Can Anyone Actually Define "Haredi"?

Haredi: Means what, exactly?Did anyone else catch that All Things Considered story this morning about the Haredi guy who joined the IDF?  (It isn't online yet, so I can't link it, but if you check HERE after 4 pm, you should find it) It really got me thinking about some things.

First of all, while I knew that the Haredim were often exempt from serving in the military, I didn't know there was such a stigma attached to it.  I didn't know people got shunned (like, Amish shunned) for it. This story followed a soldier for an afternoon, as he revisited his old Haredi neighborhood in Tel Aviv, and was forced to meet a friend in secret. So that the stigma surrounding him wouldn't hurt his friend.  He seemed like a nice guy, and didn't regret his choice, but it made me sad, thinking about his family, and how much he missed them all.  Only one sister would see him, and then only in secret.

And so I looked online, to find an "official Haredi stance" on military service.  And I couldn't find what I was looking for.  But I know many of you have spent more time than I have in Israel, and some of you have likely served in the IDF.  So I thought I'd ask if anyone knows any more than I can find online.

But then, after I admitted defeat on that, I got to thinking about something else.  I got to thinking about the fact that I don't really even know what the word "Haredi" means, though I've linked it here before.  Sure, I can use it in a sentence, but I can't really define it.  Which is, I think, the case with a lot of Jewishy words (for me).  That I only have a vague sense of what things mean: 

Haredi= black hat, lots of babies, beards, see also people who think I'm naughty.

So then I went back online and looked it up.

According to the “Zionism dictionary”, Haredi means…

'Haredi - (adjective and noun) (Hebrew) Literally, "Anxious." Applied to non-Zionist and anti-Zionist ultra-orthodox Jews who generally wear clothing associated with central and eastern Europe of about 1600-1700 and follow one of several very strict rabbis.

'Haredi Jewish political parties in Israel lobby for stricter enforcement of religious law according to their interpretation, separation of women and men in public transportation, orthodox religious monopoly on marriage, funerals, Jewish holy places and Kashruth laws, exemptions from military service for Yeshiva students and subsidies for Yeshivah students and Yeshivot.  Haredim often do not honor IDF dead on memorial day or Holocaust victims on Holocaust day. Haredim are not Zionist, but most Haredi political parties participate in the Israeli government in order to advance their religious political objectives and to obtain public funds for their school systems, Yeshivoth and other charities.

Wikipedia defines things less politically...

Haredi or Charedi Judaism (alternatively Hareidi or Chareidi - this spelling being usually preferred by Haredim themselves) is the most theologically conservative form of Orthodox Judaism. A follower of Haredi Judaism is called a Haredi (Haredim in the plural). The term "ultra-Orthodox", which is sometimes used, is controversial, as it is often considered to be demeaning, and is rarely used by the Jews to whom it is applied; they generally prefer terms such as chareidi (חֲרֵדִי, derived from charada (fear, anxiety), which could be interpreted as "one who trembles in awe of God"—cf. Isaiah 66:2,5) and is mostly used in Israel, Torah Judaism, or (in the case of Hasidic Jews) chasidish.

Haredi Jews, like other Orthodox Jews, consider their belief system and religious practices to extend in an unbroken chain back to Moses and the giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai. As a result, they consider non-Orthodox denominations to be unjustifiable deviations from authentic Judaism, both because of other denominations' doubts concerning the divine revelation of Written and Oral Torah, and because of their rejection of halakhic (or Jewish legal) precedent as binding.

But this is all pretty vague, and I want to know... does this mean that there are Haredim who aren't anti-zionist?  Or does this mean that an ultra-orthodox Jew is not always a member of the Haredim?  I mean, can I trust that a black furry hat indicates  you're Haredi?  Can I trust that such an affiliation means you oppose military service?  Is there a governing body for the Haredim, or is it a fuzzy delineation?

I can't help feeling like this "term" indicates only a loose set of shared characteristics. And as such, I'm a little loathe to use it again until I knnow better. 

It's sort of like if someone lumped all the people who have brown hair, progressive political ideas, kids, and messy houses together and called us "wiggle waggles" or something.  I'd resent being lumped.  I'd find myself compelled to point out all the differences.

So what's the deal?

Further reading:

There's a good chapter here, if you're interested in learning about the divide between the Sephardic and Ashkenazic  Haredim, and the way they've developed in the political sphere.

Mishpacha is the "first Ultra-Orthodox Magazine"

Hadassah Magazine has a decent story on the subject.