Tuesday, December 13, 2022
Agudah Accusing NY Times of Defamation in Case Involving Custody Dispute, Hasidic Schools
"At a time of rising antisemitism––from celebrity statements to attacks in the streets––the NY Times is investing significant resources to contribute to an atmosphere of hate against those most identifiably Jewish," Agudath Israel of America tweeted early Tuesday morning.
Agudath Israel then issued the following response to what it called the "latest NYT attack on the Orthodox Jewish community."
The angry message came in response to a Monday NY Times article titled, "Why Some Hasidic Children Can't Leave Failing Schools," with the sub-headline, "Parents who try to withdraw their children from yeshivas over a lack of secular education often cannot do so, hampered by social pressure and a rabbinical court system."
Here's the opener, which, like any good opener, tells the whole story:
Beatrice Weber wakes up most mornings afraid that her son's Hasidic Jewish school is setting him up to fail. Her 10-year-old, Aaron, brims with curiosity, and has told his mother that he wants to work for NASA. But his school, like other Hasidic boys' schools in New York, teaches only cursory English and math and little science or social studies. It focuses instead on imparting the values of the fervently religious Hasidic community, which speaks Yiddish rather than English, and places the study of Jewish law and prayer above all else. Recently, Ms. Weber said, Aaron's teacher told him that the planets revolve around the Earth.
But when Ms. Weber, a divorced mother of 10, tried to withdraw Aaron from his religious school, called a yeshiva, and enroll him in another one with stronger secular studies, she found that she could not do it. She had signed away that right in a divorce agreement drawn up by Hasidic leaders.
Here's the thing, though: the Times article features Beatrice Weber's picture, which we, as an Orthodox family paper cannot post, even if we could get permission from the paper. Like the second amendment to the constitution, Ms. Weber bears arms and a flash of knees. So, why did she enroll little Aaron in a Hasidic school if this is her choice of dress? Is there a story there? You bet.
Beatrice Weber is a "Chozer B'She'ela," a formerly Orthodox person who charted the reverse path of a "Chozer B'Tshuva," a returnee to Jewish practice. She told the Times that she had had it with Jewish tradition when "she had a miscarriage over the Sabbath. She said her husband refused to call the doctor until the holiday was over. Ms. Weber, dizzy and bleeding heavily, dialed the number herself."
Seriously? Did they fire all the fact checkers over on 46th Street? One phone call to an Orthodox rabbi, any Orthodox rabbi, would have debunked this claim. The rule of "pikuach nefesh do'che Shabbat" – saving a life is more important than observing Shabbat – is so basic, most secular Jews are aware of it. Did the writer, Eliza Shapiro, not know it? Of course, she does, but she left the anecdote unchallenged because, as the Agudah folks have noted, she and her paper have an agenda, and it ain't truthful reporting.
What we have here, even according to the Times report, is not a backward Hasidic school that refuses to allow a mother to pull her kid out so he can become a NASA engineer, but a custody dispute between a mother whose picture we can't post and the father, who remained an observant Jew. I have no idea who is right in this dispute, how could I, but I do know the Williamsburg yeshiva that called Aaron's father to verify whether he, too, wanted the boy to study elsewhere, acted according to the law, not only Jewish but NY State law, too.
In response, according to the Times, "she filed a complaint with the state Education Department in 2019, accusing Aaron's school, Yeshiva Mesivta Arugath Habosem in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, of breaking the law by not offering an adequate secular education."
I don't recommend reading the full article, although, if you have a subscription, go for it. I consider myself a liberal Orthodox Jew, and I certainly did not send my child to a Hasidic school. But I couldn't help siding with the Hasidim and Agudah in this story because of the biased reporting.
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