{"id":1654431,"date":"2022-09-23T07:08:55","date_gmt":"2022-09-23T11:08:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1654431"},"modified":"2022-09-23T07:09:08","modified_gmt":"2022-09-23T11:09:08","slug":"anti-religious-attacks-on-jews-could-come-to-your-house-of-worship-next","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/anti-religious-attacks-on-jews-could-come-to-your-house-of-worship-next\/","title":{"rendered":"Anti-Religious Attacks On Jews Could Come To Your House Of Worship Next"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fanti-religious-attacks-on-jews-could-come-to-your-house-of-worship-next%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1654431&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><\/div>\n<p>The war on religion has reached my front door.<\/p>\n<p>My Chassidic Jewish community in Brooklyn is confronted with an unprecedented level of hostility. Hate crimes abound. Chassidic Jews have been <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/the-growing-risk-for-jews-who-show-their-jewishness-11642612115\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">shot at<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/rise-in-anti-semitic-incidents-goes-beyond-recent-violent-attacks-11576611407\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">punched<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.timesofisrael.com\/shocked-at-the-viciousness-six-assailants-beat-jewish-man-on-new-york-city-street\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">kicked<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www1.nyc.gov\/site\/nypd\/news\/p00056\/nypd-citywide-crime-statistics-july-2022\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">violently shoved<\/a>, or almost run over. During Covid, politicians <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2020\/04\/28\/nyregion\/hasidic-funeral-coronavirus-de-blasio.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">prohibited<\/a> our community from coming together to pray, celebrate, and mourn \u2014 even when masked and distanced \u2014 while <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2020\/05\/29\/george-floyd-protests-okay-amid-coronavirus-gathering-ban-de-blasio\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">permitting<\/a> and even <a href=\"https:\/\/www.haaretz.com\/us-news\/2020-06-04\/ty-article\/.premium\/for-orthodox-jews-protests-inspire-solidarity-but-also-raise-1st-amendment-issues\/0000017f-e10f-d38f-a57f-e75f97c80000\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">joining<\/a> public protests. And now they are coming for our children.<\/p>\n<p>The latest <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2022\/09\/11\/nyregion\/hasidic-yeshivas-schools-new-york.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">attack<\/a> comes from The New York Times. On Sept. 11, the Times published a report of its year-long \u201cinvestigation\u201d into the crown jewel of our community, our education system. Despite the report\u2019s thin trappings of investigative journalism, the charge \u2014 plainly stated \u2014 was that Chassidic-Americans are too corrupt, abusive of children, and illiterate to be treated as equal members of society.<\/p>\n<p>The Times fired another <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2022\/09\/16\/opinion\/hasidic-schools-new-york.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">salvo<\/a> on Sept. 16, arguing essentially for vesting extraordinary authority in state government and local school boards to \u201cprotect\u201d our children from our \u201cfailing\u201d schools and better prepare them for the future. Oy!<\/p>\n<p>I fear they have a very different vision for my children\u2019s future than my wife and I do.<\/p>\n<p>I am a retired partner at a global elite law firm and had the honor of serving as an assistant secretary of the U.S. Department of the Treasury. My wife is a medical professional. We choose Chassidic yeshiva education for our children in Brooklyn, even at great family and financial sacrifice \u2014 commuting weekly to Washington, D.C., while serving at Treasury \u2014 because we are committed to, and did not wish to disrupt, an education that provides critical textual analysis applied to a broad and balanced curriculum infused with good values and optimism.<\/p>\n<p>When you compare the harmony and hope in yeshiva schools to the public school landscape of drugs, alcohol, depression, suicide, violence, dismal literacy rates, and despair, our choice was easy.<\/p>\n<h2>Gratuitous Negativity and Inaccuracy<\/h2>\n<p>Rather than feature even one story of success within our system, the Times chose to push a dehumanizing narrative of ethnic stereotyping. Its 275 interviews over more than a year did not yield even one single voice among the tens of thousands of families touched by our yeshivas in profoundly positive ways.<\/p>\n<p>It is relatively simple to dismantle the Times\u2019 house-of-cards case against our yeshiva school system. First, it claims our schools provide a poor education. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.jewishpress.com\/news\/us-news\/ny\/regents-scores\/2018\/12\/12\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Test<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nysun.com\/article\/all-the-news-about-yeshivas-that-the-times-deems-unfit-to-print\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">scores<\/a>, graduate success, and the parents of roughly 100,000 students in more than 250 schools say differently. Unlike most public schools, where grade inflation runs rampant and roughly <a href=\"https:\/\/www.educationworld.com\/a_issues\/issues392.shtml#:~:text=Nearly%2020%20percent%20of%20Americans,test%20literacy%20and%20mathematics%20skills.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">25 percent<\/a> of graduates are functionally illiterate, our system delivers a high rate of academic success, with most alumni committed to life-long learning.<\/p>\n<p>Next, it claims the yeshiva system delivers this sub-standard education while bilking the state of New York out of millions, even billions of dollars. Rubbish. Yeshiva parents fund our system with more than $1 billion annually in private funds \u2014 on top of the taxes we pay to fund the public school system used by our fellow New Yorkers. In reality, the yeshiva system saves New York taxpayers hundreds of millions each year, receiving far less per pupil than public school students. Our students only receive a fraction of the more than <a href=\"https:\/\/ojpac.org\/updates\/economic-data-from-the-yeshiva-educated-hasidic-community\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">$30,000<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.schools.nyc.gov\/about-us\/funding\/funding-our-schools\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">per student<\/a> spent in New York City public schools and nearly all of it is earmarked for mandated services or things like busing or federally funded lunch programs that are available to all students.