Research of ultra-Orthodox (Haredi) Society

In recent years, the ultra-Orthodox sector in Israel has experienced development and expansion in several areas, including demography, politics, culture, and the public arena. The effect of this sector is apparent in different strata of Israeli society, posing challenges that have sparked a widespread public discussion.

The changes that ultra-Orthodox society is undergoing are also manifested in internal processes in areas of consumption, employment, entrepreneurship, vocational and academic studies, and participation in civic life. In view of all this, and in light of the forecasts that predict an even greater increase in the extent, power, and influence of ultra-Orthodox society, a need persists to scientifically study this society and to conduct a public discussion of the various issues related to it. The ultra-Orthodox society research project is one of the arenas in which the Jerusalem Institute for Policy Research serves the research and public discourse of various aspects of ultra-Orthodox society, for the purpose of helping realize the potential inherent in this society and to better understand its motivations and needs. Researchers from within and without ultra-Orthodox society participate in these studies, thereby enabling encounters between researchers, policy makers, and representatives of ultra-Orthodox society.

Research topics are diverse and include, among other things, cultural groups within the sector, demographic and social processes, cross-community differences, elementary school education, Torah studies, higher and vocational education, employment, construction and housing, ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods and cities, cultural patterns, leisure, political behavior, and communication patterns.

The Jerusalem Institute is studying ultra-Orthodox society in various ways:

by initiating and publishing studies, by conducting conferences on topics related to the study of ultra-Orthodox society, by training researchers from ultra-Orthodox society, by granting research scholarships and encouraging the publication of research, by maintaining the Haredi Society Researchers Forum, by publishing a research journal called “Research of ultra-Orthodox society”, by holding an open discussion platform called “ultra-Orthodox discourse”, establishing an annotated bibliography of research publications regarding ultra-Orthodox society, and building a database of ultra-Orthodox society.

The research findings are available to a broad range of bodies and figures whose activities relate to ultra-Orthodox society, are affected by it, or desire to affect it, including policymakers and implementers at the local and national level, bodies that are active in ultra-Orthodox society, employers eyeing the possibility of employing ultra-Orthodox individuals, researchers aiming to expand the knowledge of ultra-Orthodox society, and media that wish to utilize research knowledge of ultra-Orthodox society.