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Agudath Israel Slams Latest Article By Anti-Semitic NY Times Which Targets Orthodox Children With Special Needs


Another week, another front-page attack on Orthodox Jews – this time targeting children with special needs and their families.

The New York Times confirms, for the 13th time in just three and half months, its obsession with spreading misinformation and demonizing Orthodox and Hasidic Jews.

At the same time, antisemitic attacks specifically targeting the visibly Jewish in New York City – the ones targeted by the New York Times – have risen exponentially.

Why is the New York Times using its enormous megaphone to spread hate and misinformation?



25 Responses

  1. All I did was google the words…

    Targets Orthodox Children With Special Needs

    and I was able to read the whole article on their website

    Sick people!

  2. This is one of the most unprofessional articles I’ve ever seen by yeshiva world news. Not even citing the article or telling us anything about it. I looked it up. If the ny times are even remotely correct (and it’s very possible that they’re not) this is such a chilul hashem and gezel akum!! I really hope it’s totally false.
    Here is the article btw

    https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/29/nyregion/hasidic-orthodox-jewish-special-education.html

  3. shmusie don’t they have a Chasaka of lying about the Hasidic community, yet you inside are hoping that they are not

    Shame on you!

  4. While the content of the article is unfortunately not untrue, it is written in an extremely exaggerated way, making mountains out of molehills in a manner seemingly to turn people against frum Jews by implicitly saying “OrthoJews are stealing your hard earned shekels”

  5. From what I know of the organizations mentioned and the degree granting programs I didn’t see any actual inaccuracies. I was shocked to see that the agencies that quibble over raises for the therapists have money to donate to the yeshivot.

  6. Lbj. You misunderstood. I meant to say I hope the ny times is wrong, not right Chas veshalom.

    Also, even if it’s true a little, it’s still a chillul hashem since even a little gezel Akuma is assur and since everyone holds us to a higher standard, we need to be squeaky clean.

  7. I read the article and even if it’s all accurate I see no gezel. The schools are simply exploiting programs to the fullest, milking them for all they can get. That is completely legal and there’s nothing wrong with it. If they are better than other people at milking the cow, that’s the other people’s problem. We should not be reticent or ashamed to take full advantage and get every penny we can. It’s not gezel, it’s kematzil miyodom.

  8. If the information is not true, the schools should sue the Times. On the other hand, if the information is accurate, perhaps the Yeshivot should consider allowing trained professionals to do their jobs instead of what we all suspect in our hearts is really happening.

  9. Anytime there’s an article that sheds a bad light on Jewish people or the Orthodox world, everyone screams “antisemitism!”. Chevre, I’m sorry to say but it could very well be true what is
    written in the article. There’s no question that (some) mosdos push the parents to get their kids diagnosed as having learning disorders (even when there aren’t any) so the mosdos are able to receive funding for them. And the places that provide the services, they work in tandem together with the mosdos so it’s a win-win situation. Until the redflag is raised and it’s a terrible and painful chillul Hashem.

  10. Whether it is antisemitism (more accurately anti-Hasidic) is a totally separate issue from whether the issues are real. The article does insinuate a lot and who knows what the actual scope of the issue is – not I, you, or the NYT. What they want is for someone with the actual facts or the ability to get those facts (the government agencies, courts, etc) to look into this. We ought to clean house before they force us to.

  11. Milhouse, that is incorrect. If they lie and say that the children are handicapped when they are not, that’s gezel akum and there’s no excuse for it, and that’s not even discussing the terrible chilul j hashem involved

  12. Shmusie, nobody is lying. The kids are diagnosed. That is not a lie. And once diagnosed they are entitled to the aid. That is also not a lie. Who is to say how accurate the diagnosis is? There is no objective measurement that can be applied, nor an arbitrary line that separates a “valid” diagnosis from an “invalid” one. You seem to imagine this is like a finger, which is either broken or not, or like measles, which a child either has or doesn’t. That’s not how it works.

  13. As someone employed by a mosad that benefits for these services I know first hand that it is the Department of Education that must diagnose and prescribe a certain amount of hours for these kids. It cannot be done by the mosad or anyone else. As far as the agencies are concerned that is also the city’s fault because they only want to work with agencies and are very hesitant to work with individual providers that are entitled to enhanced rate. This is first hand knowledge.

  14. Milhouse. If there really is an attempt to fool whoever is evaluating the kids in order to get money (or services) they’re not entitled to, that certainly is theft.

  15. shmusie
    Milhouse is correct. The fact is you can’t get any service without a BOE evaluation. If the BOE approves a case, then why are saying the yeshivos are doing something wrong.

  16. As somebody involved in the system, The BOE pushes children in needs based programs to be evaluated if there is any possible indication of a developmental delay. The Eval is done with the BOE participation. The goal is to get minority (not jewish) children services. This is done because the feeling is that inner-city children lack somehow in a “stable” home environment, conducive to development. The difference is that such children are typically enrolled in public school, and as such there is no room for scrutiny, whereas Yeshivas are self contained environments and are subject to scrutiny.

  17. Shmusie, even if there is occasionally an attempt to fool, that is not theft. At WORST it would be classed as oshek, not gezel, and oshek nochri is mutar; the Torah says lo sa’ashok es re’echo, velo sigzol, so the issur of oshek applies only to re’echo, while the issur of gezel applies to everyone.

    I personally heard from someone who spoke to Reb Moshe ztz”l about this issue, and Reb Moshe’s answer was “The [racial group] and the [ethnic group] don’t do it?! The government allows them to do it, so we are entitled to do it too.” And in fact Reb Moshe himself once almost got into trouble for such a thing, and it took some serious string-pulling to save him; that indicates what his halachic opinion was.

  18. I’m sorry but I don’t believe that about rav moshe. You’ll have to bring me proof. R’ Moshe was an extreme איש אמת as anyone who knew him personally know.

    It would not only be oshek if they’re trying to fool someone in order to get money. That is geneiva and is assur regardless of being done to a jew or a non jew

  19. I just spoke to 2 people who were very close to Rav Moshe, both roshei yeshiva, and they both said that what you wrote, Milhouse, is completely wrong. The story that you said happened with rav moshe did not happen that way at all. Someone at the yeshiva office did it on his own and rav moshe was very upset about it, stating clearly that it was assur. It is certainly gezel Akum and is completely assured, and that’s even without the chillul hashem.
    I really really really hope the ny times is wrong about the story.

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