The Non-Orthodox of Israel

Non-Orthodox Jews, whom are also referred to as secular, reform, or conservative Jews, find themselves in the midst of internal religious conflict within the state of Israel and Orthodox Jews.  They consist of 80 percent of Israeli Jewish population in the country, but regardless of what type of Jew they are, they are still Jews nonetheless.  There are those that "eat milk and meat, but never on Sabbath.  Most are two holiday Jews who pray in synagogue only on Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur. Others pray in the soccer stadium, but only when their team is losing" (Rosenthal, 232).  Most non-orthodox Jews still believe in God and Jewish spirituality but are just not as interested in the synagogue based aspect of the religion.  This leads to Orthodox Jews looking down upon those are not Orthodox.

 At times there would be discrimination.  For example, when Sivan Meshulam was a little girl, she would walk home from school and the Haredi would call her a certain name.  It turned out that she was being called a slut in Yiddish.  It is known that "Haredi men on 'modesty patrol' sometimes harass secular women with exposed arms and legs who enter their neighborhood.  They have thrown ink and cursed at dozens of women…" (Rosenthal, 235).  If anything, it is the Orthodox who are at the root of the discrimination because of their very biased point of views.  Sivan feels that "it really annoys [her] that there are narrow-minded haredim who think everything that deals with Judiasm is theirs.  They believe they have better values, that they're holier than use.  We're also legitimate Jews" (235). 

This picture deals with the high tension between the religious and the non religious jews in Israel. Original source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/yonilcom/2864358139/

As stated in this recent article regarding Israel violating religious freedom, the Religious Freedom Report places Israel with Afghanistan, China, Iran, Iraq, and Sudan in the list of governments that lack government protection of non-Jewish holy sites.  "Government allocations favoring the Orthodox, extra legal protection to Jewish holy sites and Orthodox hegemony over life-cycle events are among Israel's religious freedom violations".  The report said that "Government allocations of state resources favored Orthodox (including Modern and National Religious streams of Orthodoxy) and ultra-Orthodox (sometimes referred to as 'Haredi') Jewish religious groups and institutions, discriminating against non-Jews and non-Orthodox streams of Judaism".  It was also reported that the state does not recognize conversions performed by non-Orthodox rabbis.  The only marriages that can be recognized are those that have been performed by the Orthodox Jewish establishment.  The same goes with who can be buried at Jewish state cemeteries.  It is good to see that what is going on in Israel is being recognized throughout the world as a problem.

There are some really interesting points of view in chapter 11 of the Rosenthal book regarding the subject on non-Orthodox Jews.  She used real life examples to show the struggles that these non-Orthodox Jews face on a daily basis.  There is a lot of insight provided and to be honest, I was completely unaware of this issue.  To help gain a better understanding, I was able to find an article on the Jerusalem post that was posted just a couple days ago (November 18)!  Things are not going to change until the Orthodox Jews that have control over the government are willing to provide the non-Orthodox with assistance in their fight for religious freedom.  

Israel's Tech Industry

Israel has one of the biggest high tech industries in the world and it continues to see exponential growth.  Even Bill Gates famously said "that Israel has developed the best high-tech culture outside the United States" (Rosenthal, 92).  In the city of Haifa, well known companies such as Microsoft, Sun Microsystems, GE, Motorola, IBM and Hewlett-Packard have R&D centers.  One of the biggest companies in Israel is Intel.  The engineers at this particular building did most of the work on the Pentium processors.  Also, they developed the Centrino and Dotan chips that are now used in laptops in secrecy along with chips for cell phones.  Intel also happens to be Israel's largest foreign investor.  According the a relatively recent Jerusalem Post article, "the high-tech industry in Israel makes up about 15 percent of its $200 billion yearly GDP, but accounts for a full 40 percent of Israel's exports, according to the Ministry of Finance". Its technological exports by monetary value include high-tech, medi-tech, and agri-tech products.  Their economy isn't based off of oil, but the sand and brains of the Israeli people.

Intel's building located in Haifa, Israel. 

Not only does Israel's tech businesses produce smart chips and innovations that make our lives easier, they also work to make our lives healthier by producing new biological breakthroughs.  It just so happens that "Israel has more engineers, scientists, life science researchers, and physicians per capita than any country in the world" (96).  Israel is also the fourth when it comes to the number of biotech, medical devices, and diagnostics startup companies.  If you have ever heard of the "PillCam", then now you know it was invented by an Israeli.  It was invented by Gavriel Iddan who is a missile scientist with a wild imagination.  This invention made it possible to bring good news to millions of people that might have suffered from tumors, ulcers, irritable bowel syndrome, and Crohn's disease.  Just one of many life saving inventions by an Israeli.

Gil Shwed is known as the Bill Gates of Israel (they call him Gil Gates).  He made the company CheckPoint (a leader in internet security and one of Israelis most imported firms on the Nasdaq) into a multibillion dollar company and in 2002 was on the front page of Forbes as one of the worlds few self-made billionaires.  Gil happened to be a computer programming prodigy but worked for the IDF before becoming an entrepreneur.  Many believe that the reason why the Israelis have been so successful in this field is because they are "so innovative because they always question what they're told to do" (83).  Even the current Prime Minister Netanyahu believes that technology should always be a priority of Israel in order to stay competitive in the long run.

Gil Shwed, the Bill Gates of Israel as he poses for Forbes Magazine. 

Most of the information for this blog came from chapter 4 in the Rosenthal book and an article (which is linked earlier in the post) from the Jerusalem post.  Donna Rosenthal's chapter is full of facts and interesting innovations made by Israelis.  She dedicated a solid 20 pages on this topic in which I was very impressed with. She praises the Israelis for being some of the smartest people in the world.  While I got the majority of my information from Rosenthal, I was able to obtain that article from JPost in which the author mainly focuses on the tech economy and how important it is to help companies that are just beginning. Overall, I was intrigued a great deal by this topic.