Friday, June 30, 2023
How A Born Black Jew Became Hasidic
Judaism is not simply a religion: We are a tribe, an ethnicity, an extended family, as well as a faith system. The misconception that Jews are only a religion or are all white continues to be pervasive, but there are more and more Jews speaking out about the complex nature of our identity. One of these voices is that of Sara Braun, who recently released a memoir, That Black Hasidic Lady: A Memoir of a Dark-Skinned Hasidic Woman.
Her childhood was one of little religion and recognition of her Jewishness, though she did know she was supposed to keep it quiet, due to antisemitism. She was born to a Jewish mother and non-Jewish father. She grew up in rural Holland, where she attended Montessori Dutch schools and had a very nature-based education. Only when she turned eighteen and left Holland did Sara have the opportunity to explore her Jewish roots, ultimately finding her home in the Hasidic community.
When asked about her family's history of blackness, Sara explains that she, her mother, and grandmother all had dark skin, but her great-grandmother looked more like the "expected" Ashkenazi Eastern-European woman. In fact, because Sara's grandmother was so comparatively dark-skinned to the rest of the family, she was put up for adoption and raised by a Black family, and later married a non-Jewish Black man. As the Jewish people originate in the Middle East, there are darker genes among all Jews, including Ashkanazi Jews, and they may come out differently in each child.
Sara acknowledges that her great-grandmother grew up in the early 1900s and in a society that cared deeply about color, but that did not, of course, excuse her racist behavior. Sara recounts that her sister Miriam's first memory of their great-grandmother was being sung a racist lullaby.
Sara's mother, Gita, was tragically orphaned at the age of five, and surprisingly, that same grandmother who had given up her child (Gita's mother) for adoption, for being dark-skinned, took Gita in. Unfortunately, the environment was hostile, cold and racist, and Sara's mother fostered negative feelings toward Judaism from a young age, associating the behavior with the religion.
When Gita's grandmother found her dating a non-Jewish Black teenager, she sent her to live with an aunt in the Netherlands. Gita did ultimately marry a non-Jew despite this intervention, who was also a South American of mixed-race. "You can imagine what I am," Sara jokes, regarding her family's international history.
Sara's journey from Holland to New York at 18 was a natural one, sparked by a teenager's fascination with the city. Her journey from a nonreligious lifestyle to a Hasidic one was just as natural. Sara recounts how her innate curiosity about her Jewish roots — which had been kept off display her whole childhood in Holland due to the trauma associated with her great-grandmother — drove her through years of self-exploration as soon as she reached New York. "I know I have roots in Africa, I have roots in Asia, I have roots everywhere, but the spirit is a yiddishe spirit." Sara became more and more religious over time, casually exploring different communities. It's less about lifestyles than about communities, she explains. Even in Holland, there are some shuls where she feels more comfortable than others. It's natural for some places to not be right for every person.
This yearning confused her mother, who had been traumatized by her Jewish grandparents; Gita found Sara's move to Boro Park baffling, and the community she embraced to be hypocritical. Sara, meanwhile, finds that her reception in the Hasidic community as a Black woman has been predominantly positive. There will always be ignorant people who say distasteful things about her skin, or who will ask when she converted. Clearly, her own great-grandmother is a testament to the fact that religious Jews can participate in distasteful behavior. Sara, though, has found that that is not representative of the religion or community as a whole at all. Overall, she has felt accepted by both men and women in the Hasidic community.
As much as Sara herself finds prying questions and presumptions about her background annoying, she confesses that she also falls into this trap. When she doesn't know the life story of a person of color who stands out in their community, she will never ask for their story directly, but she will always wonder. Unconscious and internalized bias exists everywhere, and it is up to us to be conscious of our thoughts and actions. We can always choose to be sensitive, and to watch our words.
Sara has experienced biases from the Black community as well. She spoke of a conversation she'd had with a first cousin on her grandfather's side. She confessed that she did not speak the language that her grandfather grew up with in South America, and her cousin was astounded. She insisted that their grandparents always spoke with the grandkids in that language, then amended with, "Well, probably because [grandma] knows that you're not…" Sara understood what went unsaid: she wasn't like the rest of her cousins. By all accounts, Sara was predominantly perceived as a "child of her mother" in her father's extended family as well for not being culturally "Black enough."
In spite of social expectation, Sara does not consider herself a spokesperson for Jews to the Black community and vice versa. It is not the responsibility of people with blended cultural roots to be on display or act as mediators between their communities. Rather, Sara simply wishes and hopes for everyone to find happiness, health, and peace.
Although being considered the odd one out can be hurtful, Sara, if anything, is proud of her blended racial heritage. Out of curiosity, Sara took DNA tests together with her mother, and learned that her roots extend even further across the globe. While her mother didn't particularly care about her genetic legacy, Sara was fascinated by the blend of peoples who made her who she is: a proud Jewish woman.
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Thursday, June 29, 2023
Jewish Community in Bulgaria Sounds Alarm on Rising Antisemitism
Antisemitism in Bulgaria is becoming a growing concern in the wake of two acts of vandalism in the capital, Sofia, with the head of the country's Jewish community describing the episodes as "highly disturbing," in an interview with a German news outlet.
Earlier this month, a craft beer store was defaced with a six pointed star and the word "Jude" — the German word for "Jew" which the Nazis daubed at the entrances to Jewish-owned stores during the 1930s in a signal to consumers to boycott these outlets, according to the German broadcaster DW. A swastika was then sprayed on the front of nearby store a few days later.
Speaking to DW, Alexander Oscar — chairman of "Shalom," which represents Bulgaria's small Jewish community numbering between 2-6,000 people — said he had been disappointed by the lack of an official reaction to the "highly disturbing" incidents.
"Any other civilized European country, a country that is a member of the European Union, would have a reaction," Oscar said.
