Making Sense of Risky Haredi Behaviors in Israel During the Covid-19 Pandemic

Year 2022, Volume: 19 Issue: 73, 33 - 48, 09.04.2022

Ferit Belder

https://doi.org/10.33458/uidergisi.1085447

Cited By: 3

Abstract

Covid-19 not only posed a threat to the bodies of individuals or their mental health but also disrupted routines that are re-producing certain communities every day. This is particularly the case for communities with already securitized identities such as the ultra-Orthodox (Haredi) society in Israel. Its authentic narrative, routines and practices that had been sustained thanks to their decades-long autonomy within the state, faced a substantial challenge when the state-led pandemic measures arrived in Haredi towns. This article seeks to explain the Haredi non-compliance with certain pandemic instructions like closing religious and educational centers, through the conceptual lens of an ontological security approach. It argues that the ontological security concerns of the Haredi leadership hampered them from fully complying with the state-led pandemic measures, even at the expense of risking the lives of individual Haredim.

Keywords

Haredim, Ontological Security, Anxiety, Fear, Autonomy

Covid-19 Pandemisi Döneminde İsrail’deki Riskli Haredi Davranışlarını Anlamlandırmak

Abstract

Covid-19 sadece bireylerin fiziki ve zihinsel sağlıklarına tehdit oluşturmakla kalmamış aynı zamanda bazı toplulukları her gün yeniden üreten rutinleri kesintiye uğratmıştır. Bu durum, İsrail’deki ultra-Ortodoks (Haredi) toplumu gibi halihazırda güvenlikleştirilmiş kimliklere sahip topluluklar için özellikle geçerlidir. Haredilerin devlet içerisinde sahip oldukları on yıllar süren özerklikleri sayesinde sürdürülen özgün anlatı, rutin ve pratikler, devlet kaynaklı pandemi önlemleri Haredi şehirlere ulaştığı zaman ciddi bir meydan okumayla karşılaşmıştır. Bu makale, din ve eğitim merkezlerinin kapatılması gibi belirli pandemi önlemlerine Haredi itaatsizliğini ontolojik güvenlik yaklaşımı çerçevesinde açıklama amacındadır. Makale, Haredi liderliğin ontolojik güvenlik endişelerinin kendilerini, bireysel olarak Haredilerin hayatlarını riske atma pahasına, devlet kaynaklı pandemi önlemlerine uymaktan alıkoyduğunu iddia etmektedir.

Keywords

Harediler, Ontolojik Güvenlik, Endişe, Korku, Özerklik

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