Quoting flyers distributed for chareidi summer camp programs in Jerusalem, MyNet Jerusalem in a disparaging report states the chareidi tzibur pays far less for these programs than the non-chareidi public, quoting a PTA official who made the comparison.

According to the information appearing in flyers for city chareidi and non-chareidi summer camp programs, for the chareidi camps affiliated with Agudas Yisrael, the rates are NIS 270 for the regular camp and NIS 500 if one includes an afternoon program while the price quoted for the non-chareidi equivalent is NIS 835.

“Why should I have to pay more, almost double” asked one non-religious parent on a WhatsApp group list. “All year, we anticipate some equality in prices, and we are once again profoundly disappointed” another parent responded.

The flyer was also received by the city’s Parents Teachers Association (PTA), and Tzvi Simcha, the person responsible for the PTA kindergartens tried to explain why there is such a difference in the pricing of programs. “We tried to offer a general framework [for religious and secular] to receive services from the chareidi network but we could not receive a majority” Simcha wrote on social media. “We worked very hard in contact with many officials, and at the end, one could literally count the number of responses on one hand”.

In the religious/secular network, we do not understand how the PTA suggested that their children should attend the chareidi network and were not surprised that almost no one registered. “I personally do not feel comfortable with my children attending a chareidi afternoon program. It is not at all appropriate” one mother added. “If there is a sector paying such low wages, there is something very wrong here” she added.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)