Haredi Masculinities between the Yeshiva, the Army, Work and Politics: The Sage, the Warrior and the Entrepreneur

264 Pages·2016·1.452 MB·English

by  Yohai Hakak

Haredi Masculinities between the Yeshiva, the Army, Work and Politics
Jewish Identities in a
Changing World
General Editors
Eliezer Ben-Rafael
Yosef Gorny
Judit Bokser Liwerant
VOLUME 27
The titles published in this series are listed at brill.com/jicw

Young Haredi men, Jerusalem, 2015. Photographer: Haim Rivlin.
Haredi Masculinities between the
Yeshiva, the Army, Work and
Politics
The Sage, the Warrior and the Entrepreneur
By
Yohai Hakak
Translated from Hebrew by
Myriam Ron
LEIDEN | BOSTON
Cover illustration: Young Haredi men, Jerusalem, 2015. Courtesy of Haim Rivlin.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Hakak, Yohai, author. | Ron, Miriam, translator.
Title: Haredi masculinities between the yeshiva, the army, work and politics :
 the sage, the warrior and the entrepreneur / by Yohai Hakak ; translated
 from Hebrew by Myriam Ron.
Other titles:  Talmid-ḥakham, ha- loḥem ṿeha-yazam. English
Description: Leiden ; Boston : Brill, [2016] | Series: Jewish identities in a
 changing world ; volume 27 | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2016014631 (print) | LCCN 2016016481 (ebook) | ISBN
 9789004319332 (hardback : alk. paper) | ISBN 9789004319349 (E-book)
Subjects: LCSH: Ultra-Orthodox Jews—Israel. | Orthodox
 Judaism—Relations—Nontraditional Jews. | Secularism—Israel.
Classification: LCC BM390 .H28313 2016 (print) | LCC BM390 (ebook) | DDC
 305.6/96832095694—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016014631
Typeface for the Latin, Greek, and Cyrillic scripts: “Brill”. See and download: brill.com/brill-typeface.
issn 1570-7997
isbn 978-90-04-31933-2 (hardback)
isbn 978-90-04-31934-9 (e-book)
Copyright 2016 by Koninklijke Brill nv, Leiden, The Netherlands.
Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill, Brill Hes & De Graaf, Brill Nijhoff, Brill Rodopi and
Hotei Publishing.
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This book is printed on acid-free paper and produced in a sustainable manner.
Contents
Acknowledgments vii
Introduction 1
1 Masculinity, Youth and the Haredi Minority in Israel 12
2 From the Army of God to the Israeli Armed Forces 39
3 Between the Holy and the Practical: Young Haredi Men
Acquire a Profession 57
4 Journey into the Meanders of Israeli Politics: Haredi Men in
the Likud Party 115
5 Filmed on a Weekday 167
6 From the World of Torah to the Heart of Israeli Society: Concluding
Discussion 200
Bibliography 225
Index 241

Acknowledgments
Numerous people read, commented and helped improving the research pre-
sented in this book. I will start by thanking the many Haredi interviewees
who accepted me into their world and were willing to share their thoughts
and feelings. This research was not possible without your generosity, trust and
openness. Special thanks to Prof. Tamar Rapoport for her endless patience
and support. Many others have also read and made useful comments includ-
ing Dr. Neri Horowitz, Prof. Tamar Elor, Bezalel Cohen, Dr. Yoel Finkelman,
Prof. Menahem Friedman, Prof. Amiram Gonen, Dr. Edna Lomsky-Feder,
Prof. Aviezer Ravitzky, Dr. Yaakov Lupo, Aharon Feuerstein, Aharon Rose,
Prof. Shaul Stampfer and Dr. Shlomo Tikochinsky, louis Frankenthaler, Dr. Sima
Zalcberg—many thanks to you all. My dear friend Ron Ofer collaborated with
me on making the documentary series discussed in chapter five also deserves
special thanks. We spent a lot of time discussing research findings and think-
ing of the best way to translate them into film language. This was a uniquely
exciting experience. My parents Tzvi and Michal Hakak and my brothers Royi
and Amitai Hakak were always willing listeners to my many dilemmas and
ideas. This book would not have been published without the support of my
dear wife, Penny Rabiger-Hakak who proof-read too many drafts. I know that
you can almost recite by heart most chapters. Thank you.
The book is based on research that was published in Hebrew by the
Floersheimer Institute for Policy Studies and the Israel Democracy Institute.
These were updated and adjusted. Other parts were published in the journal of
Men, Masculinities and Spiritualities.