The stereotypical image of a haredi (ultra-Orthodox) yeshiva student is of a pasty-faced youth with poor vision, acne spots on his face, and the sprouting of a beard at the base of his chin. Sometimes he has shoulder-length sidelocks (peyot), and sometimes he has short tufts of hair extending halfway across his cheekbones.
He almost always wears a white shirt and a dark suit. If he belongs to a hassidic sect, he might wear the long, black frock-coat known as a kapota.
He is allegedly too busy studying Torah to focus on sports and is therefore considered to be unathletic.
But haredi males of all ages have discovered bicycles, motorbikes, and electric scooters, and they ride them like real professionals.
In addition, anyone who has seen them at recent protest rallies against the army draft cannot help but be convinced that most of them are strong enough and sufficiently agile to be good soldiers.
Even more convincing was the festive Capoeira turnout in Bnei Brak last week.
Capoeira is an Afro-Brazilian martial art and game that includes elements of hip-hop, dance, acrobatics, music, and spirituality.
Bnei Brak seems to be an unlikely place for a Capoeira school, and founders Miki and Yehuda Chayat had a hard time recruiting the first cohort. It wasn’t just a matter of getting the interest of the boys but the permission of their parents.
The founders themselves were raised haredi but have relatives who are not, and for this reason, they were perhaps more open to external influences of the kind that did not interfere with their religious studies and practices.
The idea slowly caught on, so much so that another school was opened in Jerusalem, special classes for girls were introduced, and the concept gradually spread across the country.
With the help of patrons who knew the positive psychological effect of athletic ability on a student’s personality, the brothers established a nonprofit, Haredim LaKetzev.
It helped when the organization’s activities and its successful struggle for acceptance were made into a documentary movie by Barak Heymann that was released a little over a year ago. It was screened at DocAviv and in movie theaters around the country, prompting extensive media coverage in Israel and abroad.
In Bnei Brak this month, more than 400 haredi children who study Capoeira through Haredim LaKetzev participated in a festive belt ceremony. The audience comprised over 1,000 parents, family members, and friends who came to support, cheer, and celebrate with the youngsters as they reached a meaningful milestone on their personal journeys.
The event centered around the themes of perseverance, motivation, and Capoeira as a way of life. It was highlighted not merely as a sport but also as an educational tool for empowerment, discipline, and becoming better people and better Jews.
A highlight of the event was the participation of European Capoeira champion Itai Cohen – Professor Barbante – who specially came to lead the ceremony and serve as an inspiration to the students. His presence added a sense of pride, professionalism, and excitement to the occasion.
“This isn’t just a ceremony; it’s a celebration of community, believing in our children, and the path we’ve chosen: to educate through the body, movement, and heart,” said Miki Chayat, who happens to be the Capoeira champion of the Mediterranean. The children left feeling empowered, and many parents said it was one of the most meaningful experiences they’ve ever witnessed.
The event marked yet another milestone in the work of Haredim LaKetzev, which operates across Israel to strengthen personal and social resilience through sports and values – particularly among populations that often lack access to such tools.
Haredim LaKetzev is a member of the Coalition for Sports for Social Impact (SSI), headed by the Azrieli Foundation Israel. The SSI program promotes inclusive and transformative sports initiatives as part of a broader vision to create positive social change in Israeli society. SSI founder Danny Hakim, who has initiated various empowerment programs through sport, is an international karate champion.
Rabbi Moshe Hauer says anti-Zionism not antisemitism
■ IN THE course of a meeting with President Isaac Herzog last week, Rabbi Moshe Hauer, the executive vice president of the Orthodox Union, dropped a bombshell when he said that he has met anti-Zionists who say they are not antisemites – “and I believe them.”
Hauer is part of a solidarity delegation of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, led by COP chair Betsy Korn and CEO William Daroff.
The delegation, several of whose members worked with President Isaac Herzog in his prior role as chairman of the Jewish Agency for Israel, came to the President’s Residence on Monday evening. Their discussions focused on whether Israel and Hamas could reach a mutual accommodation and the upsurge of antisemitism across the United States.
