Agudath Israel of America decries today’s one-sided New York Times hit piece on New York State’s Hasidic community and its educational institutions.
The article is riddled with bias, ignoring the vast majority of Hasidic parents – those who cherish their yeshivas – instead citing a minority of people who have rejected the community’s values, and passing them off as representative of the whole. The true viewpoint of the tens of thousands of parents who send their children to Hasidic schools is represented, in part, by the recent historic 350,000 letters during the state’s public comment period, the vast majority of which pleading for no interference with the yeshiva educational system for which they pay and value. Could the New York Times not speak to one of those parents?
In this article, everything beautiful is turned ugly. While challenging college classes are lauded in society, our disciplined, rigorous, and intellectually challenging Torah studies are denigrated. Disgusting innuendo abounds. The supposed poverty data, which form the foundation of much of the piece, have been debunked so many times as to become tiresome. And then there are the outright falsehoods, too many to list, being cataloged now by writers, fact-checkers, and defamation lawyers.
There are certainly some who have had poor experiences in a yeshiva. But the New York Times has written a piece that could find almost nothing positive in a community that has raised generations of successful entrepreneurs, professionals, and blue-collar workers. Generations of successful human beings – even if success is defined in purely material terms.
Hasidic communities are models of safety and commerce, with low crime, suicide, and drug abuse rates. Our communities are focused on pursuits of knowledge, family values, kindness, and service to G-d and to others.
We await, in vain, for a New York Times article on that.
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8 Responses
We will complain and protest. The democrats can cause what ever harm they want to us, but they won’t deter us for voting for democrats no matter what. We are a wise nation.
Maybe the ones mentioned in the article will stop voting for democrats
If the entire woke agenda ever becomes federal law enforced by the Justice Department, then every bastion of tradition will become public enemy number one and every yeshiva worthy of the name will have no choice but to close. A mass exodus to Israel will then follow. The Times article is a presage of things to come. Hashem is orchestrating things in this way to force a קיבוץ גלוייות.
Thank you Agudah for such a clear response to such a horrendous article.
Our yeshivos are beacons of light in this world. I’m glad that someone defended them with eloquence and passion.
Perhaps this is something to add to our tefillos during these days of rachamim, that we should be allowed to serve Hashem in the proper way?
The mosdos will still endorse the rashaim and nothing will change. Such backwards logic. They endorse the party that’s in power because they need to stay on their good side. Enough already! Vote for what’s best for us and get rid of them. Change can only happen if you vote for change.
Why the surprise?
It is NYT!
Never misses an opportunity for Jew bashing!
The Brisker Rav, ztl, said that whenever there are decrees against religion, the source of the decree lies not with them but with us, that we’re somehow weak in that area and it’s only our weakness that gives them the power to act against us. What are the Gedolei Torah behind the Aguda saying about this aspect of the situation? The arguments in this very well crafted statement are very good, but according to the Brisker Rav we might have to look deeper to solve the problems.
Did not read the article.
But I know how a NYT article on chasidim will not portray them in a positive light.
Unfortunatly I also know first hand how rotten to the core some chasidic institutions are.