New Census Projections: Jerusalem 50% Israeli, 50% Arab By 2035 May 8, 2007

Jerusalem’s demographers have released their census projections for the near future for Jerusalem. The Holy City has seen a Jewish population increase of 140% since it was reunified in the Six Day War.

On the “Arab” side, however, the population has increased 257% over the same period, outpacing their Jewish counterparts by 83%. If current trends continue, Jerusalem is in for a huge demographic shift.

The Jerusalem Post reports:

The capital’s Arab population has increased at more than twice the rate of its Jewish inhabitants over the last decade, according to a survey released by the Jerusalem Institute for Israel Studies on Monday. By 2020, if current trends continue, 60 percent of Jerusalem residents will be Jews, while the remaining 40% will be Arabs.The city’s population is currently 720,000, 66% Jews and 34% Arabs.

Its population has increased by 170% from 300,000 since it was reunified in the Six Day War. In the last four decades, the Arab population of Jerusalem has grown by 257% (from 68,000 residents to 245,000) while the number of Jewish inhabitants has increased by 140% (from 200,000 to 475,000), the survey shows.

The Arab growth rate over the last decade was 3-4%, the survey found, more than double that for Jews.

“If these trends continue, we could reach the 60/40 rate by 2020, and by 2035 we could see the same number of Jews and Arabs in the city,” senior institute researcher Dr. Miya Hoshen said.

Is there a huge Palestinian influx into Al-Quds driving this population change?

Tens of thousands of Israelis continue to migrate from the city to the suburbs, a trend that began in the 1980s….Among the main reasons cited by those who have left the city are better job opportunities and more affordable housing.

Apartments in Jerusalem are going for Manhattan prices. Every time I see a listing in Rehavia going for $1000, $1500, or as much as $4000 per month — and these are dollars, not shekels — I think to myself, “how can Israelis afford this?” The average monthly salary of even Israeli “electronic communications” technicians as late as September 2006 was only 18, 468 shekels per month. Even at the Israeli rule-of-thumb rate of four shekels to the dollar, we’re talking gross $4,617 per month, and these are the highest paid workers!And let’s remember, Jerusalem is not Tel Aviv. The average salary in Jerusalem is actually 18% less than in Tel Aviv with the average salary in Jerusalem (of all workers) being about (again using the same rule-of-thumb rate) $1800 per month gross.

And let’s not forget about employment status: perhaps another reason that the Jerusalem demographic is changing could be the fact that the Arab employment rate is higher than its Jewish counterpart with 76% of Arab households containing employed persons, as opposed to 66% on the Israeli side.

We need to see economic development initiatives increasing exponentially in the Jerusalem area. The residents of Jerusalem need economic empowerment. We need to see a proliferation of things like Startup Jerusalem to draw entrepreneurs and small business. The Jerusalem Development Authority should continue to draw investment and business development to the region.

The poverty rate in Jerusalem has increased 40% since 2000 to the point that 1 in 3 Jerusalem families were living in poverty in 2005. And this is not explained by a simple, curt “oh, they’re haredim learning in kollel somewhere.”

These ultra-luxury complexes going up in the Holy City are beautiful, and are bringing, baruch Hashem, many American and European Jews who may not have otherwise come. But they’re driving out Israeli Jews and no one is replacing them. Moshe Q. Tzibbur simply can’t afford to pay 50% or more of his Israeli salary in housing expenses. The Jews leaving are primarily young adults aged 20-34, perhaps newly married religious couples going off to start a new life in affordable Beit Shemesh, or secular people going off to make more money in Tel Aviv. Regardless of their psychographic, the 20-34 age group is always a key group to innovation, driving a city’s economy and a city’s general vibrance.

I’m sure Jerusalem will miss them.

We see, now, perhaps, some of the preliminary effects of the gentrification of Jerusalem. And it is most ironic that in Jerusalem, the Holy City of all places, there seems to be a dearth of affordable housing.

