From kollel to computer desk

Haredi Center for Technological Studies

Who would have thought that the tradition-bound Haredim (or “ultr-Orthodox” Jews) would look toward the high tech sector once cutbacks in government subsidies began to send more of their men onto the job market?  I personally might not have ever made the connection that intensive Torah study could prepare someone for learning computer programming languages, but when I think of the Haredim’s many daily hours spent decoding “pages filled with nonlinear, multiple conversations and different typefaces” it makes sense (Rosenthal, 190).  It obviously made sense to Dr. Abraham Fuss, who founded the Haredi Center for Technological Studies in 1996.  Dr. Fuss recognized “the need for a place where Haredim could be trained for professions without compromising their standards, enabling them to earn a decent livelihood to support their large families.”

Dr. Abraham Fuss

With the concern for strict haredi standards in mind, the institute
offers night classes so that Haredi men can continue their religious studies during the day.  The classes are male or female only, since the Haredim are prohibited from studying in universities where coed classes are offered.  Haredi women have generally already studied basic English and mathematics, and so are at an initial advantage over the men.  However, Haredi men reportedly quickly grasp these subjects after some introductory courses. 

A plaque at the entrance to the school contains a quote from Moses Maimonides, which reads “The highest degree of charity is to help a person earn a livelihood, so that he needn’t rely on others.”  Based on the Haredi Center’s website, its founder seems to have been committed to this motto.  A short bio on Fuss off the Center’s website concludes:   “The successes of the graduates as they went out into the workplace were his pride and joy. Every graduate who found profitable employment gave him “naches”, and he felt that each one was a Kiddush Hashem, making a good name for Haredim as reliable, intelligent, industrious and honest workers.” 

It seems this “making a good name” is increasingly important for the Haredim.  Based on Donna Rosenthal’s The Israelis, there is some degree of animosity toward the Haredim amongst the non-orthodox and secular Israeli community.  It makes sense:  the Haredim receive government subsidies and exemption from military duty; meanwhile, many ultra-Orthodox Jews vehemently oppose the state of Israel, seeing it as man interfering with the work of God.  I can see why some non-Orthodox Israelis would feel resentment toward the Haredim.  On the other hand, the Haredim both represent and actively preserve a key element of Jewishness:  the dedicated study of the Torah.  According to Rosenthal, “quite a few centuries-old observations written by rabbis who were psychologists of their day are still rich and relevant...” and one of the Haredim she interviewed declared that “‘the spiritual wealth of learning Talmud is worth more than any paycheck.’” (177). 

Be that as it may, various factors are driving increasing numbers of haredi men into the workforce, often resulting in unfamiliar experiences, both for themselves and their new colleagues.  Tzvia Ehrlich-Klein’s article “High-Tech Haredim” quotes an employee of a “major Jerusalem high-tech company” about his experience with a haredi coworker:  “I never worked with anyone before who wore a kapota... and I certainly never shared a bag of bisli with anyone like that.  Though we live in the same city, we live in two different worlds...But since Moshe and I started working together on this Internet project, we both discovered that we can like and respect each other without dressing the same way or having the same worldview.”  There is definitely some useful wisdom in that statement. 

So just how successful has the Haredi Center been?  According to the website, some 10,000 graduates have entered the workforce since the school opened, and they claim an 80% success rate.  It is difficult to gage the reliability of the Haredi Center website.  For one, accessing official data on how many employed Israelis are actually graduates of the Haredi Center would be nearly impossible.  Furthermore, the website clearly has an interest in making the school appear successful so as to attract students.  Ehrlich-Klein’s article is posted on Torah.org, a religious website, so there is also a suggestion of a bias there.

What we can say for sure, though, is that anyone who can pore over esoteric Hebrew texts for twelve hours and generally eschew the outside world world would probably feel right at home in the role of a programmer.