A newly formed ultra-Orthodox Jewish youth movement in Israel says it is trying to address what its founder calls one of the most destabilizing dilemmas facing Haredi society: the widespread belief that it is impossible to remain fully accepted as a “top-tier” Haredi while also participating responsibly in the life of the state.
The movement, known as ACHVA, was founded by educator Shneur Rochberger, 35, who says many Haredi teenagers grow up facing a rigid social equation with no sustainable solution.
“In the triangle of being Haredi, being ‘Class A’ socially, and being engaged with reality as a citizen, you can only hold two sides,” Rochberger told the Israeli newspaper Kol Hayehudi. “If you want to remain Class A in Haredi society, you need to be somewhat detached from the reality of the state. If you’re Haredi and involved in reality, you’re no longer considered Class A.”
Within Haredi society, Rochberger said, that status is not symbolic. “Class A determines whether your children are accepted into the best schools and whether they have strong matchmaking prospects,” he said, describing the pressure as “almost existential.”
That dynamic, he argues, places Haredi teenagers in an impossible bind. “If you tell a teenager that to be Haredi and engaged with reality the price is being considered damaged goods, he’ll say, ‘I’m not part of this story,’” Rochberger said. “At that point, he gives up one of two things: either being Haredi or being a citizen.”
Most, he said, disengage from citizenship. Others leave religious life entirely — a trend he described as deeply harmful because it reinforces the idea that Haredi identity and civic responsibility cannot coexist.
Rochberger grew up in the Chabad movement and describes himself as fully Haredi in values and identity, while also deeply engaged in what he calls citizenship. He lectures in academic settings and moves comfortably in broader social circles, an experience he says shaped his understanding of the divide he is trying to bridge.
To understand how to change it, Rochberger says one must first understand Haredi society itself. “It is a society built around very strong norms,” he said. “But in any norm-driven society, the values that originally created those norms can erode.”
He points to dress codes as an example. “You wear black and white not because you deeply internalized the values behind it, but because if you don’t, society looks at you sideways,” he said.
contrasts that with Israel’s Religious Zionist community, which he says is structured more around ideals than norms, largely because daily engagement with state institutions forces ideological clarity. “The dividing line isn’t values,” he said. “It’s whether a society is driven by norms or by ideals.”
Rochberger divides Haredi society into four sociological groups. About a quarter, he says, are separatists who openly reject participation in Israeli society and do not see themselves as part of a shared national project.
A second group consists of what he calls “modern Haredim” — not modern out of ideology, but pragmatism. “They’re comfortable living in Israel, comfortable with the army protecting them, comfortable with tax benefits and political representation,” he said. “They vote because it affects their lives.”
Within that group, Rochberger identifies a dominant subgroup he calls “the guests.” These are Haredim who see themselves as long-term residents but not stakeholders. “They say, ‘I’ve been here 70 years, but I’m still a guest,’” he said. “If you ask them to help wash the dishes, they answer, ‘I’m just a guest.’”
He describes this mindset as middle-class and non-ideological. “It’s not about theology,” he said. “It’s about comfort.”
He recounts conversations with young men who reject responsibility with blunt pragmatism. “In the past you heard ideological objections,” he said. “Today you hear, ‘Why should I worry?’ or ‘Am I a sucker?’”
The group ACHVA is most focused on, he said, is now beginning to break away from that mentality — particularly since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel.
“They’re asking themselves what would have happened if everyone thought this way,” Rochberger said. “If Religious Zionists had also said, ‘We don’t feel like serving,’ could the country survive?”
That group is still relatively small, he said, but growing. Alongside it, he noted a painful parallel trend: increasing numbers of young people leaving Haredi life entirely after concluding that it is impossible to be both deeply religious and a responsible citizen.
“There is idealism in Haredi society,” Rochberger said, “but much of it today is extreme — rigid, absolutist ideologies that attract youth precisely because they offer certainty, not responsibility.”
ACHVA, he said, aims to offer a different kind of idealism: one rooted in traditional Haredi values but engaged with reality.
“We believe that just as Zionist youth movements helped build the state of 1948, Haredi youth movements must help shape the Israel of 2060,” he said.
The movement does not advocate mandatory military service for all ultra-Orthodox Jews. Instead, it promotes shared responsibility through multiple avenues, including emergency response, community security, education and civil service — all frameworks designed by Haredim and aligned with religious law.
Ultra-Orthodox Jews make up about 13% of Israel’s population, a share projected to rise sharply in coming decades. Their participation in national life has become a central political and social issue, particularly during wartime.
ACHVA currently operates about 15 branches nationwide, with roughly 600 boys and girls in separate programs in its first year. Organizers say demand exceeds available funding.
Rochberger describes two possible futures: one in which ACHVA grows into a flagship movement shaping modern Haredi ideology, and another in which it remains smaller but produces thousands of young people who demonstrate that full religious commitment and civic responsibility are not mutually exclusive.
“Our goal,” he said, “is to show that a Haredi who takes responsibility is not an extinct species.”
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