The vandalized beer store, Cosmic Craft Beers, has been targeted by supporters of the ultranationalist, pro-Russian Vazrazhdane Party, which garnered 14 percent of the vote during April's general election, making it the third largest party in the Balkan state's parliament. Earlier this month, supporters of the party clashed with members of staff over their demand that a Bulgarian national flag replace the flag of English soccer club Chelsea on display in its store window. After the incident, the store's owners put up a sign that read "We don't serve Vazrazhdane supporters," which quickly went viral on social media. The shop was subsequently bombarded with bad online reviews and inundated by Vazrazhdane supporters — including a member of parliament — demanding to be served, DW reported.
Vazrazhdane supporters have shown themselves willing to promote antisemitic memes. A recent demonstration in support of Russia's aggression against Ukraine featured a placard that declared "Zionism = Nazism." Vazrazhdane MPs have also been implicated; during the COVID-19 pandemic, Vazrazhdane parliamentarian Tsoncho Ganev posted a yellow star on his public Facebook profile and compared public health policies that required people to carry proof of vaccination with the Nazi law that forced Jews to attach to their clothes a yellow star of David with the word "Jude." Around the same time, his colleague, Elena Guncheva, opined that Bulgarian politicians of Jewish descent were not Bulgarians but "guests on Bulgarian soil."
The party's leader — Kostadin Kostadinov, a historian and long-time nationalist agitator — slammed Oscar for his comments, arguing that Vazrazhdane's supporters deserved the solidarity of the Jewish community because they were allegedly discriminated against. "You should be glad that we Bulgarians are not Nazis like you are. Because if we were, you would not be here," Kostadinov posted on Facebook in a message to Oscar.
Oscar told DW that he feared the party's antisemitic rhetoric, which is accompanied by extreme hostility to Bulgaria's LGBTQ+ community and the Ukrainian refugees there, could escalate into violence.
"Hate speech is much like a flame. The same way a flame can become a huge fire, hate speech can become physical violence," he said.
Historically, antisemitism has been rare in Bulgaria, with the country basking its reputation for protecting its Jewish population during the Nazi occupation of World War II. However, in neighboring Macedonia, more than 11,000 Jews were deported to concentration camps by the occupying Bulgarian authorities who were allied with Germany.
"We must believe that the situation will get better and we must find a way to demonstrate that we are part of the European family. Europe is based on common values and responsibility. It is important that we, Bulgarians, learn how to take responsibility for our mistakes and for our ancestors' wrongdoings," Oscar concluded.
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Tuesday, June 27, 2023
Anti-Semite assaults Brooklyn senior, hurls anti-Jewish remarks: NYPD
The police are looking for an anti-Semite who allegedly threw a cutting instrument in the face of a 77-year-old man in Brooklyn Monday and spewed out anti-Jewish statements.
Police released a photo and video footage of the alleged suspect who cops say targeted the Jewish senior at around 5:25 p.m. on Broadway near Rutledge Street in Williamsburg. The suspect allegedly threw the item in the elderly man's face, hitting him, while making anti-Semitic remarks.
The victim was treated by EMS at the scene.
The suspect fled in an unknown direction. The photos and video footage show the suspect on a scooter.
Anyone with information in regard to this incident is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782), The NYPD's Hate Crime Task Force is investigating.
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Thursday, June 22, 2023
Archaeological work at old Jewish cemetery in Uman causes outrage
A group of local archaeologists has begun excavating the grounds of the centuries-old Jewish cemetery in Uman, Ukraine, infuriating the local leadership of the Breslov hasidic sect.
The hasidic leaders accuse the archaeologists of desecrating the graves of thousands of Jews who were murdered for their faith in the 18th century. "According to markings on ancient maps in the area, and in accordance with the data of the soil and the bones that are discovered whenever work is carried out, and dirt is moved, the entire area near the memorial of Rabbi Nachman of Breslov is in the cemetery area where 30,000 martyrs of Uman who were killed for the sanctification of God's name lie," they said.
They claimed that Rabbi Nachman, the sage who founded the Breslov hasidic sect and whose grave is a pilgrimage site for tens of thousands of Jews every year, physically stopped the digging work with his own body.
However, the archaeologists did not give up, and after a short time, they returned to dig at another side of the ancient cemetery. The hasidic leaders, with the help of a number of residents from the community in Uman, managed to stop these excavation attempts as well.
Residents of the Jewish community of Uman gathered for a special prayer session in response to the ongoing dispute, which included the recitation of Psalms.
Locals said that the archaeologists were brought to the site by "provocative factors who in the past year have engaged in many serious attempts to damage the graves of the martyrs on the spot, with a malicious desire to prove that there are no graves in the cemetery where Rabbi Nachman and the martyrs lie."
Between 20,000 and 30,000 Jews were murdered in a massive pogrom committed by Ukrainian nationalists in Uman in 1768. Rabbi Nachman of Breslov, who passed away in 1810, moved to Uman so that he could be buried together with the victims of the massacre in Uman so that they would not be forgotten.
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Wednesday, June 21, 2023
Hundreds protest Hasidic pilgrimages to Haifa monastery
Some 300 people protested Sunday at a Christian monastery in Haifa against what they say is a recent trend of Jewish pilgrims praying at the site.
It came after a Christian man was arrested last week for assaulting two Jewish men at the Stella Maris Monastery located on the slopes of Mount Carmel. Though the site is linked to the Biblical prophet Elijah, members of a Jewish Hasidic sect say it also is home to the tomb of his disciple the prophet Elisha.
During the rally, demonstrators protested against prayer visits by Hasidim. According to Hebrew media reports, the Jewish visitors are from a subgroup of the Breslov Hasidic community, the Shuvu Bonim sect led by convicted sex offender and swindler Rabbi Eliezer Berland.
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Friday, June 16, 2023
Pittsburgh synagogue gunman is found guilty in the deadliest attack on Jewish people in US history
A truck driver who spewed hatred of Jews was convicted Friday of barging into a Pittsburgh synagogue and shooting everyone he could find, killing 11 congregants in an act of antisemitic terror for which he could be sentenced to die.
The guilty verdict was a foregone conclusion after Robert Bowers' own lawyers conceded at the trial's outset that he attacked and killed worshippers at the Tree of Life synagogue on Oct. 27, 2018, in the deadliest attack on Jews in U.S. history. Jurors must now decide whether the 50-year-old should be sent to death row or sentenced to life in prison without parole as the federal trial shifts to a penalty phase expected to last several weeks.