May G-d save us from a world in which corporate greed and real estate luxe takes over His Holy City as we see in many metropolises around the world. May the Holy City never become an exclusive playground for billionaires. I believe with all my heart that the same Holy City which three times a year made space for all of the Nation of Israel to enter its gates surely can hold under a million Jews in adequate affordable living situations. Should the privilege of living in the Holy City come with a Lower Manhattan pricetag?

Jerusalem can’t let this gentrification continue. Economic development and affordable (rent-stabilized perhaps?) housing of some type must be a priority in Jerusalem, and the rest of the world.

Jewish-Christian Unity: Rabbi Tells Interfaith Dinner to “Focus on Shared Values”

From the Canadian Jewish News:

A retired U.S. Navy chaplain says his experience as a rabbi in the armed forces taught him that focusing on common social issues is the best way to improve relations between Christians and Jews.“The secret of the chaplain corps was not talking about theology first…Instead, we rolled up our sleeves and talked about shared concerns [first] – [soldiers] in pain, those in fear, those suffering from doubt or loneliness,” Rabbi Arnold Resnicoff told the the 21st annual Neighbourhood Interfaith Dinner…

Rabbi Resnicoff said it’s possible to be moved by the faith and teachings of others, noting that he was inspired to become a rabbi by a Christian chaplain who served with him in the Vietnam War…He said Jews and Christians have “conflicting visions of the end of days,” and so he stressed the importance of working together on issues in the here and now, such as poverty and homelessness.

“The more we focus on getting through today – making this a better day – the more we can agree. Therefore, focus on poverty, crime, injustice and discrimination. Work on projects like Habitat for Humanity, which help the homeless.”

Rabbi Resnicoff outlined three pitfalls to avoid in interfaith dialogue, which he calls the “rules of engagement.” Firstly, he said comparisons between religious groups can’t be a comparison between “our best and their worst.” Secondly, one can never compare “our teachings to their actions.” Thirdly, in a comparison of teachings, don’t compare “our beliefs to their words” because beliefs are learned in context while words can be taken out of context from others’ holy books.

By the way when Resnicoff mentioned shared values, note that he left things like the typical “hot-button” topics for religious citizens conspicuously absent.What did he call for religious citizens to form a united front to combat?

Poverty, crime, injustice and discrimination.

Four things which no religion advocates, yet four things which are often caused by disunity. Actions and gestures of interfaith unity deserve the utmost of respect.

Syria: The PR Game May 2, 2007

So by now the news is the buzz of the gantze District of Columbia: Condi is going to Syria.

Her first meeting ever with her Syrian counterpart, the historic US-Syria meeting could take place as early as tomorrow (Thursday), the Wyoming-based Casper Star-Tribune tells us:

Preparations are under way for the United States to meet in high-level talks here with at least one of its fiercest Mideast enemies: Syria…An Egyptian official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not allowed to speak with the media, said Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice could meet with her Syrian counterpart as early as Thursday…

If Rice meets with Moallem it would be the first such high-level talks since the February 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, for which many blame the Syrian government. Syria denies it had anything to do with the killing, but U.S. and European officials have since shunned the regime.

The U.S. also accuses Syria’s leaders of allowing terrorists to use their country as a staging area for sending fighters, weapons and other material into Iraq _ allegations Syria denies.

Apparently I’m not the only one without short-term media memory loss, because ThinkProgress.org said the exact same thing I was thinking. Not six weeks ago, when Nancy Pelosi went to Syria, it “wasn’t the right time”, it was counterproductive, it was the wrong thing to do. Now, it seems that the W cabal have changed their tune, and now want to involve Syria in dialogue.

By the way, want to know how Nancy Pelosi was received in Syria? What did Syrians think about Ms. Pelosi’s visit this March?

In short, they LOVE her.

Even the right-wing Washington Times had to take note:

The second most popular politician in Syria these days may be an American: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. The California Democrat warmed Syrian hearts with her trip last month to Damascus, an event that people still share with visiting Americans as conversational currency.”Nancy Pelosi is good, yes?” asked a Damascus laborer who found himself sitting next to an American at a greasy gyro stand this week. “Nancy Pelosi, good American.”

