Ben Shapiro: Yeshiva University Just Using Me To Look Righteous
Image by Wikimedia
Ben Shapiro hit back at the faculty of Yeshiva University, blasting them after more than two dozen professors — including University President Richard Joel — criticized the rightwing pundit’s comments about transgender people at a speech on campus hosted last week.
“The real reason that Y.U. condemned me is that it’s very rare that a Modern Orthodox school has the opportunity to virtue signal about how liberal they are,” Shapiro said on his daily podcast on Wednesday. “When I come and say things that are controversial, it’s an opportunity for them to do so.”
Shapiro referred to transgender people as “mentally ill” in his speech last week at the Orthodox educational institution, remarks that drew rapturous applause at the event hosted by the campus chapter of the College Republicans.
He was discussing an encounter the summer before last with Jewish transgender reporter Zoey Tur. In a widely circulated argument on cable television, Shapiro referred to her as a “sir,” which led her to grab him by the back of the neck.
In a Monday letter to the Commentator, Joel rebuked Shapiro for comments some believed crossed the line into cruelty. “Let there be no mistake — this university is committed to civility and the sanctity of all people,” the university president wrote. “This applies to our admissions and employment process, as well as our daily interactions in and outside of the classroom.”
Contact Daniel J. Solomon at [email protected] or on Twitter @DanielJSolomon
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30