Bowers was convicted of all 63 criminal counts he faced, including hate crimes resulting in death and obstruction of the free exercise of religion resulting in death. His attorneys had offered a guilty plea in return for a life sentence, but prosecutors refused, opting instead to take the case to trial and pursue the death penalty. Most of the victims' families expressed support for the decision.
"I am grateful to God for getting us to this day," Rabbi Jeffrey Myers of the Tree of Life Congregation, who survived the attack, said in a written statement. "And I am thankful for the law enforcement who ran into danger to rescue me, and the U.S. Attorney who stood up in court to defend my right to pray."
The jury deliberated about five hours over two days before reaching a verdict. Bowers, wearing a dark sweater and blue shirt, had little reaction, as has often been the case throughout the trial. Several survivors and relatives of the deceased victims' were in the courtroom, bearing quiet witness. A few sniffles were heard in he gallery as the judge intoned "guilty" dozens of times.
Bowers turned a sacred house of worship into a "hunting ground," targeting his victims because of their religion, a prosecutor told jurors on Thursday. Reading the names of each of the 11 victims he killed, prosecutor Mary Hahn asked the jury to "hold this defendant accountable ... and hold him accountable for those who cannot testify."
Bowers, who was armed with an AR-15 rifle and other weapons, also shot and wounded seven, including five responding police officers.
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Thursday, June 15, 2023
New Rabbis Ordained at Moscow’s Central Yeshiva
new group of students successfully passed their Rabbinical exams on 'Issur and Heter' in Jewish Law, and will now be joining over one hundred of Moscow Yeshiva's alumnae who serve as Rabbis, teachers, and community leaders, throughout the former Soviet Union.
The students of Moscow's 'Tomchei Tmimim' Yeshiva, located in the suburbs near Sofrino, spent many hours diligently completing the Semicha program in addition to their regular curriculum. Under the dedicated guidance of the Rosh Yeshiva, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Goldberg, and Director of Semicha Studies Rabbi Dovid Rozentzweig, the students reached new heights in the study of Torah, Halacha, and Chassidic philosophy.
After a series of oral and written exams, they reached the final stage: an hours-long examination by the Yeshiva's founder, the Chief Rabbi of Russia Berel Lazar, who couldn't hide his great satisfaction from the students' excellent knowledge of the material.
Upon completion of the exams, the excited students received their diplomas, and then immediately returned to study in the Yeshiva compound, which is outside of the city, far from the hustle and distractions, where they can apply themselves seriously to learning in peace and quiet. On Fridays and during holidays, the bochrim travel to nearby cities and towns which do not yet have a Rabbi, and help the local Jews to properly observe Jewish laws.
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Wednesday, June 14, 2023
Skoufis passes bill to block new Hasidic village
A bill that changes the minimum size required for village incorporation from 500 to 2,000 residents has passed the State Senate and is poised to pass the Assembly in the final hours of this year's legislative session.
This change could block an effort that began back in 2018 to create a new municipality in Orange County, known as the Village of Seven Springs, located adjacent to the existing Village of Kiryas Joel. The creation of this new village has been a hot-button issue since the effort to incorporate the new village began back in 2018.
The bill is sponsored by State Senator James Skoufis (D, Cornwall) who represents that portion of Orange County in the the Senate. He said the bill was needed to address the Seven Springs incorporation effort for several reasons, the chief of which was protecting against overdevelopment.
"Since its conception in 2018, the proposal to create Seven Springs has been a revenge-fueled effort to bend New York's antiquated and inadequate village incorporation laws," said Skoufis. "These unscrupulous developers have cared about one thing and one thing only: changing zoning in order to make money at the expense of our local quality of life."
Skoufis' proposal also requires that a study be conducted on the fiscal, service, and taxation impacts on the residents of the proposed village, and the residents of the surrounding town, in order for a village incorporation to move forward.
"I've been fighting to reform the state's village laws and, this week, I was thrilled to see these efforts born out. A lot has changed in New York since the 1800s, and the statue that ultimately governs neighborhood character, taxpayer responsibility, and local home rule are finally catching up to 2023," the lawmaker said.
A key provision of the bill, besides significantly increasing the number of petition signatures, is that it eliminates an antiquated provision that gives landowners who own half of the assessed property the ability to petition for village incorporation. Under the current law, after petition signatures are collected, voters who would reside in the new proposed village would take part in a referendum vote. If approved, a new municipality with its own government and zoning laws would be created. Skoufis' plan would take this power away from landowners looking to create a new municipality solely to create favorable zoing laws to develop their properties.
The bill does not retroactively apply to villages that have already been incorporated, but it will impact the pending efforts for incorporation, like in the case of Seven Springs.
The area that encompasses the proposed Seven Springs Village is land that was not annexed from Monroe to the Village of Kiryas Joel back in 2017. At the time, Kiryas Joel annexed less than half of approximately 500 acres, leaving the Seven Springs area out of the annexation. The Hasidic property owners from that area were not pleased with being left out of the annexation, which prompted the Village of Seven Springs effort. Since that time, the battle has continued both in and out of the court with suits filed by the property owners as well as the Town of Monroe.
Just two months ago, Monroe officials petitioned the state's highest court to hear the matter; however, the court is yet to take action on their request.
Skoufis urged the governor to sign the measure.
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Tuesday, June 13, 2023
Antisemitic flyers littering Long Island lawns target Jewish lawmakers backing gun control laws
Neighbors on Long Island say anti-Jewish hate is rearing its ugly head right in their front lawns.
Antisemtic flyers have littered the yards of a number of homes in Plainview, and while authorities are familiar with the hate group claiming responsibility, police say there not much they can do about it.
The flyers were found folded up and placed inside Ziplock bags weighted down by rice so they would not fly away in the wind. The bags were thrown onto the sidewalk which leads to a Long Island synagogue -- a fact many in the community don't believe to be a coincidence.
