attractive in terms of culture, improved services etc. The Ultra-Orthodox members of the group said, to the surprise of some other members, that they are willing to support such processes, in order to keep the non-Ultra-Orthodox residents in the city.

At the conclusion of the meeting the participants felt that we made an important step forward and they are now looking forward to our next steps.

jicc2014-04-07T19:51:44+00:00May 24th, 2009|Blog, Citywide Religious Denominations Dialogue, Identity Groups and Conflicts, Inter-Cultural Community Dialogue, Jewish Religious Denominations, Ultra-Orthodox Jews|

A strategic group on Ultra-Orthodox – non-Ultra-Orthodox relations in Jerusalem – February 18, 2009

We reported in an earlier post that the JICC invited a group of Jewish leaders to begin a high-level process of discussions and negotiations on the future of Jerusalem. Since then the municipal elections took place, following which a group was quietly formed to look for agreed-upon strategies for Ultra-Orthodox and non-Ultra-Orthodox Jews to live together in the city.

It is interesting to note that at present the non-Ultra-Orthodox Jews who live in Jerusalem can only be defined by “what they are not”. In the past, the alternative to Ultra-Orthodox was “secular”, reflecting affiliations in the city. The “national-religious” and other traditional Jews were defined as “in-between”. Nowadays, the demographics of the non-Ultra-Orthodox group show that it can no longer be called “secular”. Yet, this group is perceived by many residents as hegemonic in Jerusalem. Also, in many ways, the anxiety of “Haredization” of the city is common to most of the non-Ultra-Orthodox residents – be them secular or religious.

On January 19, 2009, the group of high-level Jewish leaders met for the first time to begin the tough and hard dialogue on the future of the city, looking for shared strategies. the issue of affordable housing for all groups was raised as central. For the non-Ultra-Orthodox, the issue of culture was also prominent. It was claimed that for many Jerusalemites, the city is not attractive enough. The group agreed that Jerusalem needs to preserve its “conservative” character, while at the same time creating a vibrant cultural atmosphere.

Today, on February 18, the group met again to continue the learning process. Messages were deepened and it was agreed that towards the next meeting a document should be drafted for discussion. Stay tuned for further reports as this important process unfolds.

jicc2014-04-05T18:00:09+00:00February 18th, 2009|Blog, Citywide Religious Denominations Dialogue, Identity Groups and Conflicts, Inter-Cultural Community Dialogue, Jewish Religious Denominations, Ultra-Orthodox Jews|

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