Pictures of Mrs. Pelosi and Syrian President Bashar Assad — officially Syria’s most popular citizen — still turn up on the local news channels, especially during coverage of the dispute between President Bush and Congress over the Iraq war spending bill.

Mrs. Pelosi’s two-day visit to Damascus was a major news event here. Camera crews trailed her as she bought sweets in the ancient Hamadieh souk, made the sign of the cross at what is thought to be the tomb of John the Baptist and donned a black abaya to visit the historic Omayyad Mosque.

Mrs. Pelosi, 67, is praised as “a friend of Syria,” and that makes her more influential than Oprah Winfrey and more appealing than the old Hollywood movies shown on satellite television.

One meeting! One summit! Now she’s a “friend of Syria”! Now she’s bigger than Oprah!

“I love her,” said an Iraqi woman who has emigrated to Syria. “She’s a grandmother, so handsome, so cute. I see myself, my old self, in her.”Despite the lingering personal affection, few expect U.S. policy to change as a result of Mrs. Pelosi’s visit. “She is a different face of America, but she does not have ideas, any solutions,” the Iraqi woman said.

Ms. Rice? Unmarried, not as personable, and most likely, not as automatically likable as her Democratic predecessor.I make the statement: this must have had something to do with the White House’s change of heart. This regime is hankering for good publicity and when they saw what Pelosi’s visit did, now they want to follow suit.

I have the sinking feeling that Ms. Rice’s visit is no more than a strategic move in the chess game known as global PR and, no matter what any Syrian official says, the current administration plan will proceed as planned, whatever that plan may be.

OK, maybe conversion to Islam isn’t such breaking news… May 1, 2007

…but Reuters thought it was.

This past Thursday, Reuters ran the story entitled: “Are you nuts?” A woman converts to Islam about a Dutch woman, Rabi’a, and her story of conversion to the devout niqab-wearing Muslimah she is today.

Rabi’a Frank is a 31-year-old Dutch woman who converted to Islam in 1994…She is married to a Moroccan man who grew up in the Netherlands, and they have three sons.In 2005 she began to wear the niqab face veil and is one of about only 50 women in total to do so in the Netherlands, according to estimates by the Dutch Muslim community. Bubbly and spirited, Rabi’a spoke to Reuters in her home, where she unveiled to reveal a blonde pony tail and western clothes.

“I was young when I became interested in Islam and when you are young, nothing is strange, you just dive in. It is a bit of a cliche — I had a Moroccan boyfriend. At first I wanted to learn more about his culture. I got out library books about Morocco and then I got to Islam. I read about it in secret. I didn’t want to give him the impression that I was doing it for him…

“I can’t really pinpoint when I first started thinking I should wear the niqab. But when I first became a Muslim I was in love with Islam. I was like a sponge, everything was Islam, Islam, Islam. After a few years that feeling became less intense yet I wanted it again — I wanted to do something more for Allah. Seeing other women in a niqab touched something in me. I told my husband I wanted to wear it too. ‘Are you nuts?’ he said. He was not happy about it, but my feeling didn’t go away.

“Wearing the niqab has nothing to do with being ashamed of your femininity or being oppressed. It is just a way to express more love to God.

“It is nonsense to suggest that by wearing a niqab I don’t take part in society. When you walk through the streets or go shopping, how much contact do you really have even without a niqab? It is not as if you talk to everyone you meet. A woman once said ‘I can’t make contact with you,’ but I thought, ‘well did we ever make contact before?’”

I always like reading stories like this. I always like reading stories of people who convert to ultra-Orthodoxy, but remain chill, remain cosmopolitan, remain well-adjusted. Devout observance obviously does not make one a terrorist, closed-minded, intolerant, bigoted, or backward, and ultra-Orthodox converts like Rabi’a serve to prove this.Rabi’a relates her decision to take shahadah and become Muslim was not readily taken well by her parents:

“When my mother heard of my conversion she rushed into my room screaming and crying, yelling: ‘Why did you do that, what are you thinking?’ It was awful. I thought to myself: ‘That reaction is exactly why I didn’t tell you.’”Wearing the hijab felt like a form of liberation. Every day I had had to walk past some builders and they would whistle at me. Then the morning I walked past in my hijab they didn’t.

