Where Were Our Leaders Before The NYTimes Exposed A Chasidic Schools Scandal?

For years, state officials and Jewish organizations looked the other way; one young man spoke up loudest.

Reaching out to Yiddish readers: The New York Times published its investigative report in Yiddish, too.

Remember the line in “Casablanca” when Louis, the corrupt Vichy France
police captain, feigns surprise at what’s taking place in his friend Rick’s cafe,
exclaiming: “I’m shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on in here.”?
I was reminded of that classic scene when reading comments by several New
York officials on Monday, a day after an open secret -– chasidic schools’
decades-long failure to provide basic secular education to tens of thousands
of young male yeshiva students – was exposed in meticulous detail by a New
York Times investigative report.
Based on two years of research and reporting, including interviews with
more than 275 people and reviews and analysis of of hundreds of documents
and financial reports, the article offered a devastating portrait of schools that
receive hundreds of millions of government-funded dollars while, it would
appear, flagrantly violate a state law requiring all private schools to provide
a basic secular education “substantially equivalent” to what public schools
offer.
Some of the students complete high school unable to read or write English. And The Times report included allegations of students being slapped and hit by their rebbe teachers.

On Monday, Rep. Jerrold Nadler, whose district includes a large segment of
the chasidic community, observed that some of their schools were “utterly
failing,” and stated: “It is our duty to all New York students to ensure that the
law is enforced.” And fellow Democrat Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, who also
represents parts of Brooklyn, called for “a rigorous inquiry” into the problem.
Where have they been all these years, and particularly the last decade when
Yaffed (Young Advocates for Fair Education), a non-profit devoted to
systemic change within chasidic yeshivas, has been aggressively lobbying city
and state officials to comply with and strengthen the law?

Late as they were to the game, at least Nadler and Jeffries spoke out on the
issue, in contrast to other state officials who either chose not to comment
(including Senators Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand), tried to pass the
buck (Gov. Kathy Hochul said the issue is “outside the purview of the
governor” ) or defended the chasidic schools and/or the right of parents to
choose where their children are educated.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams said, “I’m not going to read a story,” but asserted that his administration was continuing to investigate
chasidic schools. He did not say why the investigation has been delayed for
years.
A charge of neglect can also be leveled at mainstream Jewish organizations
that have remained silent in the face of growing evidence over the years that
chasidic schools were willfully ignoring the law. No doubt Jewish groups were
fearful of offending the powerful and politically well-connected chasidic
community and worried that calling attention to the dismal state of affairs in
chasidic schools would spur anti-Semitism.
So instead, a crisis that should have been addressed within Jewish society has
been exposed for all to see – and may, indeed, foster ill feelings toward the
wider Jewish community, not just chasidim. There is little doubt that The
New York Times, already viewed by many in the community as anti-Israel,
will be blamed by its critics for pursuing this story and giving it major
exposure. But all indications from reading the article is that it was reported
and presented with great care and tells a story that was known – if not in all
its details – by too many for too long.
It seems clear that The Times’ report, which was also posted in Yiddish on
the paper’s website, was timed to have maximum impact by appearing on the
eve of a key meeting of the Board of Regents of the New York State Education
Department dealing with substantial equivalency in non-private schools.
After months of bitter controversy over the issue, with the chasidic
community and its allies opposing any tightening of the regulations, the
Board unanimously voted this week to adopt regulations seeking to enhance
oversight and accountability of non-public schools. Those regulations
include a mandate to teach English, math, science and social studies in high schools. Many of the chasidic high schools for boys do not teach any secular subjects.

Public attention, deservedly, has focused on the article by Times staff reporters Eliza Shapiro and Brian Rosenthal, which brought these issues to the fore. But the one person most responsible for calling out a broken chasidic educational system and taking action to effect reform was relegated to one fleeting reference in the Times article.

Near the end of the lengthy piece, it notes that “warnings about the Hasidic yeshivas have circulated for years… One yeshiva graduate, Naftuli Moster, even formed an advocacy group in 2012 to press the issue.”

In fact, it was Moster, 35, a native of Borough Park and one of 17 children in a Yiddish-speaking family, who founded and led Yaffed for the last ten years after his own experience as a student attending Belz schools. He had received minimal secular education – and no secular studies in high school – and felt “embarrassed and ashamed” in realizing how limited his education was. He persevered, though,  graduating from Touro College and receiving a master’s degree in social work from Hunter College. 

In founding Yaffed and working tirelessly to spotlight the crisis, he was marginalized, if not demonized, by elements of the chasidic community.

Readers may recall that in May, I wrote here about Moster and his effort to enlist the organized Jewish community to speak out for the legal right of yeshiva students to basic educational tools and skills. He wanted organizations to make public statements on behalf of Yaffed and have leaders beside him to show support at press conferences he held. (https://garyrosenblatt.substack.com/p/the-one-jewish-advocacy-issue-our) 

Unfortunately, he was unsuccessful.

It’s too late now to keep this embarrassing story from universal scrutiny, but it’s not too late to do the right thing: insisting on a basic Jewish tenet to obey the law of the land and give children their right to basic education.