144: Inside the fight to change Haredi politics, with Rabbi Yehoshua Pfeffer

To support our work, please consider joining our Patreon community (https://www.patreon.com/c/AskHavivAnything), Substack (https://havivgur.substack.com/), or Buy Me a Coffee (https://buymeacoffee.com/havivrettiggur).

And be sure to check us out on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/haviv.rettig.gur/) and TikTok (https://www.tiktok.com/@haviv.rettig.gur).

--

Israel helped rebuild the Haredi world after the Holocaust. It funds its institutions and sends its children to defend it. Why won’t more Haredim join them?

Rabbi Yehoshua Pfeffer understands the anger. A Haredi rabbi who enlisted after October 7, he also understands why putting on an Israeli uniform can feel like crossing an existential boundary -- and why that boundary must change.

In this installment of our election series, we explore the struggle inside ultra-Orthodox Israel: the parties and rabbis who hold power, the emerging challengers, and the growing demand for education, work, military service and a political voice. It’s a conversation about gratitude, shared sacrifice, and whether a community built to preserve the Jewish past can take responsibility for its future.

--

This episode is sponsored by an anonymous listener who asked us to say: “Thank you to Haviv for this podcast. Things get noisy in the diaspora. We really appreciate your clarity and voice.”

--

If you like what we do here, please consider joining our Patreon community at https://www.patreon.com/c/AskHavivAnything or our Substack at https://havivgur.substack.com/. You can also Buy Me a Coffee at https://buymeacoffee.com/havivrettiggur. It helps us keep the lights on. Patreon and Substack are also the platforms where you can ask the questions that guide the topics we cover on the podcast, join our great discussions where listeners share news and valuable resources, and take part in our monthly livestreams where Haviv answers your questions live.

If you would like to sponsor an episode, please email us at haviv@askhavivanything.com⁠.

Musical intro by Adam Ben Amitai.