The Truth About the Struggle For Secular Education in Yeshivas
You won’t see this in the Jewish Press, Flatbush Jewish Journal, etc.
Since
the New York State Education Department released their revised general
education guidelines for private schools on November 20th 2018, various
Orthodox newspapers, websites, and advocacy groups have been spreading
fear and misinformation.
While
the new guidelines were written by the state without substantial input
from Yaffed, most of the attacks from Agudath Israel and Yeshiva leaders
have focused
on Yaffed. These attacks are baseless, burdened by inaccuracies and
slander. In the ensuing storm, the intentions of both Yaffed and the
state have been misrepresented. Furthermore, the approach taken by
Agudath Israel and others is counterproductive and exposes the community
to unnecessary dangers.
Yaffed
was founded in 2012 by graduates of Hasidic Yeshivas who came together
to change the status quo of little to no secular education in Hasidic
Yeshivas. None of us came from askonis
(advocacy) backgrounds or had any big connections to machers in our
communities. Initially we met with some Yeshiva leaders, Rabbis, and
organizations that funnel funds to Yeshivas. Those who supported our
work were afraid to do so publicly, and the remainder either opposed our
efforts or argued it was unnecessary, pointing to outlier Hasidic
yeshivas that offered secular studies.
We
came to realize there was no way community leaders would make changes
in the Yeshivas just because a few Yeshiva graduates requested it. And
even if a model Hasidic yeshiva existed, what about the rest? There
would still be tens of thousands of Jewish kids without an education.
In 2013, when I was receiving a scholarship from the UJA, the reception’s keynote address was delivered by David Zwiebel,
the executive vice president of Agudath Israel. After his speech, in
which he extolled the importance and benefit of education, I walked over
and asked him to do something about this issue. I will never forget his
response. He said he believed graduates are perfectly capable to pursue
what they wanted, noting that he had become an attorney following his
Yeshiva education. Zwiebel, of course, did not attend a Hasidic Yeshiva.
This
dismissive attitude is what I encountered again and again, and it
became clear that, despite the constant refrain that “change must come
from within,” no one from within was willing or bold enough to actually
pursue that change. After all, I grew up in this community and I am well
aware of the consequences people face if they don’t toe the line. Case
in point, my family is concerned that my involvement with Yaffed is
harming the reputation of my siblings, who will struggle to find
Shiduchim and Yeshivas willing to accept their children. Rather the
claim that change must, or will, come from within is being used to
indefinitely postpone any change.
In
2013, Yaffed put up a billboard with the Talmudic phrase “chayav odom
lelamed es benoi umnus” (“a father must teach his son a trade”) on the
Prospect Expressway, which garnered a lot of attention. But once again
our critics complained that it aired the dirty laundry out in the
public. Little did they know, or want to believe, that prior to that we
tried to place the ads in local Jewish newspapers but were turned down.
One
Orthodox magazine mistakenly published our ad, and apologized to their
subscribers less than 24 hours later and again in the following week’s
issue.
So
let’s review: we are told change must come from within, so we speak to
Rabbis and local elected officials and they either tell us to go away or
they say they too are afraid to speak up. So we tried to speak directly
to the community, but then we were shut out from local newspapers. So
we put up a billboard, which was sensitive to the community, and people
still found fault with it.
So
we turned to the New York City Department of Education and the New York
State Education Department, the entities tasked with enforcing the law
without fear or favor. When we were first contemplating a lawsuit, we
decided not to sue individual Yeshivas because we believed our issue was
with the state and complacent school districts.
In July 2015, we filed a complaint
with the New York City Department of Education, which was signed by 52
Yeshiva graduates and parents, and it included a handful of former
teachers as well. We named 39 Yeshivas that were clearly not compliant
with the law. Yaffed asked the city not to publicize the names of the
Yeshivas because public shaming was not our goal; our goal was to
provide evidence to the city that this was a real problem. The city then
announced it was launching an investigation.
As
I did with secular media outlets, I reached out to Orthodox news
outlets and offered to do interviews and discuss the complaint we filed
with the city, but they ignored my offer. One reporter responded in a
degrading manner.
Shortly
after, I reached out to David Zwiebel and he agreed to meet with me. At
the meeting he conceded that secular education is important. He claimed
even science should be taught because kids need to understand the
“Niflaos Haboreh (wonders of G-d).” He also made the case that people go
off the derech because they feel betrayed for not having received a
secular education. Yet he admonished me for going to the DOE, despite
all our efforts to solve this problem internally.
I explained to him that it’s not too late, and that for the sake of avoiding further Chillul Hashem
Jewish leaders, including Agudath Israel, should begin working to
remedy the problem. At which point he claimed that Agudath Israel has no
jurisdiction over Hasidic Yeshivas. I replied that this wasn’t true, as
Agudath Israel helps secure funding for Yeshivas, including Hasidic
ones.