Rachel Klein said she saw the packets in front of her house and knew they weren't a friendly delivery. Inside, the flyers target more than half a dozen Jewish lawmakers supporting gun control laws.
"It's disgusting. And to do it in broad daylight on a relatively busy street, I mean there's a problem with society if this stuff is coming out into the open like this," Klein told News 4.
The flyers were left on Jamaica Avenue in Plainview across from a school and down the street from a synagogue.
"I think this route, on the way to this orthodox temple where families would be walking for Shabbat, was intentional," Klein said.
Rabbi Eli Weissman of Young Israel Plainview was not shocked the fliers surfaced, but was disappointed they landed in this community.
"I think we all know this is out there. Our synagogue has a guard out front every weekend because of these anxieties," Weissman said.
The rabbi got calls from residents who were upset about the fliers, and while hateful, police say the flyer is considered free speech.
"I'm working with the Nassau Police Department and we are hoping to be able to gather footage from some of these homes with Ring doorbells to see if we apprehend these people," Nassau Legislator Arnold Drucker said.
The fringe hate group listed on the flyer has also been known to leave flyers in other communities. Last July, they were distributing in Rockville Centre and Oceanside.
"We need not just Jewish people to speak out, we need all decent people to say this is not who we are, this is not what we stand for and we aren't going to tolerate it here," Klein said.
Detectives with the police department said they are investigating.
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Monday, June 12, 2023
New Jersey man accused of targeting Jewish homes in arson attack
New Jersey police have charged a man after a house was burnt to the ground and more than a dozen homes were vandalised with swastika graffiti.
Condemning "senseless acts of bigotry and hate," New Jersey police charged Ron Carr, 34, with 36 criminal counts, including aggravated arson, criminal mischief and "bias intimidation".
Carr allegedly told police he torched the house and painted the swastikas because he thought the owners were Jewish.
The attacks took place in Manchester Township, an area of New Jersey where increasing numbers of strictly Orthodox Jews have moved in recent years.
Police first received reports of vandalism at about 11.45pm last Tuesday.
At 3.11am, they responded to a house fire in the same neighbourhood and received reports of a suspicious person in the area.
The individual identified matched the description of the graffiti suspects.
In a joint statement, Ocean County prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer and the state's attorney general Matthew Platkin said those who felt entitled to "trample on their neighbours' rights to live in peace and exercise their constitutional freedoms" would not find safe haven in New Jersey.
"Random acts of hate designed to instill fear and to violate New Jerseyans' sense of security and belonging, solely based on who they are and what they believe in, will be dealt with swiftly and harshly by law enforcement," he said.
Platkin said: "This crime spree and the antisemitism that it expressed caused pain, destruction, shock and fear among the residents of Manchester Township.
"No community in the State of New Jersey should feel vulnerable or anxious in the face of acts of intolerance. No resident should feel their personal safety or their home is threatened by bigotry, persecution and violence."
Manchester Township Mayor Robert Arace said he was "profoundly grateful and proud" of the police response.
"In the face of adversity, let us unite against hate and intolerance," he said.
"Manchester is a place where compassion, respect and understanding prevail. We can build a community that exemplifies their values and ensures a safe and welcoming environment."
Billhimer said: "I am thankful no one was injured in these senseless acts of bigotry and hate.
"This type of behaviour will not be tolerated in Ocean County and the seriousness of these charges reflect our unwavering commitment to prosecuting bias crimes to the fullest extent of the law."
In recent years, Manchester Township has become a haven for Charedim priced out of nearby Lakewood, home to the world's largest yeshiva outside Israel.
Speaking to Hamodia in 2021, one local resident said they had moved to access affordable housing.
They added: "About 20 [strictly Orthodox] families live here now; some more families have bought houses and are delaying moving in because they don't need the space yet, or because they're waiting for the frum presence to become more established."
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Friday, June 09, 2023
The real story of New York's Yeshivas
A.G. Sulzberger, publisher of the New York Times, recently acknowledged the controversy surrounding his paper's coverage of New York's Hasidic yeshivas. Writing in the Columbia Journalism Review, Sulzberger declared, "The central criticism is not so much about the accuracy of the coverage itself, but whether it could be misused."
In fact, from the beginning, experts have pointed out that the articles were filled with inaccuracies. One representative article was "rife with half-truths and distortions," wrote Jason Bedrick and Jay P. Greene in this magazine in September.
Yet beyond the misrepresentations, another question has hung in the air: What did the New York Times leave out? Interviews with 34 people, including yeshiva graduates, parents, and teachers, along with education scholars and elected officials, 16 of whom contacted the New York Times or were interviewed by it, have now helped answer that.
The New York Times relied heavily on critics of the community and those who have left it. Giving the Hasidic community itself a voice in its own story, it turns out, upends the carefully crafted and selective narrative.
In its initial article, the New York Times asserted Hasidic parents "feel they have little choice but to send their children to the[se] schools." But what the New York Times paints as peer pressure, said Rabbi Yaakov Menken, managing director of the Coalition for Jewish Values, is actually a genuine commitment to religious education and a religious life.
As for the insinuation that families would otherwise be seeking an excuse to flee the yeshiva system, meet Moyshe Silk. He was assistant secretary for international markets at the Treasury Department after having already been a "senior partner at a global, elite law firm." Silk, the first Hasid to serve as a senior presidential appointee, commuted to Washington during his three years in government "so my kids wouldn't be uprooted from their school[s]." The Silks prioritized schooling because "educationally, we don't think there's better training for critical thinking and textual analysis. ... Our kids grow up well rounded, highly productive, with good communal and family values, and filled with optimism." Yeshivas are "the crown jewel of the community."
A central claim of the New York Times's attack on religious education is that these yeshiva graduates are left unprepared for life after high school. But the yeshivas' moral education translates nicely into practical use. Penina G., a registered nurse, credits her yeshiva education for making college feel easy "because I was taught how to study properly." Beyond the life lessons, "curiosity and creativity were encouraged in school."
