Actualic brings a psak to be published in tomorrow's Yated Neeman. The psak is signed by Rav Kessler, rav of Modiin Ilit, and Rav Gershon Edelstein. The topic of the psak is regarding women working, and more specifically about the schools teaching the young women for their futures.

I stand here as the representative of the Haredi community and beseech of you, the members of the Coalition, to integrate us into the workforce, support this important law!

An amazing thing about Israel (I just discovered and experienced) - a teenage kid can work as an usher at the Kotel, standing by the Kotel all day long helping people get to where they need to be, just like a teenage kid can work in a warehouse, flipping burgers, walking dogs, delivering flyers or whatever.

Minister of Labor, Welfare and Social Services Chaim Katz has approved a new labor directive shortening the work week to 42 hours and the work month by four hours from 186 hours down to 182 hours. This comes as a result of agreements with the Labor Union in a attempt to bring Israel's workforce more in line with OECD standards.

The new work hours will go into effect in April 2018.

Workers salaries will not be lowered as a result of the change in hours, meaning the salary rate per hour is going up a little bit.
source: Globes

I am in favor of lessening the load of workers in Israel. Employees tend to be overworked and underpaid. What I am curious about is how this will effect employment. Meaning, if employers now have to essentially pay more money, as for the same monthly salaries they are paying out they are getting less work hours in return, will they fire employees to save money? Will they move more to automation?

Also, this might work well for people who already have jobs and are now cutting four hours out of their month and keeping the same salary. Will new employees be offered lower salaries because the same job is for less hours than it used to be?

Also, while this may work well in the unionized jobs, will this be enforced in the private sector?

After a ceremony inaugurating a new yeshiva in Jerusalem that specifically has as its focus the concern for providing a place for the working man to learn in his free/available time, Rav Chaim Kanievsky was asked what working people, with just a little bit of time available to dedicate to learning, should prioritize in their learning.

Rav Kanievsky, reportedly, said that someone with just a little bit of time available should spend it learning mishna brura. Somebody who has a little bit more time to learn, about an hour and a half a day, should divide it up by learning 2/3 of the time gemara and 1/3 of the time mishna brura.
source: Kol Hai News

I'm not really sure what this beis medrash adds, as there are already plenty, in many communities including Jerusalem, that already provide a place for the "working man" or anybody else to learn with a chavrusa or join a shiur. I guess it is a good thing to have a place dedicated to that specifically in which perhaps some people might feel more comfortable than going to a local shul to learn at night or to a standard yeshiva beis medrash and if it actually provides a home for them, great.

and here is an example of what happens when employees without a lot of leverage start to "make trouble" and demand more than what they originally agreed to.

A few years ago Hillel Yaakovson set up a company called Net Source for the purpose of employing haredi women, and he did so to the tune of 600 women.

After some years of employment, the women decided to unionize, after not having their demands met.

They have the legal right to do so.

In response, Yaakovson has announced that he is shutting down the company, Net Source, and everyone is to be fired within 60 days.

He has the legal right to do so.

Yaakovson says that the company is not profitable, and the owners have invested a lot of their own money to keep the business going and to improve it.  Yet, many of the employees see the owners as taking advantage of them and acting in harmful ways. Yaakovson sounds surprised but says they have worked hard to keep the business open and to employ so many people, despite a downturn in income. And therefore they are closing up shop. Within 60 days.
source: Kikar and ShemeshNet

I am sure there are two sides, or more, to the story. They blame the others and the others blame them. I have no interest in picking sides in an employment dispute, and have no way to judge who is right, who is wrong, nor who did or didn't do what.

My point is that when companies are enticed to be forthcoming to a group of people and create special terms of employment, and the employees really have nowhere else to go (by their own choice, as they refuse to enter the general workforce on the regular terms), they cannot start demanding changes to the terms without expecting repercussions, even if they are legally allowed to.

It happened with Net Source, and if other people are not careful, it will also happen with others. If Moshe Gafni does not pay attention and be careful, he is going to get a lot of Haredi women on the unemployment lines when suddenly a dozen companies employing Haredi women decide it is not worth their time to provide special and unique environments to employees who start making more and more demands.

