Jealous Much? First Day of School in the Haredi Sector

Photo Credit: Eitan Elhadaz / TPS

While typical Israeli parents are struggling to figure out what to do with their kids for the next few weeks, easily spending thousands of shekels on trips, entertainment and food, the Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) sector takes a different approach, and their school year, for 250,000 students, begins with Rosh Chodesh Elul (today) and doesn’t rotate around the secular calendar, but rather the Jewish calendar.

Many an Israeli parent would probably agree that establishing the school year around the Hebrew calendar probably works out better, considering that when the Jewish holidays begin in month from now, in Tishrei (September), vacation start all over again for a few weeks!