Global Group of Donors to Gather to fight Israel’s High Haredi Poverty Rate

On December 2 in New York, Jewish Funders Network will bring together Jewish philanthropists from around the world for strategic discussions about fighting high rates of poverty and unemployment among Israel’s fast-growing Haredi community.

At the conference, called Accelerate: Haredi Employment & Economic Empowerment in Israel, philanthropic leaders will network to share ideas and lay the groundwork for future collaboration. They will also join representatives from Israel’s business, nonprofit, and government sectors in evaluating approaches to the complex web of religious, cultural, economic, and social issues related to Haredi poverty.

Haredi Jews suffer poverty rates as high as 66%, according to the most recent poverty report from the National Insurance Institute of Israel. Many Haredi Jews choose not to work, with most men opting to study in yeshivot full-time. A higher proportion of Haredi women work, but education in secular subjects is often low-quality in Haredi communities, for men and women alike.

This economically troubled sector is projected to grow quickly during coming decades. Comprising about 10% of Israel’s current population, Haredi Jews have significantly higher fertility rates than the rest of Israel, and Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics projects that the Haredi population will grow at more than three times the rate of the non-Haredi Jewish population between now and 2059.

Conference speakers will include funders and organizations working in the area of Haredi economic integration from the angles of education, vocational training, counseling, focusing on school-age boys, and focusing on women. “Accelerate” will be the first conference ever to address this issue from the perspective of funders.

Philanthropists interested in attending “Accelerate” should visit jfunders.org/accelerate. The registration deadline is November 30th.