Do not be afraid: The ultra-Orthodox understand that they need to change. Article in Ha’aretz-The Marker.

The question of the integration of the ultra-Orthodox (Haredi) sector into Israeli society does not disappear, and the stormy discussion of the problem requires careful examination. Events like the recent lecture by retired judge Aharon Barak to Haredi students, in which men and women were separated by a partition, or the CSC’s decision to open a Civil Service Cadets’ course for ultra-Orthodox men only — created a wave of criticism and protest especially from secularists who are afraid, perhaps unjustly, of the growing dominance of “ultra-Orthodoxy” in Israel.  The article analyses the roots of these fears and illuminates the fast-paced changes occurring within the Haredi society, faster, in fact, than their demographic pace of growth.