Why Do Chareidi Jews Live Longer? The higher the income and the more advanced the education one has, the longer that individual is likely to live. There’s one major exception to that rule – Chareidi Jews. Chareidim in Israel are a group whose members have low incomes and little or no secular education, and yet live 3 years longer on average than their non-Chareidi counterparts, Israelis with considerably higher incomes and advanced secular education. In a study published in The State of the Nation Report by the Taub Center for Social Policies in Israel,[i] researchers found that, defying expectations, residents of Chareidi-only population centers, where household incomes are the lowest among all Israeli population groups, enjoy longer life-expectancies than those whose economic situation is considerably better. And Chareidi employment rates are especially low. Moreover, IsraeliChareidim have little formal schooling – they do not attend college, nor, as a rule, do they even go to high school. Needless to say, Chareidi Jews, many of whom devote their lives to Torah study, do not exercise as much, nor are they as physically active, as the rest of the population. They are also 60% more overweight than the rest of the population. In brief, the report found that simply living the Chareidi way of life and its “religious observance has a significantly positive effect on the probability that a subject will be have a ‘very good’ health status.” [1] The report attributes qualities specific to Chareidi Jews that are religious in nature, such as prayer and a faith-based life, that are responsible for their remarkable longevity and exceptional good health. As well, their close relationships with friends and family – and, undoubtedly, children who understand parental fealty and assistance to their fathers and mothers to be an important mitzvah, play a significant role. Perhaps most significant, the extraordinarily high degree of community involvement in the Chareidi community, expressed through volunteering and deeds of chesed – people going out of their way to performs acts of kindness and benevolence – contributes to their noteworthy advantage in health and longer life. For example, there arebatei hachlamah, convalescent homes for new mothers where they can rest and relax after giving birth; women cook and prepare food for new mothers during the first post-partum weeks; there are a plethora ofGemachim, mutual aid organizations – thousands of them, of every type, where almost any kind of provision and service may be had free of charge, in cities such as Jerusalem and Benei Brak and in Chareidi communifies everywhere in the world – as well as specialized bikur cholim organizations whose members visit the sick, the aged and indisposed and assist with their needs. Not surprisingly, only 11.4% of Chareidim said that they were lonely, compared with more than twice that figure for other populations. A considerably higher proportion of Chareidim report that they are very happy with their relation-ships with family members than other population groups. [ii] Concludes the report, the high level of good health and longevity of Chareidi Jews is achieved “through the social capital prevalent among them.” [1] The report refers to another study which compared the mortality rates of 11 religious kibbutzim and 11 secular kibbutzim, and found that the mortality rates in the secular kibbutzim was “significantly higher” than those among the religious Zionist kibbutzim, amongst both men and women and among varying age groups and for different time periods. (Kark, Shemi, Friedlander, Martin, Manor, and Blondheim, cited inhttp://taubcenter.org.il/wp-content/files_mf/snr2015fullreport.pdf) Researchers for the State of the Nation report state, “It is interesting to note that other religious groups (Muslims, Christians, and others) show no substantial differences in reported health status between the religious and the non-religious.” [i] “The Relationship Between Social Capital and Health in the Haredi Sector,” in Dov Chernichovsky and Avi Weiss, editors, State of the Nation Report – 2015, Taub Center for Social Policy Studies in Israel,http://taubcenter.org.il/wp-content/files_mf/snr2015fullreport.pdf, accessed July 14, 2016. [ii] Ibid. iii The report refers to another study which compared the mortality rates of 11 religious kibbutzim and 11 secular kibbutzim, and found that the mortality rates in the secular kibbutzim was “significantly higher” than those among the religious Zionist kibbutzim, amongst both men and women and among varying age groups and for different time periods. (Kark, Shemi, Friedlander, Martin, Manor, and Blondheim, cited inhttp://taubcenter.org.il/wp-content/files_mf/snr2015fullreport.pdf) Researchers for the State of the Nation report state, “It is interesting to note that other religious groups (Muslims, Christians, and others) show no substantial differences in reported health status between the religious and the non-religious.”