Chareidi leaders have adopted an approach that keeps their communities tightly controlled under extremely strict guidelines. They are Control Freaks!
They discourage their followers from entering most professions—often limiting them to a narrow set of “acceptable” jobs, like being a cashier or stock shelves in a grocery store.
Now they are even opposing Chareidim becoming bus drivers. This reveals a deeper issue: a lack of confidence in their own chinuch. If they truly believed their educational system produced strong, grounded Jews, why would exposure to other Jews—who don't look like them—be seen as a threat?
This raises a serious question about the kind of chinuch being promoted in these isolated communities. Instead of empowering people to build stable livelihoods, they are encouraged to rely on communal support and schnoor even for basic needs.
Most bus drivers here in Israel are Arabs, and when they have holidays, the entire transit system slows down or shuts down. People can wait hours for a bus. In Beit Shemesh, we are fortunate—many drivers are Jewish, including Chareidim, so the impact is smaller. Expanding Chareidi participation in the transit system would actually help solve a real, practical problem.
A new controversy has emerged regarding a Transportation Ministry program designed to integrate public transport drivers from the charedi sector in Israel. The ministry intends to recruit 500 charedi drivers during 2026, who will receive 15000 NIS per month after completing a preliminary course.
Rabbi Meir Kessler, the rabbi of the city of Modi’in Illit, expressed his firm opposition to recruiting city residents as drivers in public transportation due to concerns about the drivers’ spiritual level and the character of the city. In the meantime, another significant front has now joined the opposition, this time from the Eda Charedis in Jerusalem.
During his regular shiur held last weekend at his home, Rabbi Yehoshua David Turtzin, president of the Perushim communities and Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshiva La’Metzuyanim, addressed the new initiatives seeking to recruit drivers from charedi communities. In his remarks, Rabbi Turtzin voiced strong opposition to the project and leveled sharp criticism at its organizers.
“Some of those involved in this matter are not acting for the sake of Heaven,” the Rosh Yeshiva said during his shiur, adding that this is why such initiatives fail time and again. His remarks were made against the backdrop of concerns about the infiltration of foreign influences and changes to the traditional way of life of drivers, who are required to work in an environment that does not align with the spirit of the community.
Rabbi Turtzin’s statements reverberated widely among members of the “Old Yishuv,” and some communities that had already begun examining the possibility of joining the project or had cooperated with the recruiting bodies are now reconsidering their involvement and may announce their withdrawal from the program.
It should be noted that the Perushim community across the country refrained from participating in the project from the outset, as did other Old Yishuv communities that maintain spiritual isolation with regard to employment and the transportation sector.
Officials involved in these initiatives expressed concern that the combined opposition of city rabbis and community leaders in Jerusalem could lead to a complete halt in driver recruitment in the charedi sector, precisely at a time when the shortage of public transportation in charedi population centers is at its peak.
On the other hand, among the project’s initiators and supporters, voices are emphasizing the project’s original goal: providing a way for kollel members and family men to earn an honorable livelihood without falling into financial distress that would force them to go door to door collecting donations ahead of their children’s weddings.
According to the supporters, this model has already proven itself overseas for many decades. In the United States, particularly in charedi centers in Brooklyn and Monsey, the sight of a Hasidic kollel member, fully dressed in traditional garb, driving a public bus is entirely routine. Thousands of charedi drivers, God-fearing and dignified, staff routes connecting Borough Park, Williamsburg, Monsey, and Lakewood.
Moreover, the school transportation systems for chederim and schools in the U.S. are largely operated by Hasidic drivers who meticulously observe religious standards, demonstrating that it is indeed possible to combine work in public transportation with maintaining a high spiritual level and genuine fear of Heaven. The current dispute highlights the gap between differing approaches to integrating charedim into the workforce in Israel versus the reality commonly accepted abroad.
