Ultra-Orthodox Attorneys

A new Ultra-Orthodox program at Kiryat Ono Academic College is producing thousands of Charedi students with law and business degress, both men and women.

These ultra orthodox lawyers represent a quiet revolution-taking place in that community in recent years. They are going out to work. Among the 40 new lawyers are the children of religious regional council officials and rabbinical scholars. 140 additional attorneys in training are currently doing their internships.

Oy Gevalt! A tank top

The campus looks like a shtetl. Standards of modesty are strictly adhered to. The men and women study on separate days. Lecturers are asked to apply self-censorship in their communications with students and to dress modestly. A lecturer who arrived in a tank top was asked by the students to wear more modest attire.

The course began in 2002 and 1,500 have already enrolled in the law faculty, business administration, computers and accounting. There is a preparatory course in which students improve their skills in math, English, Hebrew etc. The course is offered to married people only. In order to ensure the men do not abandon Torah studies, acceptance to the school requires the permission of the head of the Kollel religious seminary with which the potential student is affiliated.

I find this very heartening. I have been worried for some time now about the direction the Charedi word has been taking, particularly in Israel, with regard to the social acceptability of earning a living. Though sitting in Yeshiva and learning has always been the ideal for the very learned and pious of the community, the choice to do so has become more of a standard, creating a financial crisis of ballooning proportions.

The thought that there is increased acceptance, and now resources such as this program, for the Ultra-Orthodox in the community who do not feel that they are "cut out" for the Kollel lifestyle - or more fascinatingly, their wives, who choose to support the family, is something of a relief.

In addition to being role models for financial responsibility, these new lawyers actually bring some very valuable perspective to the courtroom:

Two days before graduation, the new lawyers visited the Supreme Court. They entered the various courtrooms and imagined the time when they would be litigating. The last time they visited the Supreme Court was six years ago in a demonstration of the ultra orthodox community against the court. Now there are on the other side of the barricade, but it appears that their legal studies have not changed their attitude towards the Supreme Court.

Yonni Faloch, whose mother is the Prime Minister’s Advisor on Ultra Orthodox community, said that the Supreme Court doesn’t understand the needs of his community. “Their rulings do not stem from an anti religious bias: whoever thinks so is misguided. I believe that at some point ultra orthodox judges will sit on the Supreme Court bench and that will minimize the polarization in the society. We will have a presence in courtrooms and people will get to know us. They will understand that the ultra orthodox do not have horns – just beards and moustaches.”

One complication that the article points out is questions about whether the new attorneys are going to take on clients who do not observe Shabbat and Kashrut, and as of now, they choose not to prosecute cases that does not relate in some way to Torah, though they can defend them.

Hatzlacha to these trailblazers.

Hattip: Jameel, who is the place to go for info on the Israeli soldier who was kidnapped yesterday.