Even if the women are legally allowed to.

If Moshe Gafni is not careful with his crusade for the Haredi women who do not make enough money (and they don't ), he very well may get a lot of them fired. Then they will really be up a creek.

A solution needs to be found, but they better be careful with the demands they make.

One of the main focuses of Yesh Atid in this last Knesset was to get the Haredi community more out into the workplace than they previously were.

The Central Bureau of Statistics released today some new numbers.

According to the CBS, in 2013 the percentage of Haredi men (between the ages of 25-64) in the workplace went up to 56%. Previously it had fluctuated between 40% and 50% in the ten years prior.

The percentage of Haredi women went up to 68% when it has previously been at about 50%.

So, do we give credit for this to Yesh Atid or was it a natural movement and change that was already in process anyway?

Ever go on a job interview, and then hang in limbo, not knowing if you were rejected or if your candidacy is still being considered? You probably call back the company after a few days, or a week, maybe a few times, and try to get an answer or sme direction. Usually you'll be told something cryptic and still not quite know where you stand...

Well, Israel might soon have a law about that.

MK Chaim Katz (Likud) has proposed a law, that passed the Legislative Committee and is now being prepared for voting int he Knesset, that would obligate employers to respond in writing to candidates that were interviewed for a position.

Katz proposes that an employer would have to respond in writing within a week of a decision being made about the candidates status, if his candidacy is being rejected (obviously if the candidate is being hired the employer will inform him/her).

As well, if the employer is sifting through candidates for a position, the employer must inform the potential candidate within 90 days of the advancement of his status. If he does not, a fine can be levied on him of 5010nis (5010?).

Meaning, it is not just rejected candidates that are left hanging in limbo. Sometimes it takes a long time to compile enough candidates for a job, or maybe the position is not immediate, and they leave all the candidates hanging, even though they are still in the pool.

Now, if the law passes, employers have to let the candidate know what his status is, for good or for bad.

source: NRG

this is a recent show on channel 2 news that looked at the issue, the challenges , of integrating haredim into the workforce...

The main thing I get out of it is the extreme challenges involved. People at age 36 with 7 kids just starting to learn a trade and look for work? It is difficult for anyone to find a job, no matter how educated and talented they are - starting off with such a handicap must make it so much more difficult.

At about 9 minutes in, and again later at about 16 minutes in, Dana Weiss talks to Rav Dovid Zicherman. Rav Zicherman both served in the army and has worked (I dont know if he works now and what he does, but when I was in yeshiva, he had opened and managed the first Birkat Rachel supermarket about a block away from my yeshiva). Zicherman is described as being associated with the more extreme parts of the haredi community, and he talks that way. He says working is a curse (unfortunately it is, but that is the world we live in, and it can also be a blessing for some) and thats why they won't work, he says when the haredim will be the majority in 20 years they'll tell the secular what to do, he says when there wont be enough secular to support them, then America will as it does today...

Ever take a sick day from work? Of course you have. Who hasn't? Ever taken a day off and called it a sick day? No? Well maybe your boss does not believe you and thinks you called in sick jjust because you don't want to use up your vacation days? You think that's what the doctor's letter is for - to assure your boss that you were really sick? Well, he might not be so assured. After all, maybe your doctor is in cahoots with you and signed a sick day letter just because you asked him to...

A Knesset Committee is considering approving a new rule that would give your employer the right to demand a second doctor's examination by the doctor of your employer's choice. When you submit your doctor's letter confirming your illness, it will not have details of what you were sick with - for reasons of medical privacy. The employer will be able to send you to another doctor, of his choice, to confirm that you were really sick.

It seems the law already allows employers to demand a second doctors visit, but only when the first doctor is a private, non-Kupa, doctor.

Some oppose it saying that just like the suspicion is that an employee is getting a sick note form a friendly doctor when he is really just on vacation, maybe the employer will send him to a friendly doctor who will say the employee was not really sick and wipe away his real sick days.

