There has been a lot of drama surrounding this year’s legislation around governing yeshiva education. But in all the discussions, something dramatic and important has been missing: the role of charity in Haredi education. As I have argued previously, socialization is at the heart of Haredi schooling, and like any religious community, Haredim want their…
Dear Editor, While I don’t dispute the reports of physical abuse at Hassidic boys schools, as a parent whose children have attended similar institutions, I have a different story to tell. True, there were some oddballs, including the strange man whom my son called “the Admor of the Cats” who kept a bottle of cherry…
Last week I wrote an essay arguing that secular education in Hassidic schools is not as bad as it is frequently portrayed. I argued that critics are actually unhappy with Hassidic culture, rather than education. The response from anti-Yeshiva voices and activists — including a letter from a Yeshiva-graduate — has been as ferocious as…
On 16th Avenue and 48th, in the heart of Boro Park, Avi Kaye — not his real name — is sitting in his car, camera ready. “He’s going to come out soon,” he mutters. We’re parked outside the Beis Midrash Emunas Yisroel synagogue, waiting for one subject — a regular at this shul, who will…
In the last few years, advocacy groups have criticized yeshivas (Orthodox private schools) in the New York area for offering students a substandard education. YAFFED (Young Advocates for Fair Education) recently sued New York state, challenging the constitutionality of a recent amendment to an education law directed at these schools, and has argued that their…
For years now, the Hasidic community has feigned compliance with New York State Education laws. While Hasidic yeshivot don’t typically provide much secular education at all, they have at least claimed that they were complying with the law. However, a recent speech by the Satmar Rebbe Aron Teitelbaum disabuses once and for all the notion…
In a last-minute backroom deal in April of 2018, a New York State Senator managed to dramatically reduce the ability of the government to enforce educational standards at Jewish day schools. Senator Simcha Felder, an Orthodox Jew who ran as a Democrat but caucuses with the Republicans, represents large swaths of the Hasidic community in…
March first marks the start of Women’s History Month. That date also marks the yartzeit of Sarah Schenirer, pioneer of Bais Yaakov, the ultra-Orthodox girls’ school. In the words of former Bais Yaakov student, Alanis Morissette (kidding), isn’t it ironic? Schenirer is the OG Orthodox feminist. She was a blazing renegade who could stand with…
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