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Why were the ultra-Orthodox harmed more than Corona?
The answer is not just poverty
Diseases always affect the weaker sections more, but focusing only on the economic situation of the victims will not give us the full picture in this case.
Avichai Snir and Ronen Bar-El explain what else sets the ultra-Orthodox apart
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Corona
religious
poverty
Avichai Snir
Friday, 01 January 2021, 00:57
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2021 has arrived, and it is a good time for interim summaries of the Corona period.
One of the things that is less pleasant to remember is that according to a study by the Weizmann Institute, the mortality rate from the disease among the poor is particularly high.
This is seemingly not surprising, because the death rate from disease has always been higher among those who have less ability to defend themselves.
But in the country, the corona has particularly hurt the poor not just because they have less money.
It also happened because almost a quarter of the poor in Israel are ultra-Orthodox, and another 40% are Arabs.
So instead of writing that the corona hit the poor particularly hard, one can also write: the corona hit the population groups that were least strict with the rules.
It is no coincidence that the Weizmann Institute chose to concentrate on the poor and not on the ultra-Orthodox or the Arabs.
For years, the political discourse dealing with poverty has eluded the question of what kind of poor it is.
Almost no politician, including ultra-Orthodox politicians, declares: "I want to help the ultra-Orthodox."
Politicians declare: "We want to help the poor."
The result is that most assistance to the ultra-Orthodox is provided as part of "assistance to the poor", and not as part of assistance to the ultra-Orthodox.
An ultra-Orthodox family where only the woman works receives about NIS 1,900 as assistance to the ultra-Orthodox, and almost twice as much, NIS 3,475, assistance to poor families.
It is probably less eye-popping to call support for "aid to the poor" than to tell the truth and admit that this support is meant to help a very particular group of the poor - poor Arabs, for example, receive less.
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But while financial support is what attracts the most public criticism, it is not the biggest problem.
A large part of the ultra-Orthodox lifestyle is possible only because the children are hardly at home.
After all, for a secular person, there is no way to raise 8 children in a three-room apartment.
For the ultra-Orthodox it is possible.
In general education, no one talks about a long school day anymore.
In ultra-Orthodox education, it has existed for years.
The children are at school most of the day, eating at school, and coming home only in the evening.
Older children, study in a yeshiva and come home only during the holidays.
Our colleague from Bnei Brak once claimed that it is not true that the meetings are subsidized, because he pays NIS 1,000 a month for each child.
There were those who answered that raising a child in Israel for NIS 1,000 a month is half free.
Impossible situation.
Haredim (Photo: Reuven Castro)
The state subsidizes the way of life
The corona put the ultra-Orthodox in an impossible situation.
They can not close the education system, because it will crowd the families in the small apartments.
Therefore they have no choice but to send the children to school
The support system (funded by the state) allows the ultra-Orthodox to hold a large number of children despite the small apartments.
If the state had not subsidized the education system that takes the children out of the home, the ultra-Orthodox lifestyle that includes a large number of children in a crowded environment would simply not be possible.
The price, we, and the ultra-Orthodox, are paying now.
Because of the social structure created with the support and encouragement of the state, the corona put the ultra-Orthodox into an impossible situation.
They can not close the education system, because it will crowd the families in the small apartments.
So they have no choice but to send the children to school despite the risk that if one gets infected, everyone will get infected.
When the corona runs out, and we hope it is not far off, the huge deficit and the need to fund it will be revealed.
Obviously the economic left (well represented in the political right-wing parties as well) will be required to do so without harming the weaker sections.
Maybe they will even demand to help them, because the poor have been hit the hardest by the corona.
If we are tempted to listen to them, the result will be more budgets that will reach the ultra-Orthodox and encourage them to continue studying in the yeshiva, multiply the children and continue to live in overcrowding (because the children are not at home anyway).
Instead of helping the poor, we will encourage them to remain poor.
Then, when the next virus comes, there will again be more dead among the poor, there will again be a demand to give them more budgets, and God forbid, until the Messiah comes, and an artist is said.
Dr. Avichai Snir, Netanya Academy and Bar-Ilan University
Dr. Ronen Bar-El, The Open University
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