Social egg freezing (SEF) is a new reproductive technology that is increasingly used within ultra-Orthodox Jewish communities, stirring tensions between tradition and modernity. Based on in-depth semi-structured interviews, this study examined how ultra-Orthodox singles who employ SEF engage in social negotiations over gender- and body-related norms. Findings show that participants successfully assimilated SEF by establishing facts on the ground and discreetly spreading information while actively avoiding tensions that may threaten religious tradition. SEF did not push participants into modern individualism or dissolve their strong connection to the community. However they did modify social boundaries and articulated social criticism.

This essay deals with perceptions of smoking among Haredi men in Israel. Though trends in smoking within the Haredi society have been quantitively examined, no qualitative research has ever focused on the motivations and mindsets stimulating individuals\' choices to take health risks despite religious precepts to the contrary. Israeli Haredi men sometimes start smoking in their early childhood and are unmotivated to quit, and such circumstances should be examined. We interviewed 20 Israeli Haredi male smokers and overviewed the Haredi daily press and rabbinical attitudes toward smoking. Our findings indicate that Haredi men typically consider smoking as either permissible or, at worst, a minor sin. From childhood they view smoking as an expression of maturity, and moreover one which is associated with Jewish holidays and particular religious practices. Such perception relies on the Haredi establishment\'s normative exclusion of smoking from the Halachic commandments that aim to protect health. Finally, we illustrate key points to consider in paths leading to an intervention process to change these norms and practices.

OBJECTIVE: The COVID-19 pandemic broke out at the end of 2019, and throughout 2020 there were intensive international efforts to find a vaccine for the disease, which had already led to the deaths of some five million people. In December 2020, several pharmaceutical companies announced that they had succeeded in producing an effective vaccine, and after approval by the various regulatory bodies, countries started to vaccinate their citizens. With the start of the global campaign to vaccinate the world\'s population against COVID-19, debates over the prioritization of different sections of the population began around the world, but the prison population has generally been absent from these discussions.
UNASSIGNED: This article presents the approach of Jewish ethics regarding this issue, that is, that there is a religious and a moral obligation to heal the other and to take care of his or her medical well-being and that this holds true even for a prisoner who has committed a serious crime. Hence, prisoners should be vaccinated according to the same priorities that govern the administration of the vaccine among the general public.
CONCLUSIONS: The originality of the article is in a comprehensive and comparative reference between general ethics and Jewish ethics on a subject that has not yet received the proper attention.

We examine relationships among ultra-Orthodox Israeli Jews, their doctors, and rabbis when medical decisions are made. Analyzing excerpts from sixteen focus groups with 128 ultra-Orthodox Jews, we determine how their belief system affects their decisions about whom to trust and follow when the doctor\'s instructions contradict the rabbi\'s advice. We argue that the strict behaviors described here with regard to relations among doctors, rabbis, and patients, function as social capital that raises the status of ultra-Orthodox Jews as members of an exclusive club that balances health decisions with the social demand to obey their religious leaders.

Making sense of the social world is an intricate process heavily influenced by cultural elements. Gambling is a prevalent leisure-time activity characterized by risk-taking conduct. While some individuals who engage in it do so without experiencing any harm, others will develop gambling problems. Judaism tends to perceive gambling negatively since it contradicts fundamental Jewish principles. The current study focuses on the Jewish Ultra-Orthodox community in Israel which is characterized as a cultural enclave with minimal interaction with the secular world. Hence, it provides a unique and novel socio-cultural context to inquire how individuals with gambling disorder (GD) from this community make sense of gambling. Following constructivist grounded theory guidelines, 22 Ultra-Orthodox men with GD were interviewed using a purposeful sampling design. Sixteen Rabbis were also interviewed, illuminating the socio-cultural context of Halachic regulations and norms regarding gambling in this community. An abductive analysis of the data, interwoven with Bourdieu\'s concept of habitus, yielded an overarching theme that we dub as \"sense for gambling,\" encompassing matrices of Ultra-Orthodox external (e.g., a conservative cultural structure with numerous prohibitions and life marked by poverty) and internal (e.g., feelings of loneliness, dissatisfaction, and deviance) dispositions imprinted onto the body, creating diverse embodied reactions (emotional and sensory) to gambling, and leading to developing GD. We recommend placing the body, as the locus of internalized dispositions, at the core of examination when researching pathways to GD. We propose that this intricate interplay between external and internal dispositions shapes the decision-making regarding gambling, thus mitigating individual responsibility for GD.

