Bloomberg Businessweek - USA (2019-11-25)

◼ ECONOMICS Bloomberg Businessweek November 25, 2019

30

Kahan,thefounderofPardes.“We’retryingto

givethemsomethingtolookforwardto.”

Kahan followedreligiousstudies similarto

Yossi’sforyearsbuteventuallyveeredoffintoaca-

demia,earninga Ph.D.inSemiticlanguages.He

soonconcludedthatrigorousstudyofreligious

textsisn’tthatdifferentfromsiftingthroughintel-

ligenceinterceptsforcluesthatmightboostIsrael’s

security.A coupleofyearsagohestarteddevelop-

ingPardes,whichlaunchedinSeptember.Hehas

caughttheattentionofMossadbossYossiCohen,

whoisseekingtoattractmoreHaredimtothe

agencyina tightlabormarket.“Weareworkingto

widenthesocialcirclesthatthepeopleofMossad

comefrom,”Cohensaidata conferenceinJuly,call-

ingoutPardesbyname.“Theintentionis tointe-

grateHaredimintoeverypartoftheorganization.”

TheHaredimhavelongbeenisolatedfrom

secularIsraelisociety.AroundthetimeofIsrael’s

foundingin 1948,Prime MinisterDavidBen-

Gurionofferedconcessionstoreligiousleaders

togaintheirsupport,includinganexemption

fromthemilitarydraftforyoungmeninsem-

inaries.Atthetimeonly 400 scholarswereeli-

giblefortheexemption,butthesedayssome

30,000Haredimeneachyearskipmilitaryser-

vice.Haredimtypicallyliveinsegregatedneigh-

borhoods;inJerusalem’sMeaShe’arim,groupsof

menindarkhats,longblackcoats,andsidecurls

wanderthestreetspastsignswarningofa dress

code,andboyshavestonedcarsthatdaredenter

ontheSabbath.Theysuccessfullyleda campaign

toshutdownmostpublictransportationandbusi-

nessinIsraelfromFridaysundownintoSaturday,

andtheyoftenspurnsecularsubjectssuchassci-

enceandEnglishinschools.

Withanaverageofsevenchildren,vs.justover

twofornonreligiousIsraeliJews,theultra-Orthodox

arethecountry’sfastest-growingdemographic,on

tracktorepresentabouta fifthofthepopulation

by2040.ManysecularIsraelisresentthefreepass

theHaredimhaveonthedraft,thesubsidiesthey

getfortheirlargefamiliesandtheirschools,and

theiroutsizevoiceinreligiousandpoliticallife.

ThelatterwashighlightedlastspringwhenPrime

MinisterBenjaminNetanyahu’sattempttoforma

governmentwithultra-Orthodoxalliesfoundered

overdemandsthatmorereligiousmenserveinthe

army.Aftera do-overelectioninSeptember,the

countryremainsina politicaldeadlock.

Pardesis oneofatleasta half-dozenprograms

working tointegrate Harediminto society as

moreultra-Orthodox look for work and employ-

ers seek untapped talent pools. The nonprofit

Kemach Foundation provides scholarships and job

placement services to Haredim. The Haredi Institute

for Public Affairs, a group that researches the com-

munity, this year began a program to bring more

ultra-Orthodoxwomenintotechcompanies.And

anorganizationcalledKamaTechhascreateda

coworking space for religious people with a layout

similar to WeWork—but men and women are seg-

regated and the kitchen is kosher. “A lot of young

Haredim want an opportunity to be part of the work-

force,” says KamaTech founder Moshe Friedman.

The roughly 50 Pardes students were selected

from 2,000 applicants drawn to the program for

reasons ranging from a desire to find purpose-

ful work, to the need to earn more for their fami-

lies, to wanting to contribute to Israel’s security. At

first, Yossi was uncertain whether he should side-

line his religious studies, and even if he pursued

a profession he didn’t know what field to choose.

But after consulting with his rabbi, Yossi prayed

for an hour atop Mount Meron in northern Israel,

where a noted Jewish mystical sage is entombed,

and decided to sign on. “Some people are bothered

by this,” Yossi says. “But it’s not sustainable for only

women to support the family. And a man wants

todosomethingwithhimself.”�IvanLevingston

THE BOTTOM LINE After decades of relative isolation, Israel’s

Haredim are being drawn into the workforce via programs aimed at

tapping their analytical skills for security agencies.

● Malaysia’s electronics manufacturing hub is drawing

renewed interest as China and the U.S. battle

Penang Looks Like

A Trade War Winner

Penang’s pastel-hued, colonial-era buildings speak

to the Malaysian island’s history as a key trading

post for the East India Company, when spices filled

its warehouses and the British and Dutch vied for

dominance in the region.

Today, it’s the U.S. and China that are wrestling

for economic supremacy—and Penang’s electronics

industry that’s reaping benefits. Malaysia has found

its niche as a neutral player in the trade war, helped

by the fact that about one-quarter of the popula-

tion is ethnic Chinese and an even larger propor-

tion is proficient in English. Penang logged a 134%

● Haredi share of

Israel’s population

*PROJECTION. DATA: CENTRAL BUREAU OF STATISTICS

2015

11%

2065*

32%

2040*

20%