Malka, a graduate of a Bobov Hasidic yeshiva, described the experience of her husband, now a doctoral candidate in molecular biology, in similar terms. It turns out that imparting analytical habits of mind is no mere abstraction. "He found that he was always at the top of his class [post-yeshiva] because of the way he had been trained to think," Malka said. "The advanced analytical skills, logic development, and the rigorous questioning all stood him in good stead."
As for the insinuation that families would otherwise be seeking an excuse to flee the yeshiva system, meet Moyshe Silk. He was assistant secretary for international markets at the Treasury Department after having already been a "senior partner at a global, elite law firm." Silk, the first Hasid to serve as a senior presidential appointee, commuted to Washington during his three years in government "so my kids wouldn't be uprooted from their school[s]." The Silks prioritized schooling because "educationally, we don't think there's better training for critical thinking and textual analysis. ... Our kids grow up well rounded, highly productive, with good communal and family values, and filled with optimism." Yeshivas are "the crown jewel of the community."
A central claim of the New York Times's attack on religious education is that these yeshiva graduates are left unprepared for life after high school. But the yeshivas' moral education translates nicely into practical use. Penina G., a registered nurse, credits her yeshiva education for making college feel easy "because I was taught how to study properly." Beyond the life lessons, "curiosity and creativity were encouraged in school."
Malka, a graduate of a Bobov Hasidic yeshiva, described the experience of her husband, now a doctoral candidate in molecular biology, in similar terms. It turns out that imparting analytical habits of mind is no mere abstraction. "He found that he was always at the top of his class [post-yeshiva] because of the way he had been trained to think," Malka said. "The advanced analytical skills, logic development, and the rigorous questioning all stood him in good stead."
Dr. Moshe Krakowski, professor and director of doctoral studies at Yeshiva University's Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education and Administration and "the only [American] academic who studies Hasidic schools," observed, "When they're talking about test scores, they're talking about 10 or 12 schools at the bottom of the distribution [of approximately 200 Hasidic yeshivas]. But they are in fact providing students the basics, even if it's not showing up on test scores."
Standardized test scores at Hasidic boys' yeshivas can underwhelm for several reasons. First, yeshivas are unlikely to teach to the test. Second, there are "Hasidic schools [that] start secular studies a year later [than public schools do]," so some Hasidic students "are not being tested on what they've learned that year." Put differently, third graders in a Hasidic yeshiva could cover the secular studies content public schools covered in second grade, meaning their statewide test covers material they won't recognize. Third, there are schools where students' ages may not line up with standardized testing's expected pool. Taken together, that helps explain why the New York Times found that "only nine schools in the state had less than 1% of students testing at grade level in 2019. ... All of them were Hasidic boys schools."
Part of the frustration with the New York Times's distortions of test scores is that they are meant to give the impression that not only are yeshiva students doing terribly but also that nonreligious schools in New York are thriving, or even up to par. But a more complete look at the state's students shows that's not remotely the case.
Albany's Times Union reported that in 2022, only "46.6 percent of [third through eighth grade] students [across New York] scored at or above grade level" in English, while "38.6 percent of students" did so in math. And of the 60% of Schenectady eighth graders tested on math, none passed.
Krakowski concluded, "Look at what's going on elsewhere to see how crazy it is to get fourth, fifth grade kids to translate Aramaic legal texts [as they do in yeshiva] and have sophisticated legal arguments about rights, responsibilities, damages, and contracts. ... They're operating at a very high level, and that's most of their day."
To underscore the point, a recent Princeton University graduate whose yeshiva taught nothing secular at all told the Washington Examiner that even in his case, "it's not like it's overly difficult to catch up with the standards of the public school system." That's probably why the students who come from the vast majority of yeshivas, which do teach secular studies, find they have a head start on advanced education.
Jeff Ballabon, a Yale Law School graduate who attended both Haredi, though not Hasidic, and Modern Orthodox yeshivas, described encountering the chasm between early secular and religious schooling: "At Yale, they give you ethical dilemmas to discuss among yourselves. Other than a small minority of students who had attended private religious schools, I was struck how almost none of the students had the language to talk about ethical concepts I'd grown up with since preschool. ... My first observation of the outside world was that that which concerned us primarily, they never addressed at all."
Ray Domanico, senior fellow and director of education policy at the Manhattan Institute, visited "three boys' yeshivas in Brooklyn" and mostly observed Talmud classes. He recounted, "It is not rote memorization of Scripture or prayers. It's what we call in public education 'critical thinking.'" Domanico recalled seeing "boys as young as third and fourth grade having very advanced discussions about how to resolve various commentaries on the Scriptures."
Yeshiva education is also rigorous from the outset. Domanico recalled being "kind of impressed" seeing "a young staff member" tracking second grade boys' Hebrew reading comprehension. The school expected Hebrew literacy "by the end of first grade." By contrast, "charter and public schools in New York State don't test for English reading proficiency until third grade."
"I'm not saying there are no problems," Domanico clarified. "What I am saying is that I saw other things going on in those schools that were not reflected in the media coverage."
But the New York Times conjured a Dickensian vision, charging that, among other things, corporal punishment is common at boys' yeshivas. They reported the New York Police Department "investigated more than a dozen claims of child abuse at the schools" over five years. Seemingly, no criminal charges were filed.
Krakowski commented, "Almost all [yeshivas] have eliminated corporal punishment. … Twenty years ago, that was the default punishment, you'd get a slap on the hand. But if that's the culture, you make it very easy for somebody to abuse that. … I'm glad they've stopped."
No school should use corporal punishment. For the sake of student safety, though, it's imperative to ask if this signifies a larger problem.
The New York Times tried to downplay the use of corporal punishment in public schools, rounding down the number of incidents, but a Times Union investigation found: "In recent years, the state Education Department has documented nearly 18,000 complaints of corporal punishment in public and charter schools across New York, although corporal punishment is generally banned. Investigators and school officials substantiated more than 1,600 of those complaints from 2016 through 2021, according to a Times Union review of state Education Department records. … The vast majority of the substantiated complaints were in New York City public schools."
