Rabbi David Grossman, renowned for his work on behalf of underprivileged children, and industrialist Stef Wertheimer, one of the wealthiest men in Israel, have come together to work on a new project: the creation of Israel's first vocational high school for hareidi-religious young men. The two men Sunday with Minister of Industry, Trade and Labor Binyamin Ben-Eliezer to discuss the initiative.
The high school would train young men to work in the fields of metal crafting, electric repair, or car repair.
Ben-Eliezer greeted the initiative with enthusiasm. The plan deserves government support for two reasons, he said. “We're putting a special emphasis over the next year on hareidi employment and increasing hareidi participation in the workforce. Schools like this could help bring thousands of hareidi men into the workforce in the future,” he said.
The second reason the plan deserves government support is that it will add skilled laborers to the market, the minister continued. “Everyone in the country wants to get an academic degree, but we've forgotten manual labor and technical work,” he said.
Ben-Eliezer ordered ministry employee Shalom Ben-Moshe to see if the school planned by Rabbi Grossman and Wertheimer could be opened in time for the beginning of the next academic year.