“On the one hand I felt so happy, thinking, ‘Finally, this is who I am,’ but on the other hand I wanted to say ‘Hey, look, I am still the same girl underneath.’”

And that’s what many people don’t realize when it comes to converts to ultra-Orthodoxy. We really are — for better or for worse, as for many of us, therein lies the source of our spiritual struggles — quite often, the same underneath.Sometimes they can be the same progressive, forward-thinking people underneath. Just circumscribed by different guidelines. And perhaps with a different dress code.

Those people who consider “fundamentalist” and “bigot” (or worse, “terrorist”) to be absolute synonyms often can’t comprehend when one of their peers or relatives takes on such a drastic change in lifestyle. They fear the person losing their mind a la John Walker Lindh or Muriel Degauque. They see something as being “wrong”, for instance, in Rabi’a’s case, with any woman who in her right-mind would want to cover up such large areas of skin in 2007.

Indeed, they even may consider it “breaking news” shocking enough to merit three pages on an international newswire.

But, by and by, as PhillyBurbs.com quotes one evangelical as noting, “although many mainstream religions are losing members, those such as Orthodox Catholics, Orthodox Jews and Evangelical Protestants are growing and attracting the young.”

No, Rabi’a’s not “nuts”.

Kudos to Rabi’a and all others who maintain their sanity and identity while maintaining their stance against secularism. No terrorism, no bigotry, no division necessarily.

Just a relationship with G-d based on text. Ken yirbu.

In Defense of Orthodoxy…Revisited April 30, 2007

In my previous post, I vented what I was feeling inside regarding what I felt to be an unfair double standard placed on Orthodox Jews. We are supposed to compromise our beliefs and observances to be more “modern”, more “with it”, more “accommodating”, and, quite often, if we dare say words like “must” or “supposed to”, we’re accused of being overbearing sticks-in-the-mud.

One commenter said, as a result of reading my post, “I didn’t know that (perfect faith) was a prerequisite to not being treated like (crap).” Reactions like this always lead me to scream the same anguished yelp, “Why don’t people realize that I’m not advocating this?”

Who would advocate people being treated like crap. “Not giving someone an aliya” is not a blanket permission to treat someone like crap, all I was implying that, by not giving a Conservative rabbi an aliya, the person wouldn’t necessarily be halachically in the wrong. For treating someone like crap, however, someone would be halachically in the wrong.

The Shabbos guest should politely decline, the aliya can easily be passed off to the rabbi’s son/brother/gabbai. There is no reason necessarily for a halacha-based difficulty to turn into an interpersonal issue. And this is beautifully demonstrated by today’s In the Trenches blog on the JPost site. First Mr. David Harris brings up the Rav Mordechai Eliyahu quote. Then:

And in the second incident, Micky Boyden, a Reform rabbi who moved to Israel and lost a son serving in the army in Lebanon, had his invitation to chant (k)El Moleh Rahamim at the local commemoration for Israel’s war dead rescinded by the local council in Hod Hasharon after some…threatened to disrupt the solemn ceremony because he is Reform.Forgive me, but are we nuts? An ordained rabbi leaves Britain and moves to Israel with his family. His son makes the ultimate sacrifice for his adopted nation. And yet local officials…deny him the opportunity to lead a prayer at a public event in connection with Memorial Day.

(I’m going to overlook the potentially anti-haredi overtones in the article.)The previous post referred to simple actions like not giving an aliya. Here is someone not being refused a religious honor, but the congregation being told, “if you give this guy this honor, we’re going to bring the ruckus.”

There is a big difference between the two, and I hope that such a distinction is readily apparent.

Putting Money Where the Torah Is: New Haredi Consumer Bloc In Israel

From The Jerusalem Post:

The haredi community launched what might prove to be the nation’s largest-ever consumer bloc on Sunday.Dozens of yeshivot, seminaries, women’s schools and other educational institutions from all walks of haredi society - Lithuanian, Hassidic and Sephardi - plan to concentrate their buying power. Working together, these institutions hope to eliminate the middlemen and pressure wholesalers to lower prices.

