The Rise of Haredi Power

Over the past few decades, Israel’s Haredi community has transitioned from the political periphery to a position of power and influence. Now at the center of Israeli public debate, longstanding resentments around the community’s promotion of its own interests as well as its self-proclaimed role as “guardian of Jewishness” are resurfacing.

Donniel Hartman, Yossi Klein Halevi, and Elana Stein Hain ask: are there any compromises that will contain Haredi power or will the rise of the Haredim necessarily come at the expense of mainstream Israel? Will the Haredi community’s surging population mean the inevitable end of liberal Israel? Listen here:

For Heaven’s Sake is a podcast from the Shalom Hartman Institute’s iEngage Project that revives the lost art of Jewish debate for the sake of illuminating a topic, not sowing division. The podcast draws its name from the concept of Machloket l’shem shemayim, “Disagreeing for the sake of heaven.”

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