Seven Times More Religious Students Than Secular in Jerusalem Schools

B"H

We already knew this was happening, and it is happening all over Israel.  Not only do the seculars assimilate, but they either do not have children, or they have only one or two children.  After all, they wouldn't want  new Jewish life to impact their lifestyle!

So, Israel moves more and more to the right and more and more to the religious spectrum.  No surprise here. 

Those old men and women in our Knesset represent a dying species, soon to be replaced by religious men and women intent upon keeping Israel Jewish, intent upon clearly defining and defending our borders, and clearly stating, once and for all, "Am Ysrael Chai!"

This is why Obama and the EU are so frantic to get a "solution" (foul Nazi connotation intended) to the Mideast "crisis"--read, "situation where Israel won't roll over and give everything to the arabs."


Right now, they have the secular self-hating Jews in the government playing politics with our heritage.  Our enemies want these heretics to negotiate away our land before the demographic time-bomb hits.

Too late. 

It has already hit.

This is why Bibi finds it harder to knuckle-under than he did in the past.  He actually has to pretend he wants to keep Israel together because the country has turned. 

However, now that he is feeling his oats by winning the Likud election, he will probably feel free to show his true nature in the coming weeks.

I can only hope that he will quickly lose his coalition if this happens.

I pray that Hashm will strengthen us just a few more years until we can get these old men and women out!

I also fear that the newspaper is accurate and that this population increase is coming from the Haredim.  I don't think so.  I think that the Jpost consideres anyone who washes for bread and keeps Shabbat as "haredi."

The reason I fear that the population increase is haredi  and not national religious, that the haredim will neglect the defense of the land and the economic needs of the land of Israel. 

If they forget their obligations to defend the land and to make the land prosper, we will have another problem entirely. 

Right now we have the means but not the heart to make Israel a homeland.

If the country becomes haredi, we will have the heart, but not the means.

Both are dangerous.

M
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Only 1 in 8 pupils in Jerusalem is secular
   
Ynet inquiry reveals only 1,950 of 15,333 first-grade students in capital not religious - a significant drop from figures compiled decade ago. Some 61% of Jewish students are ultra-Orthodox -twice more than their representation in adult population. Senior researcher: This is result of  high haredi fertility rate 

Ronen  Medzini    
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3883620,00.html  

Secular Jews in Jerusalem feel as though the city is slipping between  their fingers. Now these concerns have statistical proof. A Ynet inquiry revealed that just 1,950 of 15,333 first-grade pupils registered  for the current school year in the municipal school system are secular,  making them a mere 12.7%.

In actuality, the secular students make up an even smaller relative portion of the city's pupils because thousands of Arab students  who study at private schools in the city were not included in the statistics.

The figures, which are extrapolated from statistics from the Jerusalem Institute for Israel Studies, are based on  the character of the schools in which students are enrolled.

While the number of secular students enrolled in public schools is about an eighth of all first-graders in the capital, haredi students make up 40% of the age group. Thirty-four percent of first-grade pupils are Arab (not including private schools), and 13% are National Religious, showing a similar representation as secular students.

For the sake of comparison, during the 2000-2001 schools year, the percentage of secular students in first-grade classes in Jerusalem was 19%. Ever since, there has been a steady decline in the percentage of secular pupils in the capital.

The opposite is true for Arab and haredi pupils. A decade ago, haredi pupils were 45% of the first-grade class, and Arabs were 22%. The  increase in Arab pupils' representation is partially attributable to a number of educational facilities that have recently received recognition  from the State.

Among Jewish students, haredi students make up 61% of the first-grade age group. Just 19% are secular, and another 19% are National Religious. The percentage of haredi pupils in that age group is  double the relative representation of haredim in the adult Jerusalem population, which is a bit less than 30%.

"This is a result of the haredi fertility rate, which stands at close to eight children on average per woman throughout the country. The  result is that the relative portion of their children is much larger," explained Dr. Maya Chosen, a senior researcher at the Jerusalem Institute to Ynet. Dr. Choshen is also the editor of the Jerusalem Statistical Yearbook.

Dr.  Choshen explained the low rate of secular students in the young age groups: "The secular population is relative older. There are very many students among young secular Jerusalemites who usually do not give birth  here. These things together show an interesting picture, that indicates  the diversity of sectors in city of Jerusalem. There is no other city in Israel that is so diverse."

However, Dr. Choshen emphasized that the demographic picture painted by the first-grade statistics must not be projected onto the future of the capital. "It is important to address statistics of those leaving the city. It is hard for seculars, religious, and haredim alike to rent apartments, and a large section of these children will not live here," she summarized.