A Jewish student who can’t attend her high-school graduation because it’s scheduled for Shabbos is getting the royal treatment from the NYC Department of Education instead — with a private graduation ceremony at Tweed Courthouse.
Schools Chancellor Joel Klein offered to personally hand Li Morse, 18, her diploma from Mott Hall HS in Harlem as an alternative to her graduating alone in her school library.
Education officials said Klein would host a brief ceremony for Morse Thursday at the Department of Education headquarters.
“We’re happy. It’s a nice thing that they offered,” said the girl’s mom, Rochelle Levine.
“She definitely chooses that over standing in the school’s little library room.”
Levine and Morse had lobbied for the graduation day to be changed because they are Shomer Shabbos.
Mayor Bloomberg yesterday defended schools’ right to set graduation dates based on the needs and availability of their communities.
(Source: NY Post)
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10 Responses
Nebach! What’s a Shomer Shabbos girl doing in a public school???
What a tragedy!
Yes yes! It’s tragic.
Maybe her parents could NOT afford the yeshiva tuition. Sad commentary.
no- genius – she’s going to Hadar seminary in Yerushalyim.
Rather than make fun of her how about:
1) family cannot afford yeshiva 2) family unacceptable to many yeshiva snobs who have forgotten about kiruv 3) she is a baalas teshuva.
In any case she represents mesiras nefesh and should be applauded. Her act is much harder than being observant in BP or Willy.
Mazal Tov on your graduation, Li.
May you go from strength to strength in your devotion to Hashem and Torah- you are obviously a girl of real values!
Keep up the great work and continue being an ambassador for Mitzvah observance!
One from naivety and one who sounds malicious. Public school was good enough for your parents and grandparents in the 50’s and 60’s when they went to Cheder and had a proper home environment and opportunity for learning.
Perhaps some can’t afford even subsidized Private schooling. Some people have lost Jobs, or have been on subsidies for a long time, and are being squeezed because there is more demand. Some have both problems. And some have particular need for special education resources for their kids that Jewish schools can’t provide, or can only do at prohibitive cost. They can and do get a rebbe in to teach their kids a number of times each week, if they can afford it.
It must be nice, living in a dream world where there are no simple solutions to real everyday problems, and making flippant remarks about someone else’s matzav can be done without thought.
Stop judging. Not everyone’s situation is a carbon copy of another’s. The fact this young lady is Shomer Shabbos is an unbelievable merit to her and her family, and not a source for tongue-in-cheek, or other such remarks.
MAZEL TOV!
It always amazes me how entertaining some of the posts are.
Mazal Tov Li on your graduation, my you continue to grow in your learning always.
To the usual finger pointers; some Shomer Shabbas Jews cannot afford private school education for their children, it would do you good to remember that next time you sit down to your fifth week night out at the local steak house.
I would also like to point out that tuition for yeshiva is MUCH cheaper in Israel. And we are not even begining to mention the improvement in mitzvot observence in the holy land
I’ve been doing my internship in public school this year and what I can say is that I admire this girl for being able to remain firm in her beliefs in a place that is devoid of spirituality, of any sort. The school lunch is treif, any class parties are treif, extracurricular activities occuring on Shabbos, possible anti-Semitism, teasing or bullying are all some of the few things that this girl has stood up to throughout her school years. Peer pressure is strong and she withstood it. It is never a good idea to put yourself in a nisayon, but unfortunately, for whatever reason, she ended up in public school and I say kol hakavod to her for being proud of her yiddishkeit.
I hope that life will take her to many Jewish enriching experiences to continue to be strong and grow further.
Mazel Tov on graduating!