The assumption that haredim don’t work doesn’t match reality in the marketplace.
By YERACH TOKER / GLOBESHaredi man in front of tents in Jerusalem 521(photo credit: Reuters)
It’s not nice to say, but I have a feeling that the Trajtenberg Committee is simply superfluous. Even before the professor was brought in to carry out one of the main tasks the ministers in the elected government in any proper democratic country are responsible for, a few wise people and economists had already found the real culprits in the socioeconomic crisis: the haredi community.The haredi community, so they claim, is responsible for the socioeconomic situation and for holding back GDP; in general, it is the haredi community that is guilty – end of discussion. It sounds good. The media also love it. So why not? What happens to the haredi community never happens to any other sector in Israel. Reporters and commentators permit themselves to write the magical word haredi as much as they like, without learning about or investigating their way of life, or the significant socioeconomic changes taking place in the sector.If these same reporters would just learn a little and get to know a few simple facts about the lives of these same “haredi” people they write about time and again, maybe they would understand how wrong and misleading they have been.Some of the claims are simply unbelievable, yet over the years that the social debate has been taking place, they have become facts. In every argument between haredi and secular people, the same claims are heard, and this is despite the fact that most of them have no factual basis. And now, in the socioeconomic campaign, these same commentators are repeating these claims and slogans without thoroughly checking them.Many thousands of haredi men and women work for a living in the present, have done so in the past and will continue to do so in the future. They work as teachers, educators, engineers, lawyers, doctors, journalists, laborers and cashiers. This is the reality. Thousands of haredi people go out every morning to their place of work to properly provide for their families. This is the reality that I, as a haredi man, know and live. But you will never hear or read about this from well-known commentators or economists.Another ridiculous claim that is heard again and again is that the haredi community does not pay taxes. I searched, checked and asked my accountant which tax I, as a haredi person, am exempt from paying, and I just couldn’t find one. He also could not find one.The haredi community pays much higher indirect taxes than secular Israelis; haredi families buy much more milk, bread and diapers than secular families. On each of these items, taxes are paid to the state. So where is this outrageous claim taken from: that haredi people do not pay taxes. Why do the media back these generalized, unfounded slurs? Even if the claim refers to income tax, half of the haredi workers do not even reach the income-tax threshold. Is this claim aimed at them too? Most income-tax revenue comes from the upper echelons. It’s time for this economic arrogance toward the haredi community to stop and for these lies and slogans that are repeated, without having a drop of truth to them, to cease.I would never dare to write a column on science. I also wouldn’t write a column about biology or medicine. All of you wise guys who blame the haredi community: Before you write something, check your facts, study a little, get to know some people, and know what you’re writing about. The facts as I know them are not hidden. Whoever truly wants to know is invited to become acquainted with the truth. Yerach Toker is Knesset Finance Committee chairman Moshe Gafni’s media adviser.
