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At event inspired by The Moth, yeshiva graduates drop the mic on their haredi Orthodox upbringings
(New York Jewish Week) — One spoke of using binoculars to watch TV through a neighbor’s window. Another talked about an abusive rabbi. Another said that, as a student, he would draw swastikas when he was upset — but he didn’t know what they looked like, so he wound up repeatedly writing Z’s in his notebooks.
A series of graduates of New York yeshivas gathered Tuesday night to talk about what they described as their often harrowing, sometimes humorous experiences growing up. As children and young adults, they studied in the kinds of haredi Orthodox schools that were at the center of a high-profile investigation by the city’s Department of Education.
The investigation ended late last month after eight years with a report that said 18 of the city’s yeshivas do not sufficiently teach secular studies such as math, English and science.
Tuesday’s event, called Yeshiva Stories, was run by Yaffed — the nonprofit that has taken a leading role in pushing for greater oversight of the yeshivas — and was inspired by The Moth, the popular live storytelling series. Most of Tuesday’s speakers spoke in loosely-connected vignettes, and most were critical of the broader haredi Orthodox world in addition to the yeshivas.
“I gotta be a little honest here — I went to the Footsteps gala dinner,” said one speaker named Tzvi Cohen, referencing an organization that offers assistance to people who choose to leave haredi Orthodox communities. “I drank a lot of wine, and the next day I was told that I agreed to do this. So, much like my secular education growing up, I don’t know if it actually existed.”
On Wednesday morning, just over 12 hours after the event, Yaffed detailed its response to the results of the city’s investigation at a press conference outside the Tweed Courthouse in lower Manhattan, which houses the Department of Education. The group announced that it filed a petition with the department on Wednesday to try to force government officials to “re-look at the schools that were deemed compliant” with state education standards during the investigation.
The investigation found that five schools were considered compliant because they were affiliated with high schools that meet state approval. The schools that the city judged to be failing now need to come up with plans for improvement. It is unclear what repercussions await if they do not.
“I call upon New York City’s education leadership to address the humanitarian crisis — one of many — currently taking place, conclude the investigation into failing Hasidic schools and give my grandchildren and their peers a taste of the American Dream,” said Beatrice Weber, Yaffed’s executive director, on Wednesday.
In all, it was a whirlwind 24 hours for the group whose complaints with the city more than eight years ago opened the investigation.
Tuesday night’s event attracted around 50 people — mostly yeshiva graduates or their friends as well as other Yaffed supporters, such as longtime New York State Assembly member Deborah Glick, who represents part of lower Manhattan — to a small arts space called City Lore in the East Village. The night was meant to bring out the individual stories of those affected by what Yaffed describes as neglectful and at times abusive yeshiva leaders. (Yeshiva administrators and their advocates say the schools turn out successful graduates and offer a quality education that is rooted in the haredi communities’ religious values. Some have accused advocates for secular education of harboring bias against haredi Jews.)
“When you actually hear [peoples’] stories, that’s what you realize, oh, like, this is real,” said Weber, who has performed at Moth events.
Libby Pollack, who has a YouTube series on “Advice and awareness about growing up with religious fundamentalism and coping in the ‘afterlife’ transition,” was one of the speakers. In addition to using the aforementioned binoculars in her Hasidic Williamsburg household, she spoke of trying to hack into nearby radio signals and secretly listening to non-religious music — which she said elders in her community called “jazzy music.”
“If you listen to jazzy music, it would come home to you when you get married,” she said. “When you’re standing under the huppah… and you only want to think holy thoughts, the last thing you want is for jazzy music to come up.”
She also told a story about going on a Birthright trip in her early 20s, after her transition out of the Orthodox community had started. She went out one night with some of the people on the trip and described not knowing how to dress or what the word “club” meant — besides being the word for a weapon meant to hurt people.
“It’s a verb? It’s an activity? So what happens, do people beat each other up?” she said.
Not all the stories were lighthearted. Many spoke of physical or emotional trauma perpetrated by their teachers and Hasidic “royalty,” or prominent members of their communities. Jay Fishman, a 25-year-old software engineer who attended the event and grew up going to a yeshiva until he was 15, said the event featured a good balance of humor and seriousness.
“So many people hear about these stories, but just in the news, right?” Fishman said. “It’s very kind of disassociated. I feel like this was good to humanize people.”
He added, “For me, I grew up with this. I know what it’s like, I know the human part of it. So many other people realize it’s bad, but you can’t really connect it in a way.”
The last storyteller was Ari Goldman, the former New York Times reporter known for his years on the religion beat. He grew up Modern Orthodox, but his parents opted to send him to a haredi Orthodox yeshiva. It was on the 90-minute subway rides each day from home in Jackson Heights, Queens, to Crown Heights, Brooklyn, that he learned to love reading newspapers, he said.
Goldman is married to Shira Dicker, who handles public relations for Yaffed and planned the event. He said the event — which Weber hinted could be the first in a series, though plans are still in early stages — struck him as a unique platform on a scale he had not seen before in his reporting on Orthodox Jews in New York.
“Storytelling is a big thing now,” he said, referring to The Moth. “I think it’s been adapted to the Yaffed culture around this.”
He added, “And I love what Beatrice said at the end — you tell your story and it empowers you.”
