Thank You, Jewish Press Readers
Once again, we would like to thank The Jewish Press and its many readers for helping to make a tremendous success of our “Erev-Pesach Felafel Campaign” for poor Israeli families.
Thanks to the generosity of The Jewish Press readers, this year we were able to send over 70 fine large Jewish families to our local falafel store for a falafel, French fries and a drink on erev Pesach.
Truly, The Jewish Press is unique in the impressive number of readers who not only read it, but also respond.
We truly thank you, The Jewish Press management and the generosity of your readership, for making this erev Pesach such a wonderful time for so many fine, frum, very poor, Jewish families.
With Sincere Appreciation,
Tzvia Ehrlich-Klein
Jerusalem
P.S. Any checks we received too late for the Felafel Fund will be put towards the Emergency Felafel Fund for similar poor families. Thank you.
Yeshiva Education – It’s Time To Be Honest
As the yeshiva education debate grinds on, it is time for a new and honest approach to defend our traditional way of life. I would like to respond to the article by Avrohom Weinstock, of Agudath Israel of America (April 29). By his own admission, the 140,000 letters submitted in the first round of the public comment period have not accomplished their goal.
I am a parent of sons who attended a chasidic yeshiva in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. I feel strongly that this is the most appropriate type of education for chasidic boys, both for their benefit and for the future for the Jewish people.
As a baal teshuva and a practicing physician, I am certain that the chasidic education is in no way “substantially equivalent” to the public school education I received. My sons are not likely to attend Harvard University, as I did. But thankfully, they were spared exposure to the corrupted and harmful influences of the outside secular society. My sons are all fine young men who completed their yeshiva studies and then went on to prepare for a career when the time came. “Learning how to learn” in the yeshiva is a talent that has provided them lifelong benefit.
Every boy is obligated to spend his formative years learning Torah. The public school curriculum, however, is not only antithetical to our belief system but it also robs crucial time from Torah learning. My wife and I chose a chasidic lifestyle and all that it entails. We changed the trajectory of our lives precisely because we knew first hand what the outside world was like. I entered college almost 50 years ago. I understand the situation has deteriorated seriously since then, with total hefkeirus prevailing now.
It is time to be honest, both with ourselves and with the government. No more pretending that a Torah curriculum miraculously confers competency in English, mathematics or science. This is pure fiction. It is for this reason that despite the thousands of letters encouraged by Agudath Israel, the New York State Education Department rejected this argument.
I don’t speak Yiddish but it was brought to my attention that a recent editorial in the Satmar magazine “Der Otzer,” issue number 144, made the point that the Agudath Israel misrepresented the nature of the chasidic yeshiva curriculum to the state education department. The lengthy editorial went on to argue that the Agudath Israel legal staff are not in a position to defend the exclusively Torah curriculum of the chasidic yeshivas. “They” neither received nor truly believe in a pure Torah curriculum. Therefore, it is no wonder that their many legal arguments and presentations fell flat.
We chasidic Jews must demand a complete exemption from the New York State education regulations based on the requirements of our religious beliefs and convictions. What we need to do is not unlike the historic showdown of the Amish in the famous case of Wisconsin vs. Yoder, where the Amish defended their unique education system before the United States Supreme Court. The simple forthright testimony of a genuine chosid would make more of an impression than Agudath Israel’s polished lawyers.
The flawed approach of Agudath Israel is well illustrated by their misuse of an affidavit written by the Nobel Prize winner Professor Yisroel Aumann. They used his affidavit to defend the chasidic education system, when in truth he believes in a dual curriculum of Torah and Madah. Subsequently, Aumann published an article calling out Agudath Israel for misrepresenting his position.
Continuing down the path advocated by Agudath Israel has not and will not result in the relief that we seek. Claiming that the chasidic education curriculum is already “substantially equivalent” to the public school curriculum is simply false and ultimately self-defeating. While the Midrash concedes that the nations have wisdom – chochma bagoyim tamin – they do not have Torah. It is precisely this pure Torah education that makes the chasidic yeshiva system unique. Claiming that it includes gentile wisdom and science pollutes and denigrates the very Torah we are striving to defend.