Another reason for opposition is that this puts all doctors under suspicion of being involved in fraud. If a doctor is suspected of lying or fraud, he can be investigated and dealt with, but pitting doctor against doctor has both ethical and professional problems...
(source: NRG)

Another problem is who will pay the second doctor? A person generally cannot change doctors in the middle of a quarter. I am not quite sure how the details work, but if I have already seen one specific doctor in this period, I cannot go to another doctor (of the same field) in the same period. I think there are exceptions, and maybe an employer's insistence will have to be made an official exception that would allow you to see the second doctor.

The other day there was a discussion in the Knesset about proposing a law that would create a form of affirmative action specifically for the Haredi community - to advance equal opportunities for Haredim to find employment.

Justice Minister Tzippi Livni opposed the possibility of such a law, saying that Haredim do not want to work.  MK Porush (UTJ) pointed, in response, to research that shows clearly that Haredim who are fully qualified for certain jobs, with academic degrees and the desire to work, are discriminated against and have a harder time finding employment. Livni stuck to her guns and said that Haredim are not interested in joining the workforce and she opposed the law.

I don't know if Livni is right or wrong about what Haredim want. I actually don't even think that it is possible to make such a general statement. Sure, there are plenty of people in the Haredi community that are not looking for work, not interested in working, and want nothing of it. but there are also plenty of people in the Haredi community who want to work, have a very difficult time finding employment, feel discriminated against - both in opportunities and in salary.

Should these people not be helped?

If the government is serious about finding ways to encourage further integration of Haredim into the workforce, it must prepare the workforce for this integration. If the Haredim who want to work cannot find jobs, what's the point of all the government efforts?

I do believe in the efficacy of affirmative action - it does not have to be open-ended, but it should be in place for x number of years, to get things off the ground. once employers, and the job market, see that Haredim are people and employees just like anybody else, then the affirmative action plan can be rescinded. Right now though it is very much needed just to help make such integration attempts a reality.  

MK Yaakov Litzman (UTJ) had proposed a law, that was today rejected in the Knesset. Litzman actually proposed this law about 6 months ago, shortly after the last general Israeli Knesset elections, but it was only voted on today, and rejected.

The proposal was to add to the legal term גזענות, racism, the qualification of acts of banning or boycotting groups, in addition to the already legislated qualifications of persecution, humiliation, degradation, expression of hatred, hostility or violence, or causing strife. As well, Litzman proposed adding the Haredi sector to the list of groups being targeted for racism, so that any of those acts when targeted against Haredim would also be defined as racism.   The punishment for such racism, against haredim, would be jail time from 1 to 10 years, and any results of the racist act would be wiped out.
(source: Ladaat and Kikar)

MK Litzman is still upset about the Haredi parties being excluded from the government. Litzman says the Lapid banned them so as to avoid pictures of the government including bearded people. The law would also have protected Haredim in the general workplace from discrimination.

It's a shame Litzman used his anger over the government to try to pass a law that had no chance of passing, which prevented a possibly good law from passing as well. Instead of focusing on the government and how he was supposedly banned, he should have worked to pass a law about the general workplace, where regular people, Haredim, are trying to get jobs and are discriminated against just because of their appearance. So now it is still not illegal to discriminate against Haredim in the workplace.

Here is what looks like a great program to help people help themselves. This is for people who want to continue learning in Kollel, but are also willing to spend some time working to earn some additional money.


IKEA is planning on opening a branch in Kiryat Ata, near Haifa. In coordination with the local politicians they have designed a program to fill 400 jobs with avreichim who wish to work in the morning hours before heading out to Kollel. The recruiting of the 400 employees is already underway, and these avreichim have begun training for the work they will be doing when the store opens.
(source: Ladaat)

Good for them, and good for Ikea. Looks like a win-win situation all around..

Just yesterday Minister of Economics and Trade Naftali Bennet announced that the government will be allocating 500,000,000 NIS for the project of integrating Haredim into the workforce.

