Mr American brother-in-law sent me an article named Children's Day: 30% of Israel's Jewish Population are Children. It basically explains that 30% of the Israeli Jewish population are kids. Looking at other countries, Israel is not too far off. 25% of the US population are kids also.

But then I read deeper and the kid to adult ratio is unusually high in the city my brother lives in. My brother lives in one of the most Jewish orthodox cities in the world, it is named Beitar Illit (ביתר עילית‎). Beitar has tons of children, actually 63% of the population there are kids.

Beitar Illit

I've been to Beitar to visit my brother, my sister-in-law and their two kids a few times. I didn't particularly notice an overwhelming number of kids. But when I go in February, I will make sure to be looking for it.

Wikipedia has some stats but I can't confirm it is 100% accurate:

According to Israel Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), in 2001, the ethnic makeup of the city was 100.0% Jewish, consisting of 8,900 males and 8,400 females. The predominantly Haredi population of the city was spread out with 62.9% 19 years of age or younger, 18.1% between 20 and 29, 14.6% between 30 and 44, 3.4% from 45 to 59, 0.4% from 60 to 64, and 0.7% 65 years of age or older. The population growth rate in 2001 was 9.6%. According to the statistics from the Ministry of Interior, the population figures for January 2007 there are 34,427 members listed on their computers and 29,404 citizens that are listed as active.

For more on Beitar, I guess check out this web site.

Oh, one more tidbit from the article that Tamar may enjoy....

As in the past eight years, Noa was the most popular girls' name, and has become even more so. It was given to 3.4% of the baby girls born in 2006, compared to 3% the year before. The next-most popular names were Shira, Maya, Yael, Tamar, Sarah, Roni, Agam, Michal, Adi and Talya.

On the SMX Israel front, I should have more good news on that shortly.