This article focuses on experiences and perceptions of the Jewish ultra-Orthodox population in Israel-a religious minority-regarding premarital genetic testing. Semistructured interviews with 38 ultra-Orthodox individuals revealed four major themes. These themes reflect strong awareness of testing importance among Ashkenazi ultra-Orthodox, along with a high frequency of testing, while low awareness of testing importance was evident among Sephardi ultra-Orthodox along with a very low frequency of testing. The study\'s findings also indicate the central role that the Ashkenazi rabbis have in the routinization of the premarital genetic testing among their communities. Study limitations are discussed, and future research recommendations are provided.

Religious-based modesty requirements can complicate women\'s attempts to engage in physical activity. The growing interest in online discussion forums focusing on modest dress showcases an emerging demand for athletic apparel that meets the modesty requirements of women from Muslim, Orthodox Jewish, LDS/Mormon and Evangelical Christian backgrounds. A thematic analysis was conducted on the forum posts. Findings include the use of apparel for women seeking help with physical activity without violating their modesty standards; using modest apparel as a tool for maintaining an identity as a person of faith, and health-seeking behavior as a legitimate way to question religious protocol.

Ultra-Orthodox society in Israel is characterized by a higher birth rate than Israeli Jewish society. This study investigated the association of reproductive experiences among different sects of 254 ultra-Orthodox women with symptoms of postpartum depression (PPD) and general depression, controlling for demographic features. PPD symptoms were found among 22% of the participants, with Sephardic women with higher rates of symptoms (34%) than women from the Lithuanian sect (16%) and Hasidic women (14%), and those who were formerly secular also had higher rates of PPD (33%) compared to 19% among those born ultra-Orthodox. Implications for health care practitioners are discussed.

In this article I seek to clarify the different ways in which religious ultra-Orthodox Jewish patients, accustomed to the continuous presence of God in their daily lives, relate to God in times of crisis and within the therapeutic framework. While the accepted, ongoing dialogue with God is characterized by prayer and a highly respectful relationship towards a divine, spiritual authority, in times of distress we find that patients may \"use\" God in other ways as well. These \"uses of God\" may be categorized into four main groups: a relationship to God as a projection of the patient\'s relationship to his/her parents; the idealization and glorification of God, from a place of distance, authority and supremacy; a relationship to God of \"closeness\" and mutuality; and a relationship of \"objectification\"-the idea that God exists for me as an object, to serve or help me in my daily life. Each category is illustrated by a case study, with a focus on the therapeutic work and in particular the issue of transference.

This exploratory study examines the likely causes of the alarming global rise of antisemitism during the COVID-19 pandemic. Beginning with an appraisal of today\'s world Jewry, this exploratory study highlights the main social, health, and religious impacts COVID-19 has had on Jews worldwide and goes on to highlight how various Jewish communities managed and adjusted to COVID-19 public health restrictions. From this contextual backdrop, an assessment of how and why antisemitism has surged during the pandemic is presented, along with a review of what efforts are being taken to curtail this rise in hatred toward Jews. A central aim of this study is to underline the point that until meaningful, broad, and international steps are taken to curb online hate, the historic antisemitic tropes and myths suggesting Jews are the cause of disease will undoubtedly evolve and surge (especially across social media) during future pandemics and times of global crisis and unrest.