Hauer explained that those anti-Zionists who are not antisemites “are upset about what they are hearing and seeing.”
Herzog acknowledged that it was a complex problem.
Prior to discussing antisemitism in the US, which Herzog said was very disturbing, he introduced the delegation to Kobi, Idit, and Inbar Ohel, the parents and younger sister of 22-year-old hostage Alon Ohel, who has been frequently mentioned by released hostage Eli Sharabi.
In addition to speaking to heads of state, diplomats, and parliamentarians, Sharabi has written a memoir about his ordeal at the hands of Hamas.
“These are the leaders of American Jewry,” Herzog told the Ohels, who were immediately showered with comments of empathy and concern and told that everyone present knows about Alon Ohel and feels for them.
Keeping her voice even and making every effort not to betray emotion, Idit Ohel said of her son, “We know that he’s alive, and we know he’s coping,” but she couldn’t say under what conditions. “We keep hoping for all the hostages to return; we need them,” she said. “We feel, all of us, that we are hostages.”
“We think about all of them every day,” said Korn.
The president noted that this is a very sensitive time in the talks between the parties involved in reaching a ceasefire agreement and the immediate return of the hostages.
To give the Ohel family a concept of the magnitude of support they are receiving from Jewish America, Herzog asked all the members of the delegation to introduce themselves and to state the number of congregants, communities, and people whom they represented.
They were mind-boggled at the total number represented by Orthodox, Conservative, and Reform rabbis, as well as representatives of secular organizations.
Herzog also thanked US President Donald Trump for the strong support that he had given to Israel.
Herzog, in referring to past obstacles and delays to reaching an agreement, commented that Hamas continued to miss the opportunity. “Their misunderstanding of reality is creating huge suffering and havoc for their own people,” he declared.
His remarks were reminiscent of those of his late uncle, Abba Eban, who famously said, “The Palestinians never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity.”
To emphasize the unity of support from the Conference of Presidents, Hauer said: “All synagogues are the same. They all face Jerusalem.”
With regard to the atrocities of October 7, the events that followed, and the absence of a commission of inquiry, Herzog assured one of his guests who questioned him on the subject that there will eventually be a forum in which all of the issues will be brought to the surface.
■ ON A completely different matter, President Herzog hosted the Israel Amputee Football team, which recently made history by winning the four-nation championship tournament held in Belgium. Against all odds, Israel triumphed over Belgium, Scotland, and Kosovo. The tournament was held under the auspices of the European Amputee Football Federation.
Leading the Israeli team was its founder and captain, Tzach Shachrur. Usually, a fan of a soccer or football team asks all the members of the team to sign the ball, but in this case, the team wanted Herzog to sign the ball. He not only signed but couldn’t resist kicking it across the lawn of the residence. He told the team how excited he was on their behalf and congratulated the players on bringing honor and pride to Israel.
Sports are part of the rehabilitation process for wounded soldiers and survivors of traffic accidents – especially amputees – who have discovered talents that they were unaware they possessed and have gone on to win medals in the Paralympics and other major sporting events. Yet another example of Israeli resilience.
■ IF THERE’S something that Jews of all stripes have in common, it’s traditional food – and not necessarily blintzes, gefilte fish, and cholent. Taking into account the traditional foods eaten by Jews in all the countries of their dispersion, there’s more to the Jewish kitchen and the Jewish palate than the traditional Eastern European menu.
When celebrated cookbook writer Claudia Roden authored The Book of Jewish Food, which is an odyssey of Jewish food around the world and its origins, it caused great interest among Jews and non-Jews alike.
Among her other books is A Book of Middle Eastern Food, from which many Jewish recipes of the region were adopted and adapted. Roden, who is of Sephardi-Mizrahi origin, was born in Egypt but has spent most of her life in Britain.
Coming up soon at the ANU Museum in Tel Aviv is an exhibition on Jewish food, which is being researched and curated by the museum’s chief curator, Dr. Orit Shaham-Gover.
The exhibition will expand on the diversity of Jewish food that has become better known since Roden and those who followed in her footsteps produced their books.