How the pandemic pushed Israel’s ultra-orthodox Jews to embrace technology

A man works at a business workshop in Jerusalem which combines a Haredi-friendly environment with tools to break into Israel's start-up tech scene 

Credit: Quique Kierszenbaum for the Telegraph

An online shop delivering sacred citrus fruits for the Jewish holiday of Sukkot.  A Jewish wedding broadcast to absent friends and family with a phone on a selfie stick. And a web database which helps with the disposal of foods prohibited during Passover. 

These are just a few examples of how some in Israel’s devoutly religious Haredi communities have embraced the digital age after the coronavirus pandemic risked destroying their most cherished traditions.

When lockdown was imposed in Israel at the start of the year, the impact on the close-knit lifestyles of the ultra-orthodox Haredim was disastrous, as synagogues were closed and group prayer was banned. 

But while some Haredi Jews ignored the rules, to the despair of Israeli police, others decided that the internet could help keep ancient traditions alive in a safe and legal format. 

Among them is Yosef Tavin, a 35-year-old Haredi software engineer who decided to set up a live — and highly unorthodox — broadcast of his brother’s wedding so that relatives stuck at home could witness the union. 

"We created a Zoom meeting and then during the wedding I was walking around filming it on my phone," says Mr Tavin, who works for data integration company Equalum.

"This meant that my grandmother was able to experience the whole ceremony from New Jersey," he says of the small-scale wedding, which was held outdoors in line with Israeli coronavirus rules. 

He adds that while some of his more conservative siblings were initially "stressed out" by the livestream, the bride and groom’s parents were delighted that their relatives did not miss out on the event entirely. 

Yosef Tavin, a senior engineer at Equalum works in the common work space at the Bizmax complex 

Credit: Quique Kierszenbaum 

In addition to Zoom weddings, other members of the community have set up a website where Haredi Jews can buy four species of plants used for the holiday of Sukkot, instead of mixing in crowded markets. 

And during Passover, an online database was created that helped Haredi Jews arrange the responsible sale and disposal of grain foods in their pantry, which are forbidden throughout the holiday due to religious dietary requirements. 

The Telegraph spoke to Mr Tavin at Bizmax, a modern office in central Jerusalem that at first glance looks like any other.

On closer inspection, it becomes clear that this is a “Haredi-friendly” workplace, and not unlike the shared office space provider WeWork. 

The workspace is a safe haven for Haredis who, having discovered the tech world during lockdown, can embark on a career in the start-up scene without sacrificing their religious beliefs. 

All of today’s workers are dressed in the Haredim’s distinctive black-and-white garb, their dark hats and coats hanging on a rail near the entrance. There is also a bookshelf filled with sacred Jewish texts.

“Here, they can come into an environment that they know, and love and believe in,” says Gil Shourka, the managing director of Bizmax’s start-up support scheme BizLabs.

A view of the office shows bookcases with holy Jewish texts

Credit: Quique Kierszenbaum

“There is a synagogue downstairs, the office is closed during holidays and the space is all male. They are not going against the Haredi way.”

Recent statistics published in Israeli media suggest that internet usage in Haredi communities has increased by 50 per cent, which suggests that kosher office spaces such as Bizmax could grow in popularity after the pandemic.

“Due to the situation with the pandemic, the Haredi people have said, OK, I have to let the internet come into my house,” explains Yitzik Crombie, Bizmax’s managing director and a researcher at the Haredi Institute of Public Affairs.

And while lockdown inflicted misery on those who cherish the ritual and closeness of Haredi life, he believes the pandemic may also have a silver lining. 

“We see a lot of people [in Haredi communities] who understand that in the 21st Century you cannot really deal with a pandemic without using the internet….it’s something that the pandemic has made into an opportunity," Mr Crombie says.