<\/p>\n<p>Finally, the Times alleges that we are bad parents who insist on an education that traps our children in \u201ca cycle of joblessness and destitution.\u201d Nothing could be further from the truth. There are mountains of studies and statistics (ignored by the Times) showing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pewresearch.org\/religion\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2015\/08\/Orthodox-Jews-08-24-PDF-for-web.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">higher incomes<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nysun.com\/article\/all-the-news-about-yeshivas-that-the-times-deems-unfit-to-print\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">and monetary achievement<\/a> for our students compared with their public school counterparts. Much more importantly, there is <a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/31891333\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">voluminous<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/archive.nytimes.com\/economix.blogs.nytimes.com\/2011\/01\/07\/american-jews-lead-the-happiest-lives\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">compelling<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pmc\/articles\/PMC3035005\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">evidence<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tabletmag.com\/sections\/news\/articles\/plot-against-hasidic-education-new-york-times\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">of<\/a> longer lifespans and higher contentment and peace in our community.<\/p>\n<p>Our detractors focus on poverty rates (rather than actual income) and eligibility for Section 8 housing or Medicaid benefits. But eligibility is <a href=\"https:\/\/ojpac.org\/updates\/economic-data-from-the-yeshiva-educated-hasidic-community\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">often<\/a> a direct result of Chasidim who typically marry at young ages and have larger families, so families may receive benefits during the years they have young children at home even when earning more than $75,000. \u201cFixing\u201d their education won\u2019t change the results, because it didn\u2019t cause the problem.<\/p>\n<h2>Opting for Varied Curriculum<\/h2>\n<p>Our children\u2019s yeshiva curriculum is based on the sacred texts of our religion and our people \u2014 the Talmud, Scripture, the Code of Jewish Law, and the vast scholarly and legal literature of Judaism. The subject matter covered is not exclusively religious and ranges from the esoteric to the mundane, covering a wealth of subjects in the humanities and sciences. This is precisely what we as parents want for our kids.<\/p>\n<p>Success in our school system is high, but not easy. In addition to the intellectual and devotional elements of our curriculum, students must master numerous languages. My sons were fluent in English, Hebrew, Yiddish, and Aramaic by the time they completed elementary school. Granted, Aramaic may be useless if you\u2019re standing on East 66th Street trying to get directions to the Hamptons, but, for a different group of travelers seeking a view of heaven, it\u2019s the ticket.<\/p>\n<p>As \u201cthe people of the Book,\u201d Jews revere a lifetime of learning, study, and debate. What other group has hundreds of thousands of members \u2014 ranging from bus drivers to plumbers to doctors, lawyers, and billionaires, many rising at pre-dawn hours to this end \u2014 dedicated to a seven-year study cycle of the Talmud, and then <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=BqsKLmZsar8\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">rents out MetLife Stadium to celebrate<\/a> the study\u2019s completion with a standing-room-only crowd nearing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/the-super-bowl-of-jewish-learning-11578072515\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">100,000<\/a>?<\/p>\n<h2>Anti-Religious Attack<\/h2>\n<p>The timing of the Times\u2019 report was not coincidental. It was prominently placed in the Sunday edition just two days before the New York Board of Regents\u2019 vote on its proposed \u201csubstantial equivalency\u201d regulations, which represent an unprecedented and dangerous intrusion into the private school system of our Chassidic community and so many others.<\/p>\n<p>The state education department, the Board of Regents, and local school authorities should not be empowered to impose draconian mandates on a school system they do not understand, against the interests of parents who are happy with the education this system provides and the values it promotes.<\/p>\n<p>All schools can use improvement, and as a parent, I am always pushing my children\u2019s schools to excel. But more government control of our children is the last thing our communities need. So here\u2019s a better idea. New York\u2019s Regents can go through the 2,711 folios of the Talmud, and the sources our children learn with hermeneutic rigor, and tell us what we\u2019re missing. In return, our leading Chassidic educators can propose approaches to produce happier, balanced, focused, and academically successful public school students. The resulting dialogue would be far more productive than the unwarranted attacks on my community this week.<\/p>\n<p>But I won\u2019t hold my breath because this campaign isn\u2019t about improving the education in Chassidic schools. It\u2019s about promoting a narrative that casts people of faith as intolerant, ignorant, and uncivilized. In service of this anti-religion narrative, facts will be invented, statistics massaged, and enemies of the people conjured out of whole cloth. The Chassidic-American community is the target today, but expect these attacks to come soon to a church, mosque, synagogue, or meditation retreat near you.<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" \/>\n<p>\n  Mitchell A. Silk served as assistant secretary for international markets at the U.S. Department of the Treasury from 2019 to 2021 and is chairman emeritus of the Agudath Israel Pro Bono Legal Services Network. He was the first Chassidic Jew to be confirmed by the Senate to a senior U.S. government position and has three children presently in Chassidic yeshivas in Brooklyn, New York.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The war on religion has reached my front door. My Chassidic Jewish community in Brooklyn is confronted with an unprecedented level of hostility. Hate crimes abound. Chassidic Jews have been<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1382,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1654431","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1654431","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1382"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1654431"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1654431\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1654431"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1654431"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1654431"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}