haredi

Israeli ultra-Orthodoxy has maintained an isolationist stance toward the general public in Israel since the State’s founding. In the aftermath of October 7th, however, segments of the ultra-Orthodox community have activated to support the war effort in unprecedented ways — including some 3,000 who have drafted into the IDF. In this episode, Rav David Silverstein is joined by Hareidi rabbi, leader, and activist Rav Yehoshua Pfeffer to discuss the evolving relationship between Hareidim and the State of Israel.

Rabbi Yehoshua Pfeffer, a rabbi and rabbinical judge, learned under Rav Asher Arieli and Rav Asher Weiss, holds a law degree from the Hebrew University, and clerked at the Israel Supreme Court. In addition to serving as the founding editor of Tzarich Iyun, a journal of Charedi thought (that shares the name of our podcast!), Rabbi Pfeffer directs programs for the haredi community in Israel for the Tikvah Fund, teaches on the law faculty of The Hebrew University, and is a community rabbi of Kehillat Ohr Chadash in Ramot, Jerusalem.

Questions? Feedback? Have a topic you'd like to hear discussed?
Email us at oraytapodcast@gmail.com and we look forward to "continuing the conversation."

Music from "Ashreinu" by Omek HaDavar
Recorded in the Old City of Jerusalem at Yeshivat Orayta (orayta.org) | Facebook | Instagram

İsrail’de işgal karşıtı kimlikleriyle de bilinen bazı Yahudi grupları, ülkede yargı bağımsızlığını ortadan kaldıracağı gerekçesiyle protestolara neden olan “yargı reformu”na da tepki verdiler. Anadolu Ajansı Kudüs Muhabiri Mücahit Aydemir ile konuştuk.

For months, hundreds of thousands of Israeli citizens have taken to the streets to protest government plans to overhaul the judiciary—including plans that would vitiate checks on executive power, allow a simple majority of 61 in the 120-seat Knesset to override almost any ruling by Israel’s Supreme Court, and permit politicians to appoint most of the Court’s justices. Both the protests and proposed reforms take place against the backdrop of significant demographic changes which, in turn, have enhanced the power and parliamentary representation of Israel’s religious parties. Given the Knesset’s current makeup therefore, the reforms will—at least indirectly—grant the religious parties extensive influence over Israeli society. 

In this episode, Middlebury College political geographer and Professor of Geosciences Tamar Mayer explains why these plans for judicial reform have pitted the government against many of its citizens, what is at stake in this crisis, and why the roots of this crisis stretch far back into Israel’s past.

SHOW NOTES:

Podcast produced by Margaret DeFoor and Mark Williams.

Outro by Middlebury student Vee Syengo ‘25

Music Credits

• Forte by Kestra - Summer with Sound Album
• Soul Zone by Kestra - Light Rising Album

For more information on New Frontiers podcast episodes and guests visit the Rohatyn Center for Global Affairs website.