It is no secret that Interior Minister Meir Sheetrit has been no friend of the chareidi public, having used many public forums to express his disparaging remarks of the chareidi community.
In his latest move, the ministry has instructed local government not to pay utility costs for chareidi schools, including Chinuch Atzmai and Shas-affiliated Mayan HaChinuch, in addition to halting garbage collection services.
The intervention of chareidi MKs succeeded in persuading electric and water authorities to hold off placing meters in the names of schools instead of local government pending court hearings on the matter surrounding what is known as the Nahari Law. Garbage collection service however has ceased for three weeks since companies are concerned with providing service since at present, it remains unclear who will undertake the payment in the future and they prefer to sit and wait rather than to incur costs which may not be covered by any agency. The utility services were supposes to halt on March 1st, but the MKs’ intervention succeeded in buying time for water and electric, but not for cleaning services and garbage pickup.
After the first week, it became abundantly clear that the surroundings were no longer conducive to learning and the decision was made to begin each day with a cleanup operation to bring classrooms and the surrounding areas to an acceptable standard to continues the day’s classes. Students and staff members are cleaning schools, including washing floors, working to maintain a suitable environment.
Rav Avraham Yosef Lazerson, who stands at the helm of Chinuch Atzmai, has decided that prior to launching a strike, he must wait for a High Court decision on a pending appeal relevant agencies have been instructed to respond within 10 days. Rav Lazerson has instructed his assistant Rav Tzvi Baumel to contact school administrators and instruct them to please try to endure despite the difficult and unacceptable conditions. Rav Lazerson explains if the High Court’s decision is not favorable, he will turn to Gedolei Yisrael Shlita for guidance as how to proceed.
Letters were sent to parents this week from the PTA explaining the situation and what is being done in the interim, pending a High Court ruling.
(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)
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3 Responses
Perhaps our Pashuta Zionistic friends can explain the Hakoret HaTov that we need to give to Minister Meir Sheetrit (a representative of the Israeli government)?
Pashuteh Yid, I am a Chareidi educator, independent, not affiliated with Chinuch Atzmai or anything like it.
I have to say that I disagree with your whitewashing of Herzl and the early Zionists, (not the religious ones, obviously who meant L’shem Shamayim), but the secular and Communist ones definitely had a campaign to eradicate Torah, going back to before a State was even a gleam in anyone’s eye. They jumped aboard the State idea as a means of furthering their own goals. Herzl was a bit of an anomaly in this. He was from a very assimilated background, and was thus not really anti-torah, he was simply ignorant of it and had no agenda of breaking away from it, as he was far removed from it to begin with.
But the secular Zionists who were closer to frum backgrounds had very clear Anti-torah agendas, and saw the State as a means to this goal, as well as possibly a place to be safe from persecution. But almost without exception they did NOT want a State with any kind of meaningful Jewish character.
The battles that seem silly now, like Yiddish, were not so silly then, nor was it so simple that all “the secular want is your friendship and they’re happy that there should be frum Yidden”.
They definitely did not want frum Yidden around, and weren’t just looking for oue friendship.
BUT I’m not looking to point fingers, certainly not at the wonderful “Mizrachist” style Yidden, who in many ways are very similar to the frum Yidden of Europe, if in a more Israeli way.
I fully agree with you that the Chareidi system is doing a terrible job of secular education, an more importantly, of allowing the possibility of secular education for the majority who eventually need to earn a parnassa. The American chareidi system also doesn’t have incredible focus on secular studies, but there is enough support for it that when the time comes, people can go to school or into business and learn what they need to in order to earn a living.
The Gemara kop certainly doesn’t hurt, as the training in critical thinking in the chareidi system is fabulous.
To sum up, I think your view of the Zionist forrefathers is a little too rosy, but I agree that the Chareidi system should be forced to improve its students access to parnassa-oriented education, and I’m not sure that I wouldn’t do something like Sheetrit is doing to make that happen if I were in his position.
And I’m a Chareidi.
I would probably ask a Gadol, but from my acquaintance with some of them, I know they agree with this. They just have a hard time expressing it due to our fanatics.
No, I don’t live in Beitar, but I think I know who you mean. Would his initials be YB. If so, we are close friends, share a Rebbe, and work in several of the same Mosdot.
Pashuteh Yid, I agree with your conclusions. The history of various details and individuals is debatable, and reallynot so relevant…the bottom line is that we each need to work on ourselves, on our Ahavas Yisroel, not to fight old, played-out battles, and certainly not to think that by fighting those battles we are being “yotzeh” our chiyuv of avodas hashem.
All the best, I’m sure I’ll see you around the pages.