INNOVATORY CONSERVATISM IN ULTRA-ORTHODOX TYPOGRAPHY IN ISRAEL

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to explore the differences in perceptions and approaches to typographic design among the various communities that make up Haredi society. In general, the shape of the letter will be affected by the division between religious and non-religious genres, as well as by the intra-Haredi social division between “Hasidim” and “Lithuanians”, the two dominant groups that make up the Haredi society, whose lifestyles differ in several areas. The proposed article is an additional tier to previous studies and investigates the Hebrew letter and its role in the world of journalism as conveying a message in the social-educationalideological context, even without referring to what is actually written. The study reveals and deciphers the power struggles and relations that exist in the ultra-Orthodox world through the images and through the mechanisms activated through them and their results, as part of the visual culture. The research methodology is based on the integrated use of general scientific methods: analytical, systematic, historical, and comparative. Conclusions. The daily and weekly Haredi press is considered as something that “under the circumstances” is needed and yet is a major player in the Haredi visual world. The Ashkenazi Haredi press is divided into defined sectors. The newspapers of the Hassidic communities preserve a long-standing typographic, advertising, intra-community tradition, based on the design style of Jewish newspapers from early twentieth-century Europe. The newspapers of the Lithuanian communities reflect the character of the public who read them, who are more modern in their lifestyle. Even though there is strict control over the content, these newspapers reflect modernism in their typographic layout and letter style selection. The newspapers in both groups undergo strict editing in both content and form, and their respective rabbinical councils work hard to adapt them to their respective readership. The choice of letter, colour, and composition are borrowed, among other things, from the world of clothing, which has many rules, and reflects what is happening within the community. The differences between the Hasidic and Lithuanian groups are evident in their attitude to the visual elements in the various types of printing and advertising. The Haredi public are proficient readers and are aware of the subtleties of the shape and size of the letter from an early age. Therefore, the letter serves both as content and form, and its use in the visual world is varied. In addition to being a tool for content, the letter will be used for an image, a Hebrew date, gematria and to create an atmosphere of sacred or secular, depending on the typographic choice.