The New York Times further painted the Hasidic community as what used to be derisively called "the undeserving poor." After graduation, the paper claimed yeshiva students were shunted off into "a cycle of joblessness and dependency." The New York Times shames no other demographic group for using public assistance, but there's also abundant evidence that this is not true.
As Orthodox Jewish advocacy group Agudath Israel of America noted, a 2021 Nishma Research study found the median Hasidic household income was $102,000. A study that Krakowski is "working on, that is still in progress, shows a median income of $115,000" among 30-, 35-, and 40-year-old graduates from a "weak" yeshiva. Meanwhile, the U.S. Census Bureau reported the "real median household income [for all Americans] was $70,784 in 2021."
Orthodox Jewish Public Affairs Council data compared employment among men ages 20-64 in New York City, in the Hasidic enclave Kiryas Joel, and statewide. At 75%, Kiryas Joel outperformed the Bronx's 68.7% but was slightly below the statewide 76.8% and Queens's 79.7%. OJPAC rightly emphasized that Hasidic families skew younger and larger than average, which distorts comparisons.
It's "a very big [media-driven] misconception" that Hasidic men "study Torah all day," said Frieda Vizel, who grew up as part of the Satmar Hasidic community and now leads walking tours of Hasidic Brooklyn. "Especially in Williamsburg, the men are usually very active in the workforce," Satmar men especially. "The men are the breadwinners. The Satmar Rebbe thought men shouldn't sit in Kollel [yeshiva for married men] unless they're really qualified for it. They're fairly impatient with men not going out and earning a living."
And members of the community aim to improve that further with innovative programs that meet the needs of Hasidic would-be professionals. Raizel Reit founded Testing and Training International, which the New York Times mischaracterized as "an online firm." (Pre-pandemic, classes met at a Brooklyn public school, but the pandemic pushed classes online.) Brooklyn-based TTI matches students, many of them Orthodox Jews, with culturally sensitive bachelor's and master's level programs in their preferred fields.
The New York Times raised suspicions about TTI's special education training program because "students obtain bachelor's degrees in as little as three months." Reit responded, "The Times writes as if we're doing something bizarre. This is a New York initiative [to accelerate teachers' entry into classrooms]. Our partner, Daemen University, is one of the very many colleges offering" a state certification known as the Transitional B program. "Students are closely monitored, and [this program] has excellent results. So why should it be criticized? Because the students are Orthodox Jews?"
Reflecting on the hostile line of questioning from the New York Times, Reit commented that she's doing what critics like the New York Times claim to want: "I'm taking yeshiva graduates and professionalizing them. They're working hard and are excellent teachers."
Those teachers are preparing to help and support the special needs children of New York. And while the way a community, or state, treats its children speaks volumes, the treatment of its special needs children may be even more revealing.
Sheva Tauby, a business owner and mother of eight, has a special needs son, and she gushed, "The respect and seriousness, the attentiveness at the school my son goes to, is unparalleled. ... We believe he was created for a purpose, so there's no reason he should get less services than other kids. Anyone with special needs kids in the religious community, we have tons of community programs. ... What they do is unbelievable."
Esther Horowitz, a mother of 11 and grandmother who does special education tutoring and evaluations for children of all backgrounds across New York City, said yeshiva "teachers are on top of things. Every child gets tested as soon as there's a problem so there's no problem later on in life."
By contrast, the New York Times saw a community greedily gorging on special education funding: "In Orthodox Jewish religious schools, particularly in parts of the Hasidic community," a policy enacted by then-Mayor Bill de Blasio in 2014 "has also led to a windfall of government money for services that are sometimes not needed, or even provided."
The New York Times reported that an unspecified number of unnamed firms "now bill more than $200 an hour per student." They allowed that company representatives "said that it was common practice across the industry not to pay employees the full amount billed per hour," but only after claiming that "[non-school-affiliated] officers say the companies that provide services in yeshivas stand out for the rates they charge and the amount of money they receive." The article also scrutinized a maximalist pool of schools: "More than $350 million a year now goes to private companies that provide services in Hasidic and Orthodox schools" [italics added for emphasis].
Horowitz responded, "I have never seen anyone I know" get more than $200. "People are earning $70-$85 an hour through an agency. If agencies are desperate, they might offer more. If you go directly to the Board of Education, you can get $150 an hour [in Manhattan], which is more than the agency pays."
Chany Halpern, mother of eight, grandmother of many, and daughter of Holocaust survivors, has three daughters who have worked with special needs children. One daughter has advised schools and pediatricians about recognizing occupational therapy candidates earlier, thereby minimizing the amount of therapy needed. What the New York Times paints as greed is actually early intervention, intended to save everybody time and money over the long haul.
Unfortunately, it is the special needs children who will suffer for the New York Times's errors. According to Horowitz, "The Board of Education is already more skeptical of [Hasidic] children who need help because of the Times's stories."
What do elected officials think about the New York Times and its allegations? New York state Sen. Simcha Felder sees a "shameless mission to trample, besmirch, and decimate religious and traditional values at every opportunity."
New York City Councilman Kalman Yeger called the series "part and parcel of a deliberate effort over the last several years to 'otherize' Orthodox Jews, to say we're not part of society." As for yeshivas, "some are great, some can do a bit better, some may need a little help. But that's not the gist of the Times's story. Fact is, the vast majority of yeshivas are superb in their approach and their outcomes, and sadly, the same cannot be said for the vast majority of public schools."
For many Hasidim, the campaign against yeshivas recalls "the first decade of Soviet rule," explained Dovid Margolin, senior editor at Chabad.org. "There was a section of the Communist Party called the Yevsektsiya, the Jewish section. They, themselves Jews, sometimes even from Hasidic families who left the community, were far more zealous with the Jews than any other anti-religious organizations in the Soviet Union, and they were successful. They closed yeshivas and took away synagogues. It was a full-time job for a decade."
Margolin continued, "There's a deep, historic trauma of people going to the government and trying to shut yeshivas down. There are people in the community whose parents, students in these yeshivas whose grandparents survived the Gulags or were even executed as a part of this campaign. These stories are so deeply ingrained in the Hasidic community."