Months
later, Zwiebel co-founded PEARLS, a group that at first presented
itself as trying to improve Yeshivas, but their actions ever since, as
well as more recent statements, indicate they were created to shield
Yeshivas. Their strategy was to stonewall the city’s investigation by
claiming they are making improvements, including through new curricula
and textbooks. In a recent report the city acknowledged PEARLS’ claims
of new curricula and textbooks, but added that the city inspectors have
not gotten access to all those materials. Both Mayor Bill de Blasio and NYC Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza have publicly disputed PEARLS’ claim that no Yeshivas have denied access to city investigators.
I
have since reached out several times to David Niederman from the United
Jewish Organizations of Williamsburg (UJO), a top Satmar leader, who
co-founded PEARLS with Zwiebel, yet he not once got back to me.
Meanwhile,
the state decided it was best to make the guidelines clearer, so that
districts have no excuses, driven by political considerations, to delay
enforcement.
Despite their claims to the contrary, Agudath Israel was included
in the process, as they sit on the commissioner’s advisory panel for
non-public schools. In a recent letter they acknowledged having seen an
early draft of the revised guidelines. But because they had decided to
protect failing Hasidic Yeshivas, which refused to improve their secular
education even marginally, they helped Satmar and others orchestrate
what was one of the dirtiest political tricks in New York history. They
had Simcha Felder, who at the time was a powerful state senator, hold up
the New York State budget until he secured an exemption for Yeshivas from having to meet the same “substantial equivalency” standards as all other non-public schools.
To
my dismay, I have heard David Zwiebel in Yiddish present Felder’s
legislative maneuver as a major win, so that Yeshivas can continue
providing little to no secular education. Publicly, of course, he
expressed bewilderment as to why Yaffed was opposed to the amendment
since it was codifying into law that Yeshivas do need to meet basic
standards.
The
truth is, the change in the law had one purpose, and that was to
undermine the forthcoming guidelines for the benefit of Yeshivas.
Everyone who followed the issue understood that, and a few weeks ago,
the Satmar Rebbe admitted that before thousands of people — in Yiddish, of course.
When
the guidelines were issued in November and there seemed to be confusion
over how many hours of secular instruction the state was requiring of
Yeshivas, Yaffed was the first to call on the state to clarify that they
weren’t requiring seven hours of secular education per day. We
recognized that schools can accomplish a lot in fewer hours, as we have
often pointed to the modern Orthodox schools, to many Litvish schools,
and even to some Hasidic girls’ schools as proof that you can provide a
solid secular education by splitting the day with the Judaic studies.
Now,
to be clear, everyone knew the state wasn’t requiring Yeshivas to teach
more secular studies than public schools. This was an obvious case of
unclear bureaucratic directive that required clarification. Yet Agudath
Israel exploited
the weeks of uncertainty to rally unsuspecting people, including some
Modern Orthodox Jews, to the defense of the most failing Yeshivas in our
midst. The only beneficiaries of that fear-mongering campaign are
school leaders who want to maintain the failing status quo.
The state, to no one’s surprise, has since clarified
that it is only requiring half that amount of secular studies in those
grades, yet the damage Agudath Israel has caused is done. Some parents
are convinced the state is out to turn their Yeshivas into public
schools or worse.
These
are the facts, and despite the smokescreen put up by Agudath Israel and
the censorship by their enablers, the truth will continue to shine
through.
Imagine
if David Zwiebel had heeded our calls years ago and agreed to avoid an
embarrassing public battle by helping address this issue from within
(with some assistance and monitoring from the state to ensure the
improvements are real and not just lip service), how much negative press
could have been avoided? How many hundreds of thousands of dollars
could’ve been saved? We, of course, have continued to engage parents and
students who believe Hasidic Yeshivas are providing them with an
inadequate education, even as we advocate the state enforce the law as
it existed prior to the Felder Amendment.
Yet
instead of realizing this, Agudath Israel is doubling down. They are
now gearing up to help failing Yeshivas sue the state in court. I cannot
overstate how foolish this is. Not only do court battles cost money and
resources, but there is great potential for unnecessary embarrassment
to be revealed during the legal process.
With
lawsuits, all bets are off. Every program, every dollar, every contract
is up for discovery and scrutiny, not only by the parties involved but
also by the media and the public.
Agudath Israel knows this. But they have lost their way, and are about to drag the entire community down with them.
P.S.
I pitched the story to the Jewish Press’ opinions editor as a response
to their incessant negative reporting about Yaffed. But consistent with
the one-sided reporting we get from Der Yid, Der Blatt, Di Tzeitung,
Flatbush Jewish Journal, Yeshiva World News and others, the Jewish
Press’ editor refused to even entertain publishing this piece. I
therefore ask that you share this far and wide to make up for the
extreme censorship we’re facing.