Bennet pointed out that 30% of the 1st graders in the Israeli school system are Haredim. Without this process of integration, the economy will eventually collapse. This issue is even more important than the issue of integration into the army (something, by the way, that I have said all along).

Recognizing that there are cultural, social and [lack of] training impediments preventing the smooth integration, Bennet's plan will be three-pronged:
1. a type of absorption center for Haredi employment. A young Haredi looking for work or training will go to one of these centers and receive all the direction he or she needs - training, leads for employment, etc.
2. a significant portion of the budget will be directed towards actual training in all facets necessary, be it English, vocational or whatever.
3. creating a demand among employers for hiring Haredi employees - in order to break the "glass ceiling" and get employers over their fear of hiring Haredim. While not stated, I assume an example of this would be tax breaks for employers hiring Haredim or other such benefits.

It sounds like a great project for the government to be spending money on, significant money, and something like this can really make a difference and solve problems.

But then I saw the comments about this made by MK Erel Margalit (Labor). Even though Margalit is part of the Labor party, I have great respect for him as the founder of JVP and in general a hi-tech entrepreneur. While not knowing too much about his belief in economic policy, I don't imagine him being one with socialist-leaning policies in the tune of the standard representative of the Labor party.

MK Margalit commented that the Haredim are not an economic burden, but an economic resource and their integration into the workforce should be a national priority, and it is great that Bennet is focusing on such a project.

Margalit says - let's look at the numbers of such a plan:
* 500,000,000 NIS over 5 years is being allocated for this project.
* that 100,000,000 per year
* for 100,000 Haredim
* meaning, the investment per Haredi citizen is 1000 NIS per year
* that comes to 83 NIS per month

As Erel Margalit puts it, the government investment in this project, when the numbers are drilled down, is 3 portions of falafel, with soda, per person each month.

a plate?

While the direction is great, with this being a national priority, significant budgets should be poured into it. To have a significant affect on the issue and make real change on the Israeli economy and on Israeli society, the State should be pouring 7 billion shekels, along with the business sector, into this project!

Margalit even says this would even bring 2.5 billion shekels back into the State coffers in the next 5 years, and another 3.5 billion every year after that, and that is without calculating into the equation the savings on welfare and the other stresses on the economy we currently deal with on this issue).

3 falafels with soda? While a lot of business can be done over a lunch meeting, I believe Margalit is correct that it is going to take more than a few falafels to deal with this seriously.

We are in an historic time: in the coming years, large parts of the Haredi community, men and women, are going to be joining the workforce, and we as a State are obligated to create the proper atmosphere in order to properly facilitate the integration of workers from the haredi community into the workforce. We must create the proper atmosphere that will allow us to work together - shoulder to shoulder - with our brothers the Haredim. I want to thank all those doing the work that brings blessings to the State of Israel

  -- Minister of Economic Affairs and Commerce Naftali Bennet, speaking at the dedication of a new professional training course for haredi women

I am shocked and astounded that this could happen.

According to Kikar, the "Kollel Hi-Tech" which was recently established in Bnei Braq for avreichim who had chosen to study a trade but wanted to continue to learn Torah for part of the day, has been forced to shut down.

[some of] the avreichim who will no longer be.. photo credit: Kikar

After some rabbonim opposed it, and after some hafganot against it in Bnei Braq, the Rosh Kollel yesterday announced its closure. Both Rav Shmuel Auerbach and Rav Nissim Karelitz recently published articles, each in how own affiliated newspaper, against such an integration of learnign Torah and studying for a profession together. Rav Dovid Leibel, the founder, was forced to close the kollel, though he says it is only temporary while he goes around to the rabbonim to explain the kollel and consult with them about it.

Rav Leibel, it seems, has two separate institutions - a few years ago he opened a vocational school to teach computer programming and other computer studies to haredim who have chosen to integrate into the workplace and pursue a career in hi-tech. In addition to that, Rav Leibel now opened the kollel so that young men studying these hi-tech trades could also spend part of the day continuing to learn Torah. Rav Leibel is very strict about the learning schedule, and everyone in the program has to commit to adhering to the schedule very carefully.

