Opinion
& Comment
The Underlying Trend
A huge poll run by Teleseker that asked a sample of 10,000
Jewish adults over the age of 18 (about ten times as many as
are asked in a typical weekly political poll) found that 28.3
percent of the youth agedb 1` 18-21 (as opposed to 21.7
percent of the general population) believe that even
entertainment businesses should be closed on Shabbat. Some
50.8 percent of them (compared to 41.7 in the general public)
observe the kashrus laws concerning meat and dairy products.
Almost two thirds (62.1 percent) -- compared to 51.2 percent
of the general population -- say they "always" fast on Yom
Kippur.
The survey found that 37 percent of those aged 18-21 agreed
with the sentence, "Whenever I go into a room, it's my custom
to kiss the mezuzah." Overall in the general
population, only 21.9 percent do this. Perhaps most
encouraging is that only 30.6 percent of the youth (as
opposed to 41.2 percent of the adults) said: "Israel should
be more open to Western culture." And 39.8 percent of the
youth believe that Israel today is too influenced by American
culture.
These figures are refreshing these days when we hear so much
about the rise of the chareidi-hating Shinui party. Even as
thousands flock to support the Shinui party that has no claim
to fame other than its uncompromising opposition to chareidim
and anything that might benefit chareidim, the youth of
Israel are becoming closer to Jewish tradition than their
elders, and many are clinging to visible symbols of the
Jewish tradition, even though they may not stick to other
things that are in reality far more important. As disturbing
as the rise of such a party may be, it apparently represents
only a consolidation of all the chareidi-haters, who were up
until now spread out in Meretz and the Labor party as well as
Shinui, into one party whose main theme is hatred, without
the social and ideological "distractions" that are part of
Meretz and Labor, both of which have a leftist program.
In fact, these numbers probably do not represent a wave of
"return" to Judaism. It is not that Jews from secular
backgrounds are becoming religious, but rather the numbers
reflect the general demographic trends which are now becoming
more evident.
The religious community is simply having more children than
the rest of the Israeli Jewish community, and this is showing
up in these surveys. Chareidi and national religious families
have close to five children per family (kein yirbu)
while the overall rate is less than three children per
family. Though religious Jews are still a minority in Israel
(between a quarter and a third of the overall population)
their children are certainly a much larger proportion of the
total number of children. The numbers in the survey are
certainly consistent with the known demographic facts.
We are always hoping to see a dramatic change in the
attitudes and beliefs of the Jewish population of Israel, as
they recognize the truth of our Jewish traditions. If this
does not happen soon, we can still expect that, despite the
incessant anti-religious propaganda of the media, the
community will gradually become closer to tradition as the
established demographic trends assert themselves.
Veheishiv leiv ovos al bonim, veleiv bonim al avosom
(Malachi 3:24).
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