13 Responses

1. The problem is the prejudice and discrimination between two holy facets of klal yisroel, the culprit is not the HIGH COURT.
   Finally, finally the whole can of worms is getting opened and investigated,, finally Reb Porush. This has been brewing for two years already.

2. The Chazon Ish ZT”L used to decry the demonization of sephardim, as did Rav Shach ZT”L. I would love to hear the other side of the story.

3. To #1: 100% correct.

4. is rav elyashiv for or against the segregation? are the sephardic girls any less religious than the ashkenazim?

5. #2 – No one is for “demonizing” sephardim, the question is whether to teach them together with ashkenazim or to teach them separately.

   #4 – Perhaps R’ Elyashiv wants ashkenazim and sephardim to be taught different things, each according to their mesorah?

   #1,3,4 – Don’t you think that maybe, just maybe, the Gedolim have a cheshbon for what they do? Do you think that they haven’t thought about this, or that they decided to do what they did for no reason? And who do you think we should trust to tell us what is right: our Gedolim, or the secular, leftist Israeli High Court, which has time and time again shown how its negative feelings about our religion and all those who practice it? We as frum jews have higher authorities, who draw their wisdom from the Torah, the Word of Hashem!!!

6. mw13 (#5):

   Well said.

7. The discrimination against the sephardim must end. WE ARE ALL BNAI YISRAEL!

8. #6 – Thanks.

   #7 – Please read comment #5, I don’t have the patience to say it all over again.

9. Here I am again.

   I live in Emanuel

   You can visit the place for yourself and see girls from Sepharadi and Ashkenazi and blended families in the Beis Yaakov Chasidi.

   I cannot believe how far these lies have gone. I am re-posting what I have said in previous articles on this topic.

   The girls who attend the Beis Yacov Chasidi in Emanuel have their roots in the following countries: Iraq, Persia, Morocco, Kurdistan, Yemen, India, Egypt, The Old Yishuv here in Israel, Tunisia, Poland, Hungary, Russia, Germany. What makes this school different is its standards, in particular standards concerning tznius (length and tightness of dress), no makeup, no MP3s, exposure to media, etc. The parents who objected to the current standards of the city Beis Yakov either bussed their girls to Bnei Brak or tried to start another school. I have lived in Emanuel for eleven years, have six kids who have been and are still attending schools here. When we first came, there were three schools for boys and one for girls – the only school for girls was the Beis Yacov, which already had within in a split off Chabad School, which soon after moved to its own building. The original Beis Yacov was largely comprised of Chassidic families. The three boy’s schools were then and continue to be Chabad, Chassidic, and Sephardic. “Chassidic” does not mean “Ashkenazic”. Members of both communities marry each other.

   The demographics here changed. Chassidim were moving out, and the flavor the original Beis Yacov was becoming more modern. The formation of the Beis Yacov Chasidi was an effort by members of the original Chassidic population here to re-create the kind of Beis Yacov that they had a decade ago. It was a stricter school – in terms of dress, exposure to media, even to some aspects of Haredi culture that they feel is not for them as in Haredi “rock music”, choice of careers, etc – and certainly NOT of an “Ashkenazic” school! This was after a couple of years of outreach programs meant to encourage people to move the original Beis Yacov back towards its original narrower interpretation of the Israeli Haredi lifestyle. This outreach did not succeed, to the Chassidim formed their own school – in their minds, returning to the original school’s former style.

   One of the original founders of the Beis Yacov Chasidi, which was founded in 2007, was Rav Ba’adani, a gadol (very well respected Rabbinical authority) who happens to be Sephardic. Additionally, there were two families who had daughters in both the original Beis Yacov and the Beis Yacov Chasidi at the very same time, proving yet again that this was not an ethnic division. This is a dynamic, fluid society. There were girls who switched back to the original school and those who switched to the Chasidi school the following year. There is an excellent Chabad school, the original Beis Yaakov, plus dati leumi and charedi dati leumi (chardal) schools in other towns in the Shomron that offer excellent alternatives, and the new Beis Rachel and Leah, run by a wonderful principal and staff, offer yet another healthy alternative for students here.

   I live in Emanuel. I love the variety here, some of which must be preserved in diverse educational institutions. Variety has been instrumental in the survival of the Jewish people, both nationally and individually.

   Because of its small size, Emanuel has been a nice place for people to get to know members of different kinds of communities more easily than in a large city perhaps. That makes this horrendous media fabrication all that more ironic – and painful.

   Next time you hear a news story that touches you, please contact people who live locally to get a sense of what is happening.

10. mw13
    Do you also believe that the US should re-institute racial segregation as it was 50 years ago?

11. #10 – Of course not. Why would I?

12. Dear #10,

    I hope you read number nine above. As you can see, this is not an ethnic separation, it is philosophical.

    What this story really is about is media provocation and misinformation, a public who does not scrutinize its journalists enough, and inappropriate judiciary activism.

    Stop the cycle of lies. Question the media. Question the court system.

    You might believe that being the victim of media slander and lies cannot happen to you. But as long as it is happening to anybody, it is affecting you too. The media is sneering at the Chassidic Jews of Emanuel – and if you believe the media, they have duped you too.

    I live in Emanuel. Come visit and see for yourself.

13. I live in Emanuel

    What do you think of the following interaction I had with a so called journalist two years ago?

    Me: How can you say this is an ethnic division when you see for yourself Sephardi girls here? The difference is that is hashkafa!(I then tried to list the differences in hashkafa but she cut me off)
    Reporter: I know it is racist because the Chassidi school opened in the same building (as the original Beis Yaakov)! (Triumphant sneer)
    Me: But the Chabad school also opened up in this building before they got their own building!
    Reporter: (blushed, blinked rapidly, eyes darted from side to side), “I have work to do!” and she walked away quickly.

    Please question the media. Thank you.