In a posting on his Facebook page, MK (Labor) Erel Margalit address the derogatory fashion in which many refer to chareidim, particularly those labeling the community “parasites”.
Margalit insists that chareidim actually do wish to work and join the workplace. They are not parasites and not living off of the nation as many accuse them of doing.
POSTING:
Statements such as this type repel me. But how many times in our lives have we judged people based on their appearance or ethnic association? How many times have we developed hatred based solely on stereotypes?
I met these people today (see photo). They all studied and are certified engineers. They all dream of integrating into the hi-tech world. They all want to work and support their families respectably.
It seems that being a chareidi in the secular workplace is problematic, all the more so in hi-tech. They send resumes and employers can deduce from their name, the number of children and type of education that they are chareidim. They do not even get invited for an interview. Their appearance turns off employers. For those who finally land a job they are paid far less than others.
They are viewed as cheap labor. It doesn’t not matter that their studies are the same as all others or even if they served in the IDF or national service. They will forever be “those chareidim”. We fail to view them as individuals but rather as one glob of black. This is how we push away and entire sector instead of making them an integral part of our world.
MK Amnon Cohen and I are heading a caucus promoting employment of chareidim. We believe that we can succeed in bringing this population into the workforce. What was done in Intel can be duplicated in many other factories and companies. The trick is to believe in people and see and believe in their abilities. To look past the beard, color or gender.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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9 Responses
What we can’t look past are your 18th century mobster uniforms and your sloppy thinking that makes you think it’s necessary to wear one at all. You think dressing like that makes you “more Jewish” or “more observant” when it is really just a way of separating yourself from secular society and showing us how high and mighty you think you are.
SpiderJerusalem, IN America if you were an employer you would be charge with discrimination. It should be made a law
in Eretz Yisrael not to discriminate. I guarantee you would not say that about a Moslem with 10 children or if he had 3 wifes and 15 children. This is what is the problem with the leftist in Israel. I don’t want to dress like you or my wife does not want to dress like you, but that does not mean we disrespect you. Your way of dress is to copy the goyim. You can’t get enough of the goyish idea. Go learn a little Torah for a change, and it might open your mind to beable to think rather than being like a sheep and following the goyim for your ideas
#1 You have it all wrong. No one thinks that they are “more” of anything. This is just their own minhag. It is just out and out discrimination…and we even have here in the good old USA…in New York yet. Many NY firms do hire obviously frum workers in “high tech” BUT will not truly promote them. There is a glass ceiling that says you will not go further…despite top ratings. Other firms REFUSE to hire frum Jews at all. Still it is much more discouraging when we find these practices in Israel…from Jewish anti-Semites.
YITZCHOKY, in one sentence you write “I don’t want to dress like you or my wife does not want to dress like you, but that does not mean we disrespect you.” and in the very next sentence you write “Your way of dress is to copy the goyim.”
Now I realize that you think insulting my intelligence is perfectly acceptable because I don’t study enough Torah to make my mind as sharp as yours, but this is just stupid. Is this what the Torah is about?
#1:
Does dressing in jeans and a tshirt make you any more tolerant to anyone else? From your comment it seems not.
If a group of people dressing the same make them high and mighty, then it’s either you are the high and mighty bigot, or you have an inferiority complex. Both of these are treatable.
Get help soon.
Erel is %100 right. Who would of thought that the left would have more respect for the “Frumah”, than the right. Too bad those dogs, Lapid & Lipman, think the Chareidim should take menial jobs like brick laying & street sweepers!
Note this is coming from a leader of the socialist party (even if he is more of a limosine liberal type, as we call them in the USA – a rich entrepreneur with left wing views).
All Labor has to do is say nice things about hareidim, and offer to end conscription (something many on the left favor), and they have a new found set of “natural allies” – as opposed to the Bennett/Lapid group which sees Hareidi Jews as “their misfortune”.
# 6 There is nothing ‘menial’ about bricklaying, street sweeping, or any other form of work. I clean sewers. It is in my skill set, it is a needed service, and it contributes to the yishuv ha’aretz. And don’t forget the “olam hafuch” concept. It isn’t all about money, power, and prestige.
#6, I believe Harav Dessler advised frum Jews who are forced out of learning for parnassa reasons to accept only menial jobs, it being improper to devote a Jewish intellect to anything but Torah. I don’t really subscribe to that because (among other reasons), plenty of occupations generally considered menial really aren’t, as “Twisted” noted. I add of my own knowledge that many suffer from personnel shortages (especially in Israel) and pay well.
As for akuperma, if you want to call “the Bennett/Lapid group” Nazis, just do it already. The Goebbels rhetoric isn’t widely known anymore.