The rabbonim and other opponents are looking at it from a different perspective - instead of seeing that these students looking for work are being kept for a few hours a day n the beis medrash, they see avreichim being given legitimacy and encouragement to stop learning in the afternoons in order to learn a trade.

Truth is, I am not sure either of those perspectives are really all that bad...

Anyways, when Rav Leibel realized he had to close down, he said someone is going to pay the price for this that now tens of haredi students are going to stop learning Torah daily.

I am astounded that some people think it is a bad thing for working people, or students, to dedicate a few hours a day to torah study. It seems so short-sighted to force such a kollel to shut down. One cannot integrate work and Torah study? Since when is that true? And, if anything, I would have thought they would get the training school shut down rather than the kollel...

The committee headed by Yaakov Perry to find a solution to "equality of draft", which has become synonymous with simply formulating a plan to draft the haredim, has been making waves. It has drawn more opposition in its final days, opposition from across the spectrum, than it has found support.

MK Amram Mitzna (Hatnua) has now joined the group of those attacking Perry and his committee for missing the mark and even accusing them of hypocrisy and anti-haredi sentiments..

Mitzna counter-proposes something that I have said many times in the past. It is actually far more important to get the haredi community out into the workforce than it is to get them into the army. The army issue is an ideological one, and it will not be solved easily or quickly. After 65 years, these quick plans being formulated are turning into an ideological battle rather than an actual plan that could work. Sure, absolving them of army service is the height of unfair, when considering all those who are obligated to serve, but the real problem is not that they are not in the army, but that there are not enough of them in the workforce. The economy suffers because of it, they suffer because of it, the general population suffers because of it, etc.

So Mitzna is proposing that the law that prevents someone from working if he/she did not complete their army service (whether in actual service or via an exemption of some sort) should be removed. He says haredim should be allowed into the workforce, immediately and without it being connected to army service.

Obviously the army part of the issue cannot be ignored, as the entire country would be up in arms that they have to serve and one group does not with no obligation at all. Mitzna recommends that after releasing the haredim into the workforce, we can then look for ways to incentivize them to join the army.
(source: Ladaat)

In my opinion this is probably the best solution. it solves the real problem, and it solves the problem that is fairly easily solvable. The army issue is also important, and the government should continue looking for a solution to it, but that should not stop the more important issue from being resolved..

Protexia is the secret weapon of most Israelis. It is sometimes known as Vitamin P. Protexia opens doors and opportunities that are normally sealed shut.

But protexia does not always work. And I don't think there is anyone with more protexia than Avner Netanyahu, son of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Avner Netanyahu in China

According to the news report, Avner Netanyahu applied for a job at a pizza shop in Jerusalem, but his application was rejected. Young Netanyahu was willing to do whatever work would be asked of him, but they had to turn him down due to his not being licensed to drive a moped. Every employee, according to their hiring rules, must hold a moped license. No exceptions. not even for the Prime Minister's son.

What a silly decision! Had they hired him, maybe the Prime Minister would have moved over his ice cream budget to be spent at this pizza shop!

I guess there are some doors even protexia cannot open...

Or maybe unemployment is worse than we thought - even the Prime Minister's son can't get a job!

An interesting new law is being proposed that would affect the work week. No, not Sundays off, the long weekend idea that us American expats still hope will one day pass.

MK Eitan Cabel (Labor) announced that he is proposing a new law that will be called "The Law of quality family time". The law will allow the main breadwinner of the family, a family with children up until the age of 6, to leave work early one day a week, after having completed 8 hours of work for the day, in order to spend time with his/her children.

Cabel says that in recent years the average number of work hours has been dramatically increasing, and naturally that bites into the quality time a parent can spend with the kids. What generally happens, according to the statistics, is that one of the parents does the bulk of the parenting and the other parent becomes the main breadwinner and takes on the status of a "weekend parent". Obviously there is a great need for both parents to be able to spend quality time with their kids, with the benefits applying to both the kids and to the parents.

