Hiddush battling in the legal arena for equality and equitability

Israel's (and New York’s) Yeshiva Students Deserve Better

One of the key areas that the 2018 Israel Religion & State Index points to is the strong resentment and objection among the Israeli Jewish population in the face of the refusal of the leadership of the ultra-Orthodox community to allow a proper and effective instruction of core curricular studies in their boys’ schools.

06/09/2018 22:29

Tags: Haredi education ·  ultra-Orthodox education ·  core curriculum

One of the key areas that the 2018 Israel Religion & State Index points to is the strong resentment and objection among the Israeli Jewish population in the face of the refusal of the leadership of the ultra-Orthodox community to allow a proper and effective instruction of core curricular studies in their boys’ schools.

In recent months, we have realized that it is not only in Israel that we face this challenge, but also in other places where law suits are pending, and especially in the state of New York, where there is a high concentration of ultra-Orthodox schools. The same phenomenon of the corrupt nature of the unholy alliance of religion and politics exists there, enabling these schools to disregard the legal requirements concerning core curricular education, which is necessary to enable a person to enter into the modern day workforce and provide for his family without being a burden upon the State.

The gap between the strong public opinion and policies that disregard both legal requirements and the public’s will is only explained by the bond of religion and politics. This is what we saw happening last week in New York, with the Governor meeting with the Satmar Rebbe, seeking his endorsement for the upcoming elections. In return, he issued a promise that he would not interfere with ultra-Orthodox educational standards and practices.

It should be understood that there is one major difference between the two cases – in Israel, Haredi education is funded by the State. Most of it is fully funded, including those schools that are operating under the auspices of the ultra-Orthodox Ashkenazic party Agudath Israel and the Sephardic party Shas. In America, on the other hand, the obligation does not arise from funding (the State does not fund religious education), but New York’s laws require that ALL schools meet the equivalency test out of regard for the future of the children and the expectation that the State ensure that they be prepared to become self-sufficient.

This issue is also a good demonstration of the way Hiddush goes about its mission, which includes not only the limited concept of pluralism, but even more so providing for research, analysis, advocacy, and outreach on all matters of religion and state, particularly those that impact security, the economy, education, gender equality, non-Jews and much more. For a number of years now, Hiddush has been ascertaining the facts (which are not readily available), primarily through a series of “Freedom of Information” motions. This has enabled us to uncover the fictitious nature of the State’s supervision of the requirement to teach core curricular studies and the fining system, which actually encourages breaches of this obligation. Also, we have demanded and received information about standardized testing, which has only been carried out on a small scale in Sephardic schools. In New York, the schools did not allow supervisors to come into their facilities to inspect the degree to which they met the legal requirements, just like the ultra-Orthodox Ashkenazic schools in Israel.

In response to a Freedom of Information motion, the Education Minister was forced to disclose information about ultra-Orthodox schools, and two disturbing and clear conclusions emerge.

In response to a Freedom of Information motion, the Education Minister was forced to disclose information about ultra-Orthodox schools, and two disturbing and clear conclusions emerge. First, the ultra-Orthodox boys’ schools are in the lowest tenth percentile, compared to the rest of the schools in Israel. They achieve the lowest possible level of reading comprehension and math. Secondly, even within the Haredi community, whereas the boys’ schools do not achieve more than the lowest scores, the girls’ schools are at the national average.

One could draw these conclusions: either ultra-Orthodox boys suffer from a serious, systemic mental deficiency, or –possibly– Haredi boys’ schools are hazardous to the children who attend them… or… while these schools pretend to be meeting the legal requirements, it's nothing more than a sham. This is unacceptable, both in terms of the fraud, in terms of jeopardizing these children’s futures, and in terms of undermining the social and economic solidarity of the Israeli public.

We at Hiddush are now in the midst of preparing legal action to force the hands of the Education Minister, State, and Attorney General who unfortunately are acting much like the state politicians of New York. This includes State Senate member Felder who threatened to hold up the state budget if the powers that be not forgo the enforcement of the legal requirements vis-à-vis Haredi schools, much like Israel’s Knesset Finance Committee is used to hold up state allocations (including security funds) if the demands of the Haredi parties are not met.

This example serves to illustrate what the sages of the Talmud refer to in Tractate Baba Batra 67b: politicians act pretty much the same wherever they are, regardless of where they can be found geographically.

It is unclear how the confrontation in New York will play out in regard to this critical voting bloc that generally votes as a collective for the politicians who cede to its demands. As for us at Hiddush, you will hear more about this as our legal actions proceed, and this serves as an example as to why the Haredi party leadership is so determined to assault, erode, and undermine the Supreme Court, while Israel’s political leadership consistently gives in to their demands… for the Court sometimes steps in and applies the law in equal and equitable ways.

What is needed is not only the Supreme Court, but also for petitioners such as Hiddush and other likeminded organizations to bring such cases before the Court, enabling it to execute its powers.