I just ran a marathon. I have never run a marathon, so I have no idea what that actually feels like. But this certainly feels like what I imagine completing a marathon could feel like: elation, pride, and fatigue. My marathon lasted two years, not your typical 26.2 miles. That was 24 months filled with…
Two years ago, I visited the National Memorial to Truth & Justice in Montgomery, Alabama. Bryan Stevenson, the founder of the Equal Justice Initiative, had just opened the site two weeks before. As I watched other visitors walk around the large blocks, inscribed with the names of Black citizens lynched by white people, I was…
In Jewish life, the Hebrew word kehillah, meaning congregation or community, bears immeasurable significance. So much of Jewish practice is based on coming together as a kehillah, and connecting in a meaningful way with family and friends in both good and bad times. Central to any kehillah are three foundational pillars – family, education and…
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…
In his speeches, Rabbi Aaron Teitelbaum, the grand rebbe of one of the largest Hasidic factions in New York State, has openly and repeatedly acknowledged the lack of secular education in Hasidic Yeshivas. In a 2018 speech he said, “We all know the truth, that in our primary Torah schools for boys, they studied at…
The question of whether ultra-Orthodox children are getting enough secular education is wracking New York. The New York State Education Department will decide later this month about whether to start enforcing regulations in ultra-Orthodox (or Haredi) schools, regulations proposed in a prolonged public campaign by activist groups such as the Young Advocates for Fair Education….
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