What is Charedi Derangement Syndrome (CDS)?
There is a strange illness plaguing Israeli society today. It’s not physical, though it affects people’s senses. It’s not mental illness, though it clouds the mind. It’s not new, though it’s gaining traction by the day. We call it CDS—Charedi Derangement Syndrome.
What Is It?
CDS is when an otherwise rational person—who can argue intelligently, function in society, and claim to care about “facts”—suddenly loses all critical thinking the moment the word “Charedim” is mentioned.
Ask someone with CDS if Charedim pay taxes. They’ll laugh and say, “Of course not!”
Prove to them that over 90% of Charedim pay VAT, arnona, and purchase tax like every citizen, and that tens of thousands work and pay income tax—and they’ll squint and say, “Okay, but not like us.”
Ask if Charedim contribute to the economy. They’ll shake their head.
Mention billion-shekel Gemachim, tech startups, B2B businesses, teachers, therapists, and accountants—they’ll shrug. “Doesn’t count.”
Tell them about Torah learning, about thousands of kollelim producing talmidei chachamim and protecting Am Yisrael with the zechus haTorah—and they’ll snort. “Fairy tales.”
Where does this come from?
The Power of Cognitive Dissonance
The answer is cognitive dissonance—when people encounter a truth that contradicts what they emotionally want to believe, they experience discomfort. And instead of reconsidering their view, they reject the truth outright.
CDS is fueled by years of media lies.
For decades, secular media in Israel has pushed a narrative: Charedim are lazy. Charedim are parasites. Charedim are a burden.
These lies are so embedded, so endlessly repeated, that even when proven false, people continue to believe them. The human brain hates to admit error—especially when that error has been used to feel morally superior to others.
Worse, these ideas don’t only stay in secular circles. They spread.
When Brothers Turn Against Brothers
One of the saddest outcomes of CDS is when even Torah-believing Jews—especially in the Dati Leumi community—internalize the media’s lies. They too begin to look at their Charedi brothers with suspicion, resentment, or even contempt.
They ask: How can the Charedim be right, if we’re so sure we’re right?
They think: If we serve in the army and work, and they don’t, they must be wrong. We must be the ideal.
This emotional dissonance overrides logic. Even when shown that the Charedi mesorah is unbroken since Har Sinai, that our approach is built upon the greatest Torah minds of every generation—Rav Shach, Rav Elyashiv, the Steipler, the Chazon Ish—they simply cannot accept it. It would mean admitting they may have left the path.
Rather than admit the possibility that the Charedi world is preserving the Torah exactly as received from Sinai, they choose to scoff.
But let’s be clear: Charedim did not break away from the mesorah.
We are not a splinter movement. We are not a modern invention.
Our communities trace an unbroken chain from Sinai to today.
This Has Happened Before
This pattern is not new.
In the times of the Chashmonaim, many Hellenized Jews chose to fight against the Torah, not with the Greeks, but on behalf of them. It wasn’t only Antiochus who defiled the Mikdash—it was Jews who had rejected the mesorah and joined forces with those who hated Torah.
Throughout Jewish history, we’ve seen it: Jews choosing the ideologies of the day over the eternal truth of the Torah.
During the Enlightenment, during early Zionism, during the founding of the State—Torah Jews were mocked and resisted, not only by secular leaders, but by other Jews who should have known better.
Today, we are repeating the same mistake. But there is still time to change.
What is the Solution?
Truth. And humility.
The Torah is called “תורת אמת”—the Torah of truth. It is the only absolute truth in the world.
The Charedi way of life is not perfect—no group is. But it is built upon truth, rooted in daas Torah, and guided by a mesorah that has survived every empire, every exile, every ideological storm.
We welcome honest questions. We welcome respectful debate. What we cannot allow is slander disguised as criticism, or hate masquerading as “values.”
If the Israeli public—and especially our Dati Leumi brothers—could set aside their assumptions, shake off the media brainwashing, and really listen, they would find something beautiful: A nation within a nation, living for Hashem, learning His Torah, raising children who dream of being tzaddikim—not TikTok stars.
If they understood the real value of Torah, they would build more yeshivas instead of universities, more shuls instead of movie theaters, more mikvaos instead of malls.
And they would treat Bnei Torah not like burdens—but like the princes we are.
Footnotes & Sources:
- Charedi contribution to economy: See reports from Israel's Central Bureau of Statistics showing rising employment rates and widespread participation in VAT and local taxes.
- On media bias: See studies by the Israeli Democracy Institute on public perception of Charedim and the role of media framing.
- Cognitive dissonance theory: Festinger, L. (1957). A Theory of Cognitive Dissonance.
- Torah as source of truth:
- “תורת ה' תמימה משיבת נפש” — “The Torah of Hashem is perfect, restoring the soul” (Tehillim 19:8).
- Rambam, Hilchos Yesodei HaTorah 9:1–2: The Torah given at Sinai is eternal and unchangeable.
- On Chashmonaim and Hellenized Jews: See Sefer HaMakabim and Megillas Antiochus; also Ramban, Bereishis 49:10.
- Unbroken mesorah: See introduction to Rambam’s Mishneh Torah and Sefer HaKabbalah by the Ramban.