Spectrum of Response Styles in a Religious-Orthodox Community to Civilian Disasters: The Responses of the Haredi Community to the Meron Crowd Crush (2021) as a Case Study

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Review of: Spectrum of Response Styles in a Religious-Orthodox Commu- 2 nity to Civilian Disasters: The Responses of the Haredi Com- 3 munity to the Meron Crowd Crush (2021) as a Case Study

The research presented in the article relates to a catastrophe that happened on Mount Meron in Israel in 2019 during the Jewish holiday of Lag ba-Omer. During the event, there was widespread panic that resulted in 45 deaths and more than 150 injuries. It was highlighted that dealing with disasters in the religious community includes the faith-religious level and the social level. The main aim of the article was to explore the spectrum of reactions to the events on Mount Meron. The main strengths of the article are the original research topic and the survey and analysis of its results.

The manuscript is clear and  relevant for the field. The research method used is appropriate to investigate the problem identified in the introduction. The article refers to the new and current state of research. The charts have been prepared properly and are an appropriate complement to the content of the article. The article was prepared in accordance with the standards of research ethics.

 However, the article requires minor amendments:

Abstract: The research method used is appropriate to investigate the problem identified in the introduction. However, the description of the research methodology (lines 14-28) requires more clarification. The mentioned clusters should be indicated in detail (this might simplify the listing), especially in the context of the boldness of some of the wording used. Furthermore, in the abstract it is worth pointing out the main conclusions of the research. It is also worth referring to classic studies relating to the social dimension of religion, e.g. Th. Luckmann, N. Luhmann and Ch. Taylor. This can be a good basis for research on the role of religion in social crises

 The structure of the article: The first section of the introduction "Coping with Disasters" should be combined with the section "The Haredi Community and Coping with Disasters". The descriptions in lines 368-380 should be moved to the section "Data Analysis"

 The methodology: The hypothesis is not correctly formulated. The “Research Tool” section is too general. There is a lack of questions that were asked in the survey. The reference to the scientific theories on the basis of which the author(s) made the clustering is also missing. It is unclear why people over 85 and people under 17 were excluded from the survey - was it clearly indicated in the survey which age groups could participate?

 The statements in verses 348 and 349 have no academic character.

 Overall Recommendation: accept after Minor Revisions

Author Response

אנא עיין בקובץ המצורף.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

This is a very fine essay. It is well written, well structured, interesting and instructive, empirical in the data it presents and at the same time sophisticated in its use of theories from the the Social Sciences. It makes good use of the scholarly literature, is reliable and compelling. I enjoyed reading it.  

Author Response

Please see the attachment.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf