Speaking at a forum organized by the hareidi-religious newspaper Hamodia on Monday, Bank of Israel Governor Stanley Fischer said that the international economy is showing initial signs of economic recovery. Addressing the hareidi sector in general, Fischer said the Sages taught that people must go out to work.
“The way to improve the situation in the hareidi sector is not via the child allowances, but rather by going out to work.” He quoted several passages from the Mishna, Tractate Avot (Ethics of the Fathers), emphasizing the importance of work in Jewish life – such as, “All Torah study that is not accompanied with work is destined to cease and to cause sin.”
“Here, at this forum, we must recognize the value of work, which is also the work of sanctity,” Fischer said. “The hareidi sector includes a tremendous stock of quality human capital, and if we use it, we will receive an additional growth engine for our economy, and the poverty levels in the hareidi sector will improve.”
He said that 60% of the hareidi sector was officially described as “poor” in 2008.
Noted hareidi-religious commentator Jonathan Rosenblum states that figures show that an increasing number of young hareidim are taking steps to prepare themselves for the job market. “The growing number of hareidi students in higher education institutes such as Kiryat Ono shows that there is increased willingness to, at the proper time, pursue higher education in computer fields and the like.”
In fact, figures released by the Jerusalem municipality in May of this year show a 70% growth in hareidi members seeking work.
Regarding poverty levels, Rosenblum acknowledged that “there is some hard-core poverty passed down from generation to generation, and there might be an arbitrary income level under which many hareidim fall, but in general, the hareidi public is not dressed in rags nor wallowing in poverty.”
Fischer said that the world economy is showing signs of recovery, “but we must not take it easy, in light of the magnitude of the economic crisis – the largest since World War II. This crisis has caused tremendous damage, and we must learn the lessons.”
Regarding the situation in Israel, the Governor said, “It is difficult, but we also are seeing some positive signs. Exports have been rising for the past two months, for instance, and that is the most important factor in the economy… The situation is still hard. We don’t know when growth will return, and we had some inflation in June. So it’s getting better, but still not simple.”