Reuven K., who is about 30 years old, is an ultra-Orthodox Hasidic man who lives in Betar Illit, one of Israel’s most prominent ultra-Orthodox localities. Reuven studies in a yeshiva, a Jewish school for Talmudic learning, but works half of each day as a wholesale merchant selling religious ritual supplies. His wife, Bracha, works as a bookkeeper in a governmental institution.

Many of Reuven and Bracha’s contemporaries are already raising five, six or even 10 children. Reuven and Bracha have only three — two girls and a boy. Work is important to them not only because they have to make a living. As Reuven said, even though they are not a large family (in ultra-Orthodox terms), their three children fill their home and their hearts.

“Don’t you feel different from your friends in the yeshiva? The neighbors?” I asked. Reuven, who asked that his full name not be divulged, answered, “I’m not the only one anymore. About a third of my yeshiva friends have two to three children, and many others haven’t even married yet. It’s no longer so strange or different.”

At 3.1 children per woman, the fertility rate in Israel is the highest among the developed nations, much of it due to Israel’s ultra-Orthodox population. According to the Yearbook of Ultra-Orthodox Society in Israel 2017, the ultra-Orthodox growth rate leads in Israel with 6.9 children per woman. The average in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development countries is only 1.6. The ultra-Orthodox community follows the religious commandment of “be fruitful and multiply” (Genesis 1:28), as well as other Jewish traditions and culture. Add to the mix modern medicine, including fertility treatments, and we understand why Israel’s fertility numbers have skyrocketed to more than four times the average of developed nations.