The official creation of the consumer bloc was announced Sunday at a conference at Airport City near Ben-Gurion Airport.

I say it time and time again. Economic empowerment is the key to the upward mobility of any community. Charedi Orthodox Jews, who for a while had the dubious honor of being Israel’s most hated group, battle against institutionalized stereotyping (because even working 12 hours a day, to some the pe’ot still mean “parasite”) and often voice complaints of Torah values being undermined and all but done away with in some sectors of Israeli society.But when potentially millions of shekels go walking, the businesses come talking. In Yiddish and lashon ha’kodesh. With a rabbi in front of them.

“We hope to achieve savings on staple products and food of as much as 30%,” said former Knesset Finance Committee Chairman Ya’acov Litzman (United Torah Judaism)…Every fourth baby born in Israel is haredi and so is 52% of the Jewish population under 18 year old.

Haredi demand for some products - such as diapers, soft drinks and public transportation - far exceeds the community’s relative size in the general population. This became apparent during the El Al boycott: Haredi consumers, guided by their spiritual leaders, put pressure on the national airline to stop flying on Shabbat by brandishing their disproportionately high demand for aviation services as a bargaining chip.

“No other consumer group enjoys such discipline and unity,” said Dr. Shlomo Ness, an attorney and accountant who chairs the professional advisory committee that will help the amalgam of haredi institutions organize under a single banner.

First of all, let us not overlook the gravity of that statement: the demographic majority of Israeli youth in 2007 are charedi Orthodox. Bli Ayin Ha’ra!Orthodox institutions from all over Israel, uniting under a single banner, to make sure that Torah-observant consumers have their concerns addressed and their needs met. Making sure Torah gets a fair shake in the Israeli business arena.

A new application of Torah im derech eretz — Torah together with the business world.

Clothing…Under Strict Rabbinical Supervision

Reprinted from the Yeshiva World News, the chatzer charedi tirelessly serving as a charedi newswire:

According to Ynet News, the Tzibur Hacharedi in Yerushalayim has established a new Tznius Bais Din to grant kashrus certificates to women’s clothing stores.The Bakehila newspaper, reported over the weekend that an assembly of Rabbonim gathered at the home of Rav Eliyashiv Shlita, and decided to establish the Tzinus Bais Din.

Representatives will examine the garments sold in clothes stores and will grant kashrus certificates to worthy vendors.

There. An objective standard and hechsher. It is my sincere hope that this closes the issue once and for all.

You Don’t Have To Be A Zionist…

to love Israel. Or to support IDF soldiers in their faith or to provide IDF soldiers with a holiday celebration.

The world-renowned kabbalists, Harav Ya’akov Hillel shlit”a and Ha’Rav David Batsri shlit”a will G-d willing, this Sunday, Lag Ba’Omer, be addressing a group of 500 IDF troops in Jerusalem. As the Jerusalem Post tells us:

Rabbi Ya’acov Hillel, head of the Ahavat Shalom Yeshiva and Rabbi David Batzri, head of Yeshivat Hashalom are scheduled to address the soldiers in Jerusalem Sunday on the anniversary of the death of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, who, according to Jewish tradition, authored the Zohar, the basic text of Kabbala.Batzri’s son, Yitzhak, who is also slated to speak before the soldiers, said Kabbalists and soldiers had complementary roles in fighting Israel’s enemies….

Both Batzri and Hillel are students of Rabbi Salman Mutzafi, who was a senior member of the virulently anti-Zionist and now defunct Sephardi Edah Haredit. Like their teacher, neither Batzri nor Hillel vote in Israeli elections.

“We do not want to be participants in a state that passes laws inimical to Judaism,” said Yitzhak Batzri. But Batzri said that defending the Jewish people was a tremendous merit.

“By protecting the Jewish people those soldiers are doing an incredibly important mitzva,” he said. “Only Torah study is more important. But if a Jew is not learning Torah then he is obligated to enlist in the army.”

Exqueeze me? I’m sorry, what did the Rav’s son just say?

“But if a Jew is not learning Torah then he is obligated to enlist in the army.”

