Community-based, Judaism-intensive action groups (Hebrew: Gar’inim Toraniim—GTs) are religiously motivated to settle in Israeli development towns, seeking to narrow social gaps through education. However, their influence has never been fully clarified. This study is grounded in the theory of educational gentrification and introduces the concept of Faith-Driven Gentrification. Until now research has lacked voice from local people forced to face the intervention of settlers driven by religion and their influence on urban school systems. The findings, based on institutional data and in-depth interviews, show that GTs alter the structure of educational systems and the dominant educational ethos. They drive achievement and strict religiosity; nevertheless, their actions impair disadvantaged groups and opponents of their religious lifestyle, intensifying segregation. By giving voice to these communities, this study claims that despite gentrifiers’ commitment to social justice in urban communities, they harm longtime residents through indirect displacement, fueled by religious and ethnic elitism.

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School-age children are typically the targets of teacher efforts to promote awareness and positive interactions between handicapped children and their nonhandicapped peers. Yet feelings of fear and prejudice about handicapped persons, too often reinforced by adults who emphasize inability rather than disability, are already well formulated by six years of age.Exchange field trips designed to acquaint preschoolers with the similarities between handicapped and nonhandicapped children are one way of providing early and positive experiences for children and staff alike. Observations and recommendations are based on the author's experience with a preschool class of sixteen 4-year-old nonhandicapped children and a group of physically handicapped children ages 4V2-6.

This study discusses the religious identity and organizational patterns of a community of baalei teshuvah as a unique form of new religious movement. Findings over time show that community members originally took steps to integrate and merge with the dominant group of ultra-Orthodox in Israel (the Haredim), later adopted a sectarian pattern, then moved toward an alternative way of religious life, in time even challenging and criticizing the dominant Haredi stream. An additional objective of the study was to identify the sources and mechanisms of organizational and identity changes experienced by this community. The empirical analysis reveals that these changes were influenced by universal, local, national, and personal factors, such as the leaders’ worldview and biography. In light of these findings, we claim that when analyzing new religious movements, researchers must integrate and synthesize several aspects: structure and agency, macro and micro, and intentionality and contingency.