The recent confrontation [in the week of Dec. 23] between ultra-Orthodox politician Aryeh Deri Shas and Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid on Nissim Mishal’s TV interview program deeply distressed Adina Bar-Shalom, the eldest daughter of the spiritual leader of the ultra-Orthodox Shas party, Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, and the founder of the Jerusalem ultra-Orthodox college — The Haredi College of Jerusalem. “It was a dialogue of the deaf,” she notes, adding after a brief pause: “Every time I am interviewed, I say that, although I have the privilege of being the daughter of one of the most revered rabbis of our time, I am not a political person. However, here I am talking politics. Well, it went like that (and she goes on to present a free rendition of the TV confrontation — T.H.-S.): Yair Lapid says: 'You don’t have any core studies in your school system,’ and Aryeh Deri counters: ‘The curriculum of the Shas schools includes close to one hundred percent of the core subjects.’ Evidently unconvinced, Yair Lapid argues: 'You are perpetuating ignorance,' but Deri explains that, 'Things have changed, although no one bothers to take notice of it.'”

At this point, Bar-Shalom finds it difficult to hide her frustration: “It is as if the ultra-Orthodox sector has not undergone a real transformation in the past 15 years; as if the thousands of ultra-Orthodox students and graduates have not realized that without academic education they simply cannot get ahead in life. It is as though the majority of rabbis don’t understand that to break away from the cycle of poverty, the ultra-Orthodox sector has to join the labor force and that to that end, it has to move with the times — and moving ahead means acquiring higher education and achieving an academic degree. I can understand the resentment provoked by the ultra-Orthodox sector and where it comes from,” Bar-Shalom hurries to clarify, “and I am well aware that we still have a long way to go; however, things have changed in the ultra-Orthodox community and you should recognize it. You may pass criticism, but, please, beware not to destroy what has already been gained.”

For 15 years now, Bar-Shalom has been busy trying to change reality in the ultra-Orthodox community. The Haredi College of Jerusalem, which she set up back in 2001, has 1250 students enrolled this year — 550 of them first-year students. The college offers no less than 14 tracks of study for undergraduate and graduate students in a variety of disciplines — from computer science to psychology.

The students, men and women alike, enjoy no breaks, except that they are all given a year of preparatory studies, including English and math courses at a matriculation exam level of four units of study. [Note: Ascending difficulty exams with “five units” being the most difficult.] The lecturers at the college are university lecturers teaching at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Bar-Ilan University or other Israeli higher education institutions. The courses taught at the college are no different from analogous university courses and the exams the college students are required to pass are the same as parallel university exams. The tuition fees charged by the college are equivalent to standard university tuition fees and admission requirements are similar, the only difference being the somewhat lower level required in the psychometric tests. “We do not compromise on the level of studies here,” says Bar-Shalom. “We want our graduates to be recognized for their high academic achievements.”