Acknowledging "there are gaps [in the yeshiva system because] there are in every educational system," Rabbi Aaron Kotler, president emeritus of the Haredi (though not Hasidic) Beth Medrash Govoha in Lakewood, New Jersey, opined, "The best arbiters of any educational system are typically the people internally in the system who want the best results for their families." But in this case, "the Times is calling for enforced social change, and you do that at peril with any community."
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Thursday, June 08, 2023
Hasidic organizations demand right to worship on Briarcliff Manor campus
The former Pace University campus in Briarcliff Manor has been used by educational institutions for more than a hundred years, according to a lawsuit, but cannot be used for that purpose by a Hasidic Jewish organization.
Instead of preserving the property's historic role, Khal Torath Chaim of Rockland Inc. claims, the village "has chosen to protect a very different kind of historic character, one that perpetuates exclusion based on religious practices."
Khal Torath Chaim (KTC) accused the village of religious discrimination, in a May 25 complaint filed in U.S. District Court, White Plains.
The 37-acre campus on Elm Road was first used in 1905 by Mrs. Dow's School for Girls, according to the complaint. In became a junior college in 1933, was renamed as Briarcliff College in 1956 and was bought by Pace University in 1977.
The village granted Pace a special use permit to develop the campus and enable enrollment of up to 1,100 students.
Pace sold the property in 2017 to the Research Center on Natural Conservation Inc. for $17.35 million. The China-based nonprofit left the campus vacant, according to the complaint, and in 2021 KTC bought it for $11.75 million.
KTC, of Monsey, says it intends to use the campus as a place of worship. It leased the property to Yeshivath Viznitz Dkhal Torath Chaim (YV), a religious institution that offers undergraduate degrees in Talmudic and rabbinical studies.
YV planned to enroll about 250 students initially and about 350 in ten years.
The campus is in a residential zone that allows places of worship if the village grants a special exception permit or a zoning variance.
When KTC bought the property no land-use conditions restricted its use for worship, under a special use permit. But that status quickly changed, according to the complaint.
In June 2021, the village amended its regulations. Now a place of worship may not be permitted in the residential zone if the property has no access from a "collector road."
The village's comprehensive plan designates Elm Road as a collector road, according to the complaint. Federal Highway Administration standards define it has a collector road. The state Department of Transportation classifies parts of Elm Road as a collector road.
But the section of Elm Road that fronts the campus is not classified as a collector road by the state.
Within months of buying the property, KTC was no longer eligible for a special use permit that would allow a place of worship.
The change, the complaint states, "was an act of naked bigotry."
Nonetheless, KTC and YV submitted an application for a special use permit. Last November, the village determined that the property was ineligible.
On April 23, the zoning board of appeals upheld that decision and said it had no authority to consider a zoning variance.
KTC and YV also contend that Briarcliff Manor used building code regulations to harass them.
Other than a fire alarm issue in 2018, the Research Center on Natural Conservation — a Chinese Communist front organization, according to the complaint — was issued no zoning or building code violations during the four-plus years it left the property vacant.
After KTC bought the property, the village cited numerous infractions, such as a broken lock and tardy snow removal.
This past May, the complaint states, the village proposed a penalty of $250 a day per violation, about $69,000 a month for nine infractions.
As long as a property has outstanding building code violations, according to the complaint, the village may not issue a special use permit.
"The village is plainly using excessive fines as another cudgel," the complaint states, to force KTC and YV "to abandon their plans for a place of worship."
They accused Briarcliff of religious discrimination under the First and Fourteenth Amendments of the Constitution, the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, the Fair Housing Act, and the New York State Constitution.
They are asking the court to stop the village from violating their rights and to award unspecified damages for economic losses resulting from unlawful conduct.
Village officials did not reply to emails asking for their side of the story.
KTC and YV are represented by White Plains attorneys Albert J. Pirro Jr. and Jeffrey A. Cohen.
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Wednesday, June 07, 2023
Historically ‘priceless’ 18th century Sefer Torah on Antiques Roadshow
The Sefer Torah from the 119-member Kehillat Kernow community in Cornwall features on Antiques Roadshow on BBC this Sunday, listed as a "local artefact of interest".
Recorded last September at the county's eco-attraction The Eden Project, the programme agrees that, from a religious and historic point of view, the scroll is priceless. The community's website writes: " Our little Scroll was treated like a VIP and we were all punch drunk with pride."
In 1740 it was brought to Falmouth from Hamburg by Alexander Moses, known as Zender Falmouth. However, when the community closed one hundred and forty years later in 1880, it was offered to Hampstead Synagogue in London. They apparently sent it back due to the high costs of restoration.
Fast forward to 1892 and the scroll was presented to the Royal Institution in Cornwall; it stayed in the Royal Cornwall Museum until it was returned to the local community just nine years ago.
With the parchment torn and every letter needing work, it was painstakingly restored by Torah scribe Bernard Benarroch. It's a 'Vav' scroll with 53 lines per column on a light, mashuach coated parchment.
Community chair Jeremy Jacobson is thrilled at the attention, saying: "It's so fitting to picture the scroll here at the Eden Project. It's a place created out of nothing to build relationships between people and the natural world. It's the story of Creation.
"This Sefer Torah is very special for our community. It's our most sacred possession since it connects us to the original Cornish Jewish community. We see it as a never ending renewal of the past, the continuity of our community here, and the positive relevance of the Torah to the future. It's one of the things that makes Judaism what it is."
Legend has it that Jews arrived in Cornwall over a thousand years ago. The county still has towns such as Marazion, which some say means 'Jewish market' in Cornish. And Penzance boasts Market Jew Street. Whilst the stories may be doubtful, it's true that Jewish communities were established in the region in the 18th century.
The modern day Kehillat Kernow community (Kernow is the ancient word for Cornwall) came into being in 1999. Associated with the Movement for Reform Judaism, it holds fortnightly Shabbat services conducted by volunteers and students from Leo Baeck College.
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Tuesday, June 06, 2023
Belzer and Gerrer hasidim to celebrate in Jerusalem
Two enormous weddings will take place in Jerusalem Tuesday evening, attended by tens of thousands of Belzer and Gerrer hasidim.