As proud Americans we should have the courage to stand up for what we believe in.
Shlomo Newfield, MD
Brooklyn, NY
Disdaining Secular Education
The problem with Mr. Weinstock’s article in The Jewish Press (April 29) regarding New York’s new non-public school regulations is that he overlooks a very simple overriding problem. That is, namely, that many yeshiva administrations – not only chasidic ones – have a palpable disdain for their secular education departments. This disdain is felt by both teachers and students.
What kind of message is that sending to yeshiva students as they transition during the course of their school day from religious to secular studies? How can one expect students to flourish in their secular studies in such an environment? These are questions that Mr. Weinstock should consider answering instead of simply criticizing proposed educational requirements that his article discusses.
Chaim Kramer
Brooklyn, NY
Miracles in Nature
The Op-Ed “Swarming Locusts – A Sign From G-d,” by Rabbi Yitzchak Sprung (April 22), states, “As science has discovered the causes and processes of more and more natural phenomena, Providence has taken a hit. The majesty and mystery of G-d’s world has seemingly retreated …” This may be true for people who view nature superficially. But when you dig deeper into natural phenomena, usually the opposite is true – you see the miraculous aspects of nature.
Take, for instance, the medical profession. In its 186 years in existence, the National Library of Medicine (NLM) in Bethesda, Maryland, has accumulated an enormous amount of literature of over seven million books, journals, technical reports and manuscripts on medicine and related sciences. Then, medical discoveries such as artificial hearts, prosthetics, antibiotics, organ transplants, knowledge of DNA structure and so on, show that scientific sophistication today is nothing short of awe-inspiring. A high-capacity 128 Terabyte disk is not nearly enough to store all the knowledge the medical field currently boasts. Does it get any more amazing?
Actually, it does.
The combined knowledge of every medical professional on earth, and much knowledge we don’t even have yet, is currently contained in something much smaller than a computer disk – a cell. One single cell is what starts the process of building an entire human being, and other mammals, for that matter. One cell, so small that it cannot be seen by the naked eye, contains instructions that eventually build a heart, lungs, kidneys, bones, a brain, etc. It also has instructions on exactly where in the body to put it all. On top of that, it has artistic abilities; it can make you look like your father, grandmother, cousin, etc.
Does “the majesty and mystery of G-d’s world” seem to be retreating because of scientific advancements? Not at all. One of the reasons it sometimes seems that way is because scientific discoveries often make headlines, while when Mrs. Gupchick in Oshkosh gives birth to a healthy baby, which is the culmination of nine months of mind-boggling miracles, it doesn’t even make the local papers, let alone national news.
In almost every branch of science, the more we know, the greater the mysteries get. George Bernard Shaw put it this way: “Science never solves a problem without creating ten more.” Isaac Newton: “What we know is a drop, what we don’t know is an ocean.” Scientific knowledge will never outshine the majesty of nature itself.
Josh Greenberger
Brooklyn, NY
Nothing New Under the Sun
For the past two years, wall-to-wall coverage of Covid has occupied the media, with a variety of government restrictions and assumed remedies with little if any resolution.
Whatever happens in the world and how to deal with it is inevitably sourced in the Torah. On the issue of Covid, I have often quoted the Ibn Ezra (1089-1164), a contemporary of Rashi, who writes (end of parshat B’ha-alotcha) that the quarantine both of Miriam in particular and the metzorah in general was required in order to prevent the spread of the disease to others. Although the reason in the first place for the diseases is called loshon hara, the process of dealing with it is based on what is practical, which is simply to isolate those that are affected. If total lockdown were appropriate, we would find it in Torah.
During the outbreak of cholera in Chevron (mid-19th century) those who were afflicted with the disease were required to isolate outside the city limits until they were healed. In fact, houses on the outskirts were built specifically for that purpose.
Finally, in addition to the practical, healthy behavior including vaccinations which most of us have followed, we have to turn to meaningful heartfelt prayer – again, sourced in the Torah. The verse in Psalms (106:30) tells us that it was the prayers of Pinchas that ultimately terminated the plague.
Rabbi David Nemtziov
Via email