What happens in the current situation is that only after a divorce can each parent leave early from work to spend time with the kids. Changing the law to allow the main breadwinner in a married family to also leave early once a week to spend time with the kids will change the distribution of the household burden and will bring about great benefit to the children. Cabel says there is no need to wait until after a divorce in order to allow them time to spend with their kids.
(source: Forbes)

Great idea. It is not exactly a day off like a Sunday would be, but even the additional 30 minutes or even some hours could make a significant difference in the family life.

Should this be regulated by a law? I don't know. If people aren't contractually obligated to work those extra hours, perhaps they should already be doing this on their own. And if they prefer to work and advance their careers and work extra hours, why will this law change that - the parent could leave early, but he already can as well - he chooses not to. And if they are contractually obligated to work 9 or 10 hours a day, why should the law be written to hurt the employer when a contract was signed?

The country can talk all it wants about "shivyon b'netel" - sharing the [military] burden - the catchphrase under which the discussion surrounds the attempt to draft the haredim (yeshiva students specifically), and surely it is an important issue that needs to resolved. I don't know how, but drafting them forcefully won't work, and a reasonable solution must be found.

In my opinion, the more important issue, the one that is more serious and affects Israel in a much more serious way, and by its resolution Israeli society, and the economy, will be helped and improved much more, is having the haredi community join the workforce in much greater percentages.

I don't know the solution, but finding one will improve the economy by bringing all these people into the creative workforce, and it will also improve their own personal and family situations. It must include education, as education is always part of the solution in these matters, but that is more part of the long-term solution than the short-term solution.

It is equally important to find a short-term solution, as we have thousands of people in their 30s and 40s who are largely unemployable. If one of them was to decide that the time has come to leave kollel and look for a job, he would not be able to find one. He does not have the time to study for 3 or 4 years, as he needs a parnassa now. He does not have the money to be able to afford lengthy courses and training programs. The education part of the solution does not really work for the many people who are already stuck, by hook or by crook, in the system. It is important for their kids and the future, 10, 20 50 years down the road and more, but for those needing a solution now, education is not the answer, or even part of it.

It is initiatives like this one, industries seeing in the haredi community the potential for training and employment, that are important to solving the crisis, to helping the people find respectable jobs, and to help the Israeli economy in the long and short term - by reducing the welfare payments and by increasing the productive output. According to Reuters, Israel wants to try to bring the polishing industry back to Israel.

In the past few years a lot of that part of the diamond industry has moved to India and China, where labor was cheap and the people were industrious. Israel, via the Israel Diamonds Manufacturing Association, has devised a plan to retake the industry, and their plan is by recruiting and training haredi men to work in this field.

Reuters (hattip to Joel on the article):

