This week in Jerusalem: Tradition, tradition!

• Published date: 07 October 2021
• Author: PEGGY CIDOR
• Publication title: Jerusalem Post, The: Web Edition Articles (Israel)

Many years ago, Tevye the milkman shouted it on the roof, but these days the tradition he spoke of is spreading widely among Israelis – who not long ago would have defined themselves as secular. But no more, as the most recent figures provided by several organizations reveal that 40% of Jewish Israelis define themselves today as "traditionalists."

Once a definition that referred to those lacking a strong Jewish identity or commitment at various levels, also often attributing the notion just to Jews of Sephardi origin, today this has become a wide field of identification for many. Hence, not surprisingly, Jerusalem, – long considered a symbol of traditional Jewish identity – was set to host this week two large events celebrating the phenomenon.

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On Sunday (October 3) the nonprofit association Tor Hazahav (from the Hebrew "the golden age") launched the Lobby for Traditionalism at the Knesset, followed by the first national convention on traditionalism – a three-day joint project between the Tikkun association and Yad Ben-Zvi Institute.

Forsake me not?

The ZAKA organization warned against it many times last year as the nation fought corona, but it seems that nothing has changed thus far. After 47 cases of lonely seniors found dead – and too often in a stage of advanced decay – during 2020, two new cases occurred during the last week of Sukkot.

Reporting a strong odor from their apartments, ZAKA teams were called through their hotline by neighbors to two apartments – one in Mevaseret Zion and the other in the Ramot neighborhood. The teams in both cases had to break down the doors, where the two bodies were found in a state of decay. In Mevaseret it was a 87-year-old Holocaust survivor found dead on Friday, and a day later, on Shabbat, the ZAKA team found a 60-year-old lone man lifeless in the Ramot.

Industrializing the Talmud

The shortage of classrooms in the haredi sector is not new to Jerusalem's powers-that-be. Together with the lack of classrooms in the Arab sector, this has been a problem that all mayors for the past 20 years have faced – mostly failing to provide adequate solutions. While the present administration at Safra Square has put considerable efforts toward this, in both sectors, the situation on the ground is still far from satisfactory.

But recently, the lack of classrooms in the haredi sector has caused a...