Hillel will listen to you but will never attempt to persuade you to leave.
The decision to leave
In Hillel we believe that the decision to leave should be made with a full knowledge of the issues involved. An impulsive move may turn out to be the wrong one, or may lead to unexpected difficulties.
The following comments are intended to present an honest picture of what often happens.
Our role is to find solutions that ease the process of adjustment and help our young people take full advantage of all the opportunities and challenges of their new lives.
We feel especially privileged to be part of this voyage of discovery and fulfillment.
If you want to meet with the volunteers of Hillel, we will set up a meeting (date and place) and will be most confidential regarding the details.
Each and every one of you are welcome to speak with us on the open line, but the volunteers of Hillel would meet only those who turn 18 years old, meaning, not minor by law.
Why do people leave the haredi world?
The haredi world shuts itself off as completely as it can from the modern world in order to keep outside influences from affecting its highly structured way of life. It has strict rules about every aspect of human belief and behavior, and in return provides total community support.
For many this is an intensely satisfying life, one that offers spiritual and emotional 
fulfillment.
Those who wish to choose their own path, however, often find it difficult to do so within the haredi context, where they may be rejected and harassed.
Leaving can sometimes be the only solution in their search for fulfillment and freedom of choice, but it usually brings disgrace upon their families and a wrenching break with all of their former environment.
It is a move that affects every aspect of life, a step to be taken only after careful deliberation.
see: God forbid?
Article by Orit Arfa, THE JERUSALEM POST, Mar. 8, 2007.
Isolation and rejection
People in the haredi world who question its values may be subjected to intense social pressure if their doubts become known. If they consider leaving in order to find a life of their own choosing, they must usually make this fateful decision in total isolation, with no one to advise them.
Once they do decide to leave, they face rejection by family and community and the loss of all the elements of their former lives that provided self-esteem and social support.
They take with them to their new lives a heavy sense of guilt about the damage their "defection" can cause to their families, including the marriage prospects of their siblings in a society where marriages are often arranged according to social status.
In the new world
In the modern world the newcomers are "new immigrants" in every sense of the word and in a special sense all their own: unlike most other immigrants, they come from communities that have deliberately cut themselves off from modern influences and have not provided their children with the education necessary for survival in a modern economy.
Accustomed to a society that offers total support, they now find themselves adrift in an alien environment that pays little attention to their special needs.
Education
The religious studies of our newcomers in the haredi world cannot help them directly their new lives, where they must enter a modern competitive economy.
The modern educational level of an 18 year-old haredi yeshiva student, however brilliant and learned, is equivalent to that of the second or third grade in elementary school. He has only minimal skills in arithmetic and no knowledge at all of mathematics, science, English and other foreign languages, history, literature, civics, art or music.
Haredi girls may receive a basic practical education before marriage in order to prepare them to work while their husbands study in yeshivas, but they too are unequipped for the demands of a modern economy.
This lack of essential preparation forces the newcomers to work at menial jobs in order to survive while acquiring an education and professional training.
The gap between their abilities and ambitions on the one hand and their limited options on the other creates serious frustration.
A new culture
The newcomers have had little or no experience of modern culture - theater, cinema, literature, radio or television. Popular culture too is totally unfamiliar to them and they proceed warily as they develop their own taste.
Social codes
Our young people must learn the codes of behavior of a totally new and foreign world. Even the every-day matter of what to wear, where to buy it and how to afford it can be an intimidating challenge.
They are sometimes hesitant socially, the self-confidence of their former life replaced by a sense of inadequacy about how to negotiate social contacts. This insecurity adds to the isolation they endure.
A Free Life
What our newcomers have in common is the desire to live a free life, one they have chosen for themselves. They are gifted with the intelligence and stamina required to realize their dreams.
Despite the problems and suffering they encounter they persevere, until they make a place for themselves in the modern world and find new and amazing ways of expressing their many talents.
The role of Hillel
Hillel has developed programs to help with all of the problems of leaving.
On the Open Line our trained volunteers can discuss the doubts and fears of the callers without exposing them in any way, and can offer advice about all aspects of leaving. Our volunteers never attempt to persuade the callers to leave, as we deplore all forms of proselytizing.
Call our Open Line: 1-700-70-70-73
or use the open line email: hillel.email@gmail.com
Once the newcomer joins Hillel we provide a wide range of essential aid:
0 host families
0 personal mentors
0 social life and support
0 comprehensive educational counseling and scholarship aid
0 preparation for military service
0 psychological support
0 and more.
see: activities
see: The Open Line