In one of the weddings, expected to be attended by tens of thousands, the Gerrer hasidic sect will celebrate the marriage of the Gerrer Rebbe's granddaughter. The ceremony is scheduled for 4:10p.m. at the hasidic sect's large study hall on Yirmiyahu Street in Jerusalem.
Following this, a celebratory meal will be held, attended by leaders of other hasidic sects, rabbis, and public figures.
Meanwhile, the Belzer hasidic sect will celebrate the marriage of the Belzer Rebbe's grandson, the son of his only son, Rabbi Aharon Mordechai Rokeach.
The wedding ceremony is scheduled for 7:30p.m. in the community's large study hall in Jerusalem, and tens of thousands are expected to attend. The wedding celebration will then take place in the Arena hall in Jerusalem, and hasidic leaders and rabbis are expected to participate in the event.
As a result of the celebrations, central streets in Jerusalem are expected to be paralyzed for several hours.
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Friday, June 02, 2023
Anger as Tel Aviv museum to host event with auction house profiting from Nazi looted objects
A Tel Aviv museum has been urged to cancel a planned conference with the famed Christie's auction house after they sold goods linked to a Nazi businessman.
The Tel Aviv Museum of Art is set to host the conference in December in partnership with the auctioneers, but critics have highlighted that they sold a collection of jewels with ties to Nazi-looted Jewish business.
The collection, which Christie's sold for $156 million, belonged to the wife of Helmut Horten, a billionaire who made his money in part by taking over former Jewish businesses during World War II.
Joel Greenberg, a Pennsylvania-based philanthropist and businessman, whose foundation works closely with Holocaust survivors, told JNS: "It would be a tremendous shame—and a real disgrace—if the museum went forward with this conference."
The Tel Aviv Museum of Art hosting the event with Christie's would be "a stain on the museum's reputation," Greenberg added. "It would be a stamp of approval."
Sam Dubbin, a lawyer in Coral Gables, Florida, added that Christie's is "justifying the accumulation of wealth based upon human-rights violations—the murder and confiscation of Jews' properties."
"The Tel Aviv Museum of Art shouldn't touch Christie's with a 10-foot pole until it does right," said Dubbin, who works on a pro bono basis with the Holocaust Survivors Foundation USA and has represented Holocaust survivors and their families in restitution claims for more than 20 years.
Meanwhile, David Schaecter, president of Holocaust Survivors Foundation USA wrote a letter to Ron Huldai, the mayor of Tel Aviv who is also chairman of the museum to raise concerns.
He wrote: "It unquestionably trivialises the Holocaust to justify using money brutally extracted from the Jewish people in order to support the profiteer's chosen 'charitable purposes.' The money, and those decisions, belong to the victims' families, period.
"We survivors have seen this infuriating charade too often. Holocaust profiteers are never forced to disgorge their bloody fortunes and are embraced in polite society," he added. "Has humanity learned nothing?"
The Christie's website describes Heidi Horten as "an Austrian philanthropist known for her elegance, glamour and fine taste," who "amassed one of the world's most brilliant jewellery collections as well as a stunning assemblage of decorative arts, and modern and contemporary art, the latter of which is housed in the Heidi Horten Collection museum in Vienna."
The auction house said that Helmut's business practices "during the Nazi era, when he purchased Jewish businesses sold under duress, are well documented."
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Thursday, June 01, 2023
Jewish Singer Lipa Schmeltzer’s Revelation of Being Abused Will Save Lives
Famed Hasidic singer Lipa Schmeltzer has brought joy to countless fans, with lively performances, wildly creative videos, and boundless energy.
Having met him a few times, it is immediately clear you will not find someone with a purer heart than Schmeltzer, who cancelled a planned concert for Madison Square Garden after a document from rabbis circulated in February 2008 that it would be forbidden.
During his recent video, in which he announced that he was in touch with his feelings before Shavuot, he said that he began therapy in 2006, and a therapist betrayed his confidence and broke confidentiality.
Schmeltzer, one of the most popular figures in Jewish music history, said plainly in his video message: "If I could save one soul, if I could change one person's life, then this is what I want to do."
He says he has experienced every type of abuse. Many victims of abuse fear reporting it — either because they think people will not believe them, or because they think it will destroy their career, or hurt their relationship with family members.
Too often, people emulate the negative behavior of celebrities, whether it's being superficial, focusing on money, cursing, searching for fame, or simply being fake. As he says in the video, he is at the top of his game and doesn't need more attention, so this is not an attempt to get publicity. It's both to help him heal, but to inspire others to speak out.
Schmeltzer is so brave to do what he has done and should be admired for it.
I am sure people told him not to reveal what happened to him, fearing negative consequences. But we only have one soul, or neshama, and anyone who is truly a Jew, will understand that we must follow the path of justice, which includes inspiring victims of abuse to come forward.
While some will no doubt want him to name his abuser, the person may no longer be living or it may be better for the singer's own healing to not publicly name the person.
"My business is one thing and I'm a human being, let's judge less," he says.
People handle the trauma of abuse differently. Not all become music stars. Lipa knows this and cares about the stories of people who either never come forward with the truth, or do so and are not believed. The result is that some survivors have a range of psychological problems, where at the mildest, they struggle in their own relationships, and at the worst, they become suicidal.
There is a notion among people who strictly follow the rules of their religion, whether it is Judaism, Christianity, Islam, or other religions, that abuse is something that will stain the family name so one should not come forward. This is quite a difficult wall to break.
But that's not true. If there is abuse, there is no excuse.
One cannot say that reporting abuse is an attack against any community. It's an attack against the person being abused, and any distraction or qualification only further serves to attack the abused.
Schmeltzer says he is single and something is blocking him from moving forward in a relationship. May he find peace and freedom to move forward. I have no doubt that his words will inspire others to live real lives, with honor, integrity, and justice.
I wish Lipa would have said "there is no excuse for abuse," but perhaps he will do that in another video.
May he have a concert in Madison Square Garden, if that is what he wants, and may his message go out to as many souls as possible.
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