Word: haredim
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Dates: during 1987-1987
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...ultra-Orthodox are the strictest observers of Orthodox Judaism, which along with the Conservative and Reform branches is one of the three major Jewish congregations. Known in Hebrew as the haredim (the trembling, or God- fearing, ones), the ultra-Orthodox believe all Jews must live according to the teachings of the Torah and the Talmud, as distilled in the 613 commandments that make up the halakhah. Many commandments concern observance of the Sabbath, which Jewish scholars have traditionally interpreted as prohibiting almost any activity on the holy day. To accommodate those beliefs, Israeli municipal governments have passed numerous Sabbath-keeping...
...Yitzhak Shamir's opposition to new elections, Shas demanded that Shamir's Likud bloc back the Orthodox definition of who is a Jew. Shamir tried to ram through a vote to that effect in July, but a handful of Likud members defected and the measure was narrowly defeated. The haredim, however, are likely to continue pressing the issue until they win. If the ultras' position were to prevail, it would provoke widespread anger among U.S. Jews, most of whom belong to Conservative or Reform congregations...