Abstract
This chapter discusses minority students’ civic engagement in communities in conflict through the case of Jewish ultra-orthodox students who promote the human rights of ultra-orthodox people with disabilities in Jerusalem. Jewish ultra-orthodox college students are in a liminal space, belonging to a highly conservative community whose leaders often reject the academy and its values. The chapter highlights civic engagement programs’ impact on the student volunteers, as well as the dilemmas and opportunities embedded in these programs. The findings suggest that ultra-orthodox volunteers experienced the encounter with people with disabilities as meaningful and inspiring. At the same time, some of the students who held a conservative approach were uncomfortable with adopting a worldview that calls for societal change.
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In the Jewish tradition, gmilut chasadim is a principle that translates roughly into “acts of loving kindness” and that refers to all manner of charitable works.
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Israel’s medical emergency service.
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A beadle of a synagogue.
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A volunteer organization that helps with police activities.
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Bizchut—The Israeli Human Rights Center for People with Disabilities is a non-profit organization that was founded in 1992 and is dedicated to promoting people with disabilities’ right to participate as fully and independently as possible in the life of the mainstream community. http://bizchut.org.il/en/.
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A large Israeli volunteer organization best known for loaning medical equipment.
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A Jewish rite of passage for boys who turn 13 years old.
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Vardi, M., Orr, Z., Finkelstein, A. (2019). Civic Engagement of Students from Minority Groups: The Case of Ultra-Orthodox Students and Communities in Jerusalem. In: Markovich, D., Golan, D., Shalhoub-Kevorkian, N. (eds) Understanding Campus-Community Partnerships in Conflict Zones. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-13781-6_11
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-13781-6_11
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