Feature: Israeli ultra-Orthodox Jews' bumpy road to integration into society

Last week, a controversial law which exempts ultra-Orthodox Jewish or Haredi schools from teaching English, maths and sciences, was passed in the Israel's parliament.

It reverses a previous law stating that ultra-Orthodox schools refusing to teach these "core" subjects would not receive state funding from 2018.

It is now up to Israeli Education Minister Naftali Bennet, who is a national religious but not an Orthodox Jew, to decide to what extent these schools must teach such "secular" knowledge.

Israel has more than 800,000 ultra-Orthodox Jews, making up about 10 percent of Israel's population. With a high birth rate of an average of six children per family according to Israel's Central Bureau of Statistics, the ultra-Orthodox Jews have become the fastest growing population in the small country.

However, their participation in the workforce is not substantial, with only half of the men and 70 percent of the women employed.

Some economists fear they will increasingly become a burden on the Israeli economy as more tax burdens will fall on Israel's secular workforce.

Nowadays, many of the young ultra-Orthodox Jews study only basic maths and English and this happens largely in their elementary years of education.

They lack basic skills to integrate into the society which sees a high-school diploma as a prerequisite for almost any job.

But Rabbi Yehuda Polishuk, who heads an NGO dealing with educational issues concerning Jewish values and traditions, begs to differ. According to Polishuk, there are a large number of ultra-Orthodox schools which do teach core subjects.

"The data from the last 10 to 15 years show a gradual increase in participation in the workforce. This is not a result of draconian laws but an approval from rabbis. The natural process is a healthy one, any surgical intervention is harmful," he said.

Still, he says most ultra-Orthodox Jews prefer to study in schools that do not teach core subjects.

Polishuk describes the changes as a gradual evolution.

"As long as the population is growing, it is also more diverse and there will also be diversification in the types of jobs undertaken," he said.

Although Haredi Jews used to occupy jobs traditionally affiliated with religion, they can now be found doing a wide range of jobs, from accounting to interior design.

Rabbi Polishuk says this focus on religion stems from a belief that studying the Torah, the main scriptures in Judaism, is a value within itself, not necessarily for having a profession.

But how religious Jews assimilate into Israeli society is a contentious subject because it has led to heightened tensions within the small country.

The ultra-Orthodox Jews are largely exempt from military service, which is mandatory for secular Jews, both males and females. A secular Jew attempting to evade military service will be given severe punishment, including a prison sentence.

Attempts to enlist ultra-Orthodox Jews have failed, since their political power, which goes way beyond their actual numbers in society, is so strong that their privileges almost cannot be touched.

Hundreds of thousands of Orthodox Jews have taken to the streets several times in protest of attempts that would force them to integrate further into Israeli society.

The reversed law was passed during a short period when the ultra-Orthodox parties were in the opposition and a secular party led by Yesh Atid had the power to bring out such a reform.

In a statement after the repeal of the law, the Yesh Atid party said, "The Israeli government has sold our children's future and taken from an entire generation the ability to support themselves."

In a column published by the Haaretz newspaper, David Rosenberg said the decision would "move forward the clock on the time bomb ticking away toward an economic blowup."

For years, the poverty rate of the Haredi population in Israel has remained over 50 percent, much higher than the other Jewish populations.

However, Haredi Jews living abroad are not subsidized by local governments and they have to work in addition to religious studies. Some Israelis believe this is proof that work and religion can be combined for ultra-Orthodox Jews.

But Polishuk says the ultra-Orthodox community in Israel is doing that as well, despite perhaps not at the pace the secular Jews would prefer. He says the Haredi population sees no reason to "change a winning horse in mid-stream."

"It has worked well for hundreds of years. People made a successful living and led a religious life," he explains. Endit