An appeals court on Friday upheld a lower court’s ruling that Yeshiva University must recognize the undergraduate “YU Pride Alliance,” rejecting the school’s argument that it should be exempt from the relevant anti-discrimination laws on religious grounds.
The appeals court also dismissed YU’s argument that the First Amendment protects it from recognizing the club, with the judges pointing out that three of YU’s graduate schools already have recognized “pride” clubs.
“We find that denial of recognition for the Pride Alliance is not ‘essential’ to Yeshiva’s ‘central mission,’” the appeals court ruling says.
Yeshiva University has vowed to continue fighting the rulings. The U.S. Supreme Court has previously expressed an interest in taking up the case, but said YU should first expend all its other legal avenues of remedy first.
Following the first court’s ruling, Yeshiva University temporarily shut down all student clubs and set up it own “Torah based” LGBTQ club to avoid recognizing the YU Pride Alliance.
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16 Responses
case was in the Appellate Division of the New York State Supreme Court
after they lose in the New York Court of Appeals
Then it goes to US Supreme Court
They have already capitulated.
Their “Torah based LGBTQ club” is a de facto recognition of an attitude and philosophy that is antithetical to the Torah. People with foresight and practical understanding see how such a club will not encourage adherence to Torah.
In place of being truly heroic and standing up to the pressure in ways that may have hurt them financially and in other ways, but would have perhaps salvaged the integrity of their alignment to Torah, YU has instead demonstrated their callowness and that of their leadership.
Claiming that they will continue to fight after taking a position that satisfies neither those who demand full recognition of Toaiva lifestyle, nor satisfies those who wish to see principled leadership and integrity to Torah values, is a farce.
Attempting to cover their shortcomings and flawed sense of right and wrong by parsing lame semantic distinctions that will have no bearing on practical perception, and no bearing on the reality of if members of this club will actually follow the Torah doesn’t hold water.
YU leadership, or lack thereof, has shown themselves to be the torchbearers of a hollow and bankrupt ideology.
No!!!! the Torah based cub is filled with therapists and professionals to help people find their way away for taavah! Shurim on the issurim, hashkafa talks strengthening new resoleve to rebuild the real self and commit to avodas Hashem acc. to Shulahcan Aruch!!!
I think it’s completely the opposite. They are only making a “Torah based” club in order to legitimize not having the real thing, until they can win the case in court. Pretty solid move.
‘Three of YU’s graduate schools already have recognized “pride” clubs’ This is true and has been going on for nearly 30 years and YU has some explaining to do.
I hate to say it but these rulings are proving everything the Gedolim had against YU from the beginning. To quote Judge Kotler in her first ruling (the irony of the name is not lost on me): ‘The record shows that the purpose students attend Yeshiva is to obtain an education, not for religious worship or some other function which is religious at its core. Thus, religion is necessarily secondary to education at Yeshiva.’
Or ‘Yeshiva is a university which provides educational instruction, first and foremost. Yeshiva’s religious character evidenced by required religious studies, observation of Orthodox Jewish law, students’ participation in religious services, etc. are all secondary to Yeshiva’s primary purpose.’
If they were being honest they would have called themselves ‘University Yeshiva’ or more accurately ‘Jewish University’
And to echo maskils thoughts, I can’t wait for the ‘Torah based’ pork eating club, soon to be followed by the ‘Torah based’ legalize murder now club. How about a Torah based marry your sister club… I can go on all day.
As Rav Giftor Zatzal said about one of their leaders “Rabbi….? He is no Rabbi… Zol zain Semicha arupfallen!”
YU. No longer mindful
Today one has to ask when they go to YU are they there for the Y or the U. The place is full on contrasts. On one hand there are chashuve Rabbonim there and I’ve witnessed myself many chashuve ehrliche yidden come out from there who live pure lifestyles and hate liberal ideology. On the other hand there are people there who are the biggest reshaim. As Ben Shapiro noted that in MO there are Nervous Orthodox. They’re frum but are afraid to speak out against liberalism. They try to sort of be a middle ground but often serve the left more than they do right.
The case is actually very significant and it really has nothing to do with YU. New York is arguing that being un-WOKE is similar to being racist or anti-Semitic, and just as the government could close down institutions advocating racism and anti-Semitism, they can close down institutions (including yeshivos) that, for example, reject, the LGBTQ agenda. So if YU loses this in the Supreme Court, it means that Torah schools can be closed (or at least, their students will be required to attend schools with a WOKE curriculum) that frum institutions will lose tax exempt status, that marriages officiated at by frum rabbanim will not be recognized, that accommodating the frum community is against public policy, and that the best interests of children are served by removing them from un-WOKE homes. This isn’t about “modern orthodox” versus Chareidim. It is about the survival of frumkeit in at least the “blue” states, and perhaps in the United States.
I expect that the Federal Supreme Court will uphold the First amendment and declare that the “cancel culture” that mandates the WOKE “party line” is unconstitutional, but one never knows and given the Republicans’ defeats in the last three elections (thank to the Donald), the Supreme Court may be radically different by the time the matter is decided.
No, Akuperma, you have clearly not read the decision, and YWN for some reason decided not to report ANYTHING AT ALL about the basis for this decision, or for the original trial court decision.
Both the trial court and the appeals court are clearly correct, and if you read the decisions you will not find anything to argue with. The plain fact is that YU is NOT a religious institution. It is as simple as that. The law explicitly exempts all religious institutions, no matter how they are organized, so if YU were one the case would not even start. The only question before the court was, what kind of institution is YU, and if you look at its charter, bylaws, and history it is clear beyond any question that it is not religious, and therefore not entitled to the exemption.
This whole mess goes directly back to the very controversial decision the university made in 1967, over the Rav’s protest, to separate YU from RIETS and to declare to the whole world, כתבו לכם על קרן השור, that RIETS was a religious school and YU was a secular school, and the two would have a close relationship but would not be the same entity. This was not some kind of misunderstanding; it was a deliberate decision, rather like the Satmar decision to incorporate the limudei-chol portion of their girls’ schools, and their special needs schools, as separate secular institutions.
All the courts are saying is that you can’t have it both ways. If you declare yourself to be a secular institution you can’t turn around and claim to be religious when it’s convenient. Either you are one or the other. The obvious solution is to re-merge YU and RIETS and amend the charter and bylaws to declare that the entire institution is religious, with the primary purpose of promoting Orthodox Judaism, that all departments of the school exist lesheim shomayim. The courts have already said that if they do that they will be exempt from the NYC human rights law. But apparently they don’t want to do that.
akuperma maybe but no one dare try to start such a club in a Yeshiva. This isn’t only YU. Few modern schools are having safe spaces for LGBT people.
if the first amendment does apply to everyone, even to secular organizations, it applies to no one
the real issue isn’t a New York “religious exemption”, it’s the applicability of the Federal First amendment in its entirety
Nothing wrong with a Torah based club. They should have done it years ago
if the first amendment does not apply to everyone, even to secular organizations, it applies to no one
YU should take this opportunity and make a big Kiddush Hashem by publicly stating that the LGBTQ lifestyle is totally Abhorrent and Against the Torah, and those who do it as well those who promote such things or support it publicly in any way deserve the death penalty according to Jewish law and should be immediately stoned to death by the upcoming morning
Akuperma, the first amendment does apply to everyone. The court correctly found that requiring a secular institution to give this club the same recognition that it does to all other student clubs does not violate any of its first amendment rights. YU can’t be compelled to endorse the club; it can be compelled to treat it decently without in any way endorsing it, just as it does with the similar clubs at its grad schools.