Diamond manufacturing is a dwindling trade in Israel. The country has one of the world's hottest diamond exchanges, but polishers and cutters of the precious stones have been replaced by cheaper workers in newer hubs like India and China.
Israel wants to bring them back. To do so, it plans on recruiting a legion of ultra-Orthodox Jews, who because of their dedication to prayer and study, have been unable or unwilling to join the work force, putting a heavy weight on the economy.
The job of a diamond polisher, however, is unique, said Bumi Traub, president of the Israel Diamond Manufacturers Association. It need not disrupt their pious lifestyle.
"The profession is fitting. You deal with the rock, and if you need to go pray, no one will bother you," he said.
The door to Traub's office requires a fingerprint scan. Security is tight in the four-building exchange where annual turnover of trading reaches $25 billion each year.
About a third of rough diamonds produced in the world each year pass through the Jewish state and diamonds account for more than a fifth of the country's industrial exports.
It was a natural sector to develop when Israel was founded 64 years ago, since the small stones have been choice merchandise for generations of Jews who had to quickly flee from riots and persecution.
The plan to revitalize manufacturing will cost millions of dollars and the diamond sector, for the first time, is turning to the government for help. The government, eager to get as many ultra-Orthodox working as possible, is on board.
[...]
"Once, everyone who sat in this room was a manufacturer," billionaire dealer Lev Leviev said at the opening of a Gemological Institute of America (GIA) laboratory in September. "There was not a diamantaire who was not a manufacturer, and over the years we lost it."
Salaries were just too cheap to compete with, he said, first in India, the world's biggest importer of rough diamonds, and later in China.
Israel has subsisted on larger, high-end stones whose owners pay more to have them manufactured close to home. But industry leaders hope to change that, in part because polishers in developing countries are demanding more money.
"I think we are there, more or less. With rocks of one carat plus, I think we are in a place where the (wage) gap doesn't justify running to manufacture abroad," said Sahar.
The GIA decision to open its lab in Israel was a first step. Manufacturers can now have their diamonds graded and evaluated in Israel rather than sending them to the United States.
"It's critical for the growth, for the international branding of the export business, and we think that we're a good partner to help the manufacturing grow," GIA President and CEO Donna Baker told Reuters when the lab opened.
By cutting costs and allowing increased turnover, it will add between $30 million and $50 million a year to the industry.
NEW BLOOD
At the peak of manufacturing in the 1980s, there were 20,000 people cutting and polishing diamonds in Israel. That has dropped to about 2,000.
"There is no new manpower. Most polishers are 50 years old and up," said Roy Fuchs, who owns a factory a few minutes walk from the exchange. "If they don't invest and bring in new blood, there simply won't be manufacturing."
To make it happen, the industry realizes it needs help, and for the first time, it is looking for assistance.
"It's not easy. You need cooperation with the government," said Udi Sheintal, the Israel Diamond Institute's managing director. "Here in the middle of Ramat Gan, you don't get incentives. There are only incentives for certain populations, like the haredi."
The term haredi, which in Hebrew means "those who tremble before God", refers to people who strictly observe Jewish law. They dress in traditional black outfits, the men do not shave their beards and they spend their days in study and prayer.
Some 8-10 percent of Israelis are haredi. For the most part they live in insular communities, are exempt from mandatory military service and, according to the Bank of Israel, less than half of ultra-Orthodox men work.
The issue has created a rift in the mostly secular Israeli society and put a strain on an otherwise robust economy. The government has already earmarked $200 million over the next five years to encourage haredi integration in the work force.
Many in the new generation of ultra-Orthodox are open to the idea of getting jobs. The key is finding one that fits, said Bezalel Cohen, 38, who has worked for years to promote employment among his fellow haredis.
"The diamond industry's initiative (to hire ultra-Orthodox)has potential to really succeed," he said. "As long as the pay and training is proper, it should take off."
Aside from helping to pay the salaries for newly hired haredis, the government will offer grants to small exporters and marketing support.
EMPLOYMENT PLAN
The Trade Ministry's diamond controller, Shmuel Mordechai, said the government backs the idea and has funded similar programs in other financial sectors. It would have helped even earlier, he said, but the diamond industry was never interested.
"They lived in their bubble, they said, 'Don't bother us, don't help us'. In recent years, because of difficulties in the industry and because we opened up our tools to them, they understand," he said.
One of the more advanced plans Mordechai described is that of an independent service plant where dealers bring their rough diamonds. Such a plant would cost $1-$2 million and employ 30-40 workers. The government will help recruit the ultra-Orthodox.
"In any plant they set up here and bring employment, we will give help with salaries and other incentives," he said. "If two or three are set up, it will catch on. If the first one succeeds, others will follow."
Traub, from the manufacturer's association, intends to create dozens of new private factories. He has already spoken to leading rabbis in the community to win their support.
"I'm speaking of starting with hundreds and going to thousands of haredi workers," he said. "Manufacturing attracts clients. Barring a global crisis, I think we will grow at least 10 percent a year in export."

We need more initiatives like this, in various industries, and then we can begin to make a real dent in the problem. And I think that once people break out of their cycle and begin to lead better lives, and by better I mean financially better, education will be an easier problem to solve. People will be more open to educating their children, still within a haredi framework but they will want their kids to get at least the basics so that their childrens futures will be a bit brighter.