Yeshiva parents today began a “Protect Our Yeshivas” campaign in response to unrelenting attacks against their schools by anti-yeshiva activists.
Hundreds of families and businesses are hanging window signs at their homes and offices reading “I’m a proud yeshiva parent – protect my right to choose.” The window signs and bumper stickers feature a yeshiva student, with a headline reading “I’m a proud yeshiva parent – protect my right to choose! #ProtectYeshivas.”
The campaign is organized by Parents for Educational and Religious Liberty in Schools (PEARLS), a community-based coalition of parents, educators, and religious leaders working to raise awareness of the importance of the yeshiva system.
“We’ve organized the “Protect Our Yeshiva” campaign to say, loudly and clearly, that we’re proud of our yeshivas,” said Rabbi David Niederman, Director of the United Jewish Organizations of Williamsburg and a member of the executive committee of PEARLS. “We’re fed up with the attacks on our schools by a few disgruntled graduates while there is overwhelming support for our yeshivas system from hundreds of thousands of successful graduates.”
“Generations of families have made the choice to send their children to yeshivas because of the high-quality Jewish education they receive,” said Rabbi David Zwiebel, Executive Vice President of Agudath Israel of America and a member of the executive committee of PEARLS. “Parents know the educational needs of their children best – not the government.”
There are more than 425 Jewish schools in New York State, with more than 165,000 students. Of those schools, 275, with more than 110,000 students, are in New York City. Individual yeshivas are largely independent in managing their curricula.
Each year, thousands of yeshiva students graduate with the skills necessary to function as successful members of the workforce. Some become entrepreneurs, teachers and shopkeepers, while others become electricians and plumbers. Many tend to the religious life and needs of the growing Jewish Orthodox community.
For more information or to request a window sign or bumper sticker, please email [email protected].
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3 Responses
Very good! Let’s not let these yeshiva droppouts to tell us what to learn.
The attacks against the yeshivos are being led by the OTD erev rav rasha Naftuli Monster.
you people are totally misrepresenting naftali mster of YAFFED’s (Young Activists For Fair Education) argument.
they’re not trying to shut down any yeshivas. what they’re saying is that chassidish yeshivas should be required to give their high school male students basic secular education, the type most yeshivish and other Jewish high schools give. that’s not asking for much. when I was in touro college, one of the courses being taught was literally 8th grade math and all the students were chassidim who didn’t learn math beyond 6th or 7th grade. how can you run a school without teaching your kids basic math?