GASP!May the actions of these rebbeim contribute to achdus Yisra’el by helping to quell one of the biggest rifts in Israeli society — the haredi vs. hiloni split over military service.

Whether or not this statement changes an individual’s decision as to whether or not to enlist in IDF service or to remain in learning is irrelevant. Regardless of how the individual Jew or Jewish institution paskens, the statement has been said. By the son of a chacham.

[Said Yitzhak Batzri], “We learn from [the teaching of Jacob’s wrestling with the angel] that in every generation there are two planes of struggle: The primary one is spiritual and the secondary one is material. One takes place in the heavenly realm, the other on the battlefield.”"By protecting the Jewish people those soldiers are doing an incredibly important mitzva,” he said.

L’ma’an ha’Torah, that’s got to have some validity.

And keep in mind, these are gedolei Yisra’el, great Rabbis of Israel, who learned under anti-Zionists. And here they are, telling IDF soldiers that they’re doing a mitzva. Just for saving lives and defending lives of Jewish people.

You don’t have to be a Zionist — you don’t even have to support the medinah or vote in elections — to support Jews, Israel, or even, apparently, IDF personnel. So, hopefully, once and for all, this will end the “oh, you don’t consider yourself Zionist? So you think Israel should be destroyed and millions of Jews killed?” question.

And again, this has nothing to do with the ins and outs of Zionism or how “right” it is (or whether or not it is right, or what it even consists of in 2007). It just needs to be delineated: there’s such a thing as “Zionism” and such a thing as “supporting Israel” (and/or “supporting Jews”). Let’s delineate the two and enable ourselves to, like Offspring, keep them separated in our minds.

Israel’s New Census Data April 25, 2007

The Jerusalem Post today ran the story about the new Israeli census. Today , Israel stands at 7.15 million, a 1.8% increase over last year. 75.7% of Israel’s population are Jews.

Israel’s population increased by 121,000, or 1.8 percent, since last year’s Independence Day, reaching a total of 7,150,000.The Central Bureau of Statistics released the data ahead of Independence Day, which starts Monday evening.

The population growth was mainly a product of a high birthrate. Some 148,000 babies were born in 2006, and 18,400 new immigrants arrived.

According to the latest CBS figures, out of 24,000 Israelis who left the country in 2004 for a period of more than 12 months, 10,000 have returned.

Israel’s 5,415,000 Jews and 310,000 “others” - mostly non-Jewish immigrants from the former Soviet Union or those whose Jewish status is undetermined - make up 80% of Israel’s population. The Arab and Druse population numbers 1,425,000, or 20% of Israel’s citizens.

The country’s five largest cities, Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Haifa, Rishon Lezion and Ashdod, account for a quarter of the population, or 1,810,300 people. Another 462,200, or 6%, live in small towns, while just 119,700 - less than 2% - live on kibbutzim.

The full release in Hebrew is available here.The Jerusalem Post also referenced a less readily-available study:

Approximately 47% of the population would, if born again, prefer for that to happen somewhere other than Israel, according to an “alternative survey” conducted by the Geocartographic Institute’s iGeo subsidiary.The survey, conducted in early April among 500 Israeli Jews, found that 70% of Israelis from the FSU would prefer to be reborn outside Israel, 19% of them specifying Russia as their country of choice and 15% the US.

Among wealthy local-born Israelis, 62% said they would like to be reborn abroad, 18% in the US or Canada, 8% in Switzerland and 6% in Sweden.

The survey revealed surprising findings from pensioners; 59% said they would rather live abroad. Twelve percent would choose the US, 9% Switzerland, 6% Australia and 3% would seek retirement in New Zealand.

Among the poor, 58% would have preferred to be reborn abroad, a figure close to that among the wealthy, which stands at 52%. Most in both groups mentioned the US and Canada as their chosen alternative homeland.

In contrast, 83% of the modern Orthodox sector, 80% of those living in rural towns and kibbutzim, and 65% of Israel’s well off pensioners said they would choose to be reborn in Israel.

An interesting insight. But I don’t know what to do with the results of the iGeo study.

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