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Category Archives: Haredi
Life as a Haredi Jew
Baruch Hasofer writes: Unlike membership in an outlaw motorcycle club, being part of normal Haredi society brings benefits beyond a meth habit, jailtime and dental issues. For instance, if you minimally have your stuff together, you’re guaranteed gainful employment or … Continue reading
Posted in Haredi
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From Margin to Center: How the Lithuanian Haredi Stance Captured Power in Israel, 1967–1980
In June 1967, the central Haredi public, the world of Agudat Yisrael, met the war with euphoria. HaModia compared the IDF’s advance to the Exodus. Daglenu (דגלנו, “Our Banner” was the journal of Tze’irei Agudat Yisrael, the youth movement of … Continue reading
Posted in Agudath Israel, Haredi, Israel, R. Ahron Kotler, R. Elazar Shach, R. Ovadia Yosef, R. Yosef Shalom Elyashiv
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‘The New Haredism: Revolution in the Seventies’
I first heard about this Israeli historian of Haredi Judaism, Yair Halevy, from Marc Shapiro’s lecture series on the Langer Affair. Halevy’s dissertation is titled מהפכת החרדיות החדשה בשנות השבעים, “The New Haredism: Revolution in the Seventies.” He submitted it … Continue reading
Posted in Haredi, R. Shlomo Goren, R. Yosef Shalom Elyashiv
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Goren as Proxy: Alliance Theory and the Capture of the Rabbanut
R. Shlomo Goren (1917-1994) rises through the IDF chaplaincy because David Ben-Gurion (1886-1973) needs a halakhic (Jewish law) authority who answers to the secular state. The standard rabbinical establishment objects. Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Herzog (1888-1959) makes the formal appointment of … Continue reading
Posted in Haredi, R. Ovadia Yosef, R. Shlomo Goren, R. Shlomo Zalman Auerbach
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The Jurisdictional Wars: Alliance Theory and the Battle for Orthodox Jewish Authority
Orthodox Jewish high-status actors do not compete for authority by openly claiming they want power. They compete by invoking moral languages that frame their authority as fidelity to Torah, continuity of tradition, or protection of the community. This is the … Continue reading
Decoding Lakewood’s Orthodox Jews
Per Alliance Theory: Lakewood functions as a high-density processing plant for the Orthodox soul. In David Pinsof’s Alliance Theory, it represents the final stage of institutional capture, where the alliance no longer needs to negotiate with the surrounding environment because … Continue reading
Decoding Monsey’s Orthodox Jews
Per Alliance Theory: Monsey and the Rockland County cluster represent the transition from a religious community to a parallel state. In David Pinsof’s Alliance Theory, this is a totalizing alliance where the cost of defection is not just social, but … Continue reading
Decoding Belz Yeshivot – Jerusalem
Per Alliance Theory: Belz Yeshivot function as the mass reproduction engine of a Hasidic empire whose core product is loyalty rather than intellectual distinction. Understanding what Belz actually optimizes for clarifies why it behaves as it does, why other Haredi … Continue reading
Posted in Alliance Theory, Haredi, Hasidim, Yeshiva
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Decoding Mir Yeshiva – Jerusalem
Per Alliance Theory: Mir Yeshiva Jerusalem is best decoded as the scale engine of the Litvish world. If Ponevezh is a throne room and Hebron is a nobility school, Mir is the metropolis. Start with size. Mir is the largest … Continue reading
Posted in Alliance Theory, Haredi, Yeshiva
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The Different Ways Fundamentalist Jews & Christians Struggle With Modernity
Fundamentalist Christians navigate the same alliance pressures as the Haredi world. Both groups face a modern world that claims jurisdiction over their sacred texts. However, their strategies for managing epistemic defeat differ based on their relationship to the Bible and … Continue reading
Posted in Bible, Christianity, Haredi, Hasidim
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