In the erev shabbos Yated, the newspaper had harsh words for the Tov Party, the so-called “new chareidim” as they have been dubbed in Eretz Yisrael, accusing them of distancing themselves from gedolei yisrael and being too modern.

The column is viewed as a response to the report of the new seminary in Yerushalayim, ישיבת דרכי שרה located in an office building.

Editor Yitzchak Roth wrote he feels they are “misguided for in our generation there are those who believe that if they wear a black yarmulke and tzizis they have a guarantee regarding how their children will turn out and a guaranteed future Jewish generation, event without clinging to the path selected by gedolei hador. This is a sign that some do not learn from history.”

He then hints to the article on the new school that appeared in the daily Haaretz, “one who is proud of a column appearing in an anti-Jewish newspaper has finally freed himself of the ‘long term oppression’ of adhering to gedolei yisrael and now R”L begins breathing מהאי דעתא and will undoubtedly come to shed many tears in the future.”

Tov founder and Yerushalayim resident Chanoch Werdiger is not moved by the newspaper’s attack, explaining “I haven’t see the editorial. They don’t give the newspaper out in our area. I am surprised at only one thing. Just how hypocritical can we become” Werdiger questions.

He explains the girls in their schools are studying for two years and then they leave with “nothing in hand” after paying 40,000 NIS. “They pay handsomely and leave empty handed. Then they require an additional year to complete their matriculation diploma so then can work for minimum wage. This is what they view as the correct path for the girls? Please, don’t speak to me about ideology. The entire matter of this school is one of practicality, nothing more – to enable a young lady to leave with a matriculation diploma in hand towards facilitating her responsibility to support a family down the road.”

Senior Tov official attorney Yechezkel Rosenblum adds “We do not normally respond to smear campaigns and certainly not to cheap rhetoric, especially coming from the beis medrash of a free daily newspaper. Enough with the hypocrisy. Every seminary without exception studies secular subjects. With the exception of Jerusalem and Bnei Brak, they all receive a matriculation diploma, including Petach Tikvah, Netanya, Rechovot, and more.”

The question that remains is if we should continue to burden parents who send their daughters to school at the cost of tens of thousands of NIS to pay for an additional year, realizing most will have to bring home the main parnasa. At the end, they will achieve the same thing we are providing here to begin with. In ‘דרכי שרה’ the students learn on a high level, including Torah studies, Yiras Shomayim, midos, and yes, also professional skills on a high level towards providing them with the tools to meet the challenges of today’s marketplace, the challenges facing them as they seek to get married.”

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)