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The post At event inspired by The Moth, yeshiva graduates drop the mic on their haredi Orthodox upbringings appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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‘Your Nazism Knows No Bounds’: Popular LA Restaurant Draws Backlash After Denying Service to Jewish Man
Protesters outside of Mauro’s Cafe in Los Angeles after a patron wearing a kippah said he was denied a cup of coffee. Photo: Screenshot
A popular restaurant in West Hollywood, California drew protests and widespread backlash online after it allegedly denied service to a Jewish man wearing a kippah.
Mauro Cafe is a small Italian restaurant and cafe in Los Angeles County often frequented by celebrities. On Sunday, a man wearing a kippah said he attempted to order a cup of coffee from the restaurant but was refused.
Video of the man walking into the restaurant before coming out and saying he was denied service because he looked Jewish went viral on social media this week.
West Hollywood cafe owner throws out Jewish customer and REFUSES to serve him after seeing he was wearing a kippah.
Mauro Cafe in Melrose refused to allow the man to buy coffee with one waitress telling him to “get off the property.”
@growthfactororg pic.twitter.com/BXDqPpSBYP
— Oli London (@OliLondonTV) July 2, 2024
“The owner, she says I cannot buy a coffee,” the man said in the video after walking out. When asked why he was refused service, he responded, “Because I look like I am Jewish.”
Although the owner of the restaurant, who has been identified as Evelyne Joan, appeared to turn the patron away, employees of the restaurant later bought him a coffee, according to the video.
The incident sparked backlash among Los Angels’ Jewish community, prompting some to protest against antisemitism and discrimination more broadly outside of Mauro Cafe.
Jewish Americans protest outside a cafe in West Hollywood after the owner REFUSED to serve a Jewish customer and threw him out because he was wearing a Kippah.
The owner of Mauro Cafe stood outside as Jews protested against her antisemitic business chanting “Shame.”
@idan_bg pic.twitter.com/6P0ExiWcVE
— Oli London (@OliLondonTV) July 2, 2024
“Your Nazism knows no bounds,” one protester yelled.
“The owner of Mauro Cafe, Evelyn [Joan], does not demonstrate for any of the atrocities committed within walking distance of Israel!” another demonstrator said, calling out Joan for only protesting against the Jewish state.
“Apologize!” the activists demanded.
Social media users quickly noted that Joan has a history of protesting against Israel and Jewish sites. The nonprofit organization Jew Hate Database revealed that she participated in the violent anti-Israel demonstration outside of Adas Torah synagogue in the heavily-Jewish Pico-Robertson area of Los Angeles late last month.
In video posted to social media, Joan can be seen holding a microphone while preventing Jews from accessing the synagogue and shouting “Free Palestine” and “Shame on you!”
Demonstrators swarmed the synagogue to protest the sale of Israeli real estate taking place inside the building. The protests quickly descended into violence as anti-Israel protesters were caught on video shoving, punching, and screaming at those attempting to defend the synagogue.
The violence received widespread condemnation. US President Joe Biden slammed the protests as “antisemitic and un-American.”
Outside of Mauro Cafe, activists chastised Joan for her participation in the protest. “When it comes to Jews she runs and blocks their place of worship!” they said, referring to the anti-Israel demonstrators who waved Palestine flags and donned keffiyehs while blocking entry into the Adas Torah synagogue.
Prominent figures on social media decried the restaurant’s apparent anti-Jewish discrimination this past weekend. “Imagine if a white business didn’t serve a black customer. Lead story of every single news program. Mauro Cafe. Run by racist dirtbags,” tweeted conservative political commentator Dave Rubin.
The incident came almost three months after the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) released a report showing antisemitic incidents in the US rose 140 percent last year, reaching a record high. Most of the outrages occurred after Hamas’ Oct. 7 atrocities in southern Israel, during the ensuing Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.
The post ‘Your Nazism Knows No Bounds’: Popular LA Restaurant Draws Backlash After Denying Service to Jewish Man first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Jews Today Cannot Wait for Miracles
Pro-Hamas activists gather in Washington Square Park for a rally following a protest march held in response to an NYPD sweep of an anti-Israel encampment at New York University in Manhattan, May 3, 2024. Photo: Matthew Rodier/Sipa USA via Reuters Connect
One of the amazing features of the Torah is the way that it conveys human nature with all its greatness and pettiness, triumphs and failures.
This week, we look at the Korach rebellion, in which there are three different groups of protesters each with their own agenda.
Korach and the other Levites were fighting for a religious position and power. On Ben Pelet’s group represented the tribe of Ruben’s political fear of being replaced by the tribe of Judah. And Datan and Aviram were only concerned with their own physical and material interests.
This serious rebellion against the established authority of Moses and Aaron reflects precisely the sorts of conflicts of opinion and commitment that divide the Jewish people to this very day — those who do not identify with the nation, those animated by religious power and authority, and those whose values are the same material values as the secular Western world. Of course, my comparison is fanciful. But I hope it makes a valid point.
The children of Israel faced a crisis of self-image coming out of slavery and subjugation in Egypt. Nevertheless, they escaped from Egypt, arrived at Sinai, and had the national revelation. But almost immediately, they fall back into an idolatrous mindset. And when it came to proceeding to the land of Canaan and not relying on everything to be provided for them, the facade of unity collapsed.
It was clear that the nation was simply not ready to take upon itself the burden of responsibility of running their own affairs within a land of their own. The result was that they were sent back into the wilderness for another generation to prepare themselves psychologically and physically for what would happen 40 years later.
When Moses was faced with this rebellion, his first reaction was to “fall on his face” both in resignation and in supplication to God. God’s response was to give him the confidence to stand up to them.
Moses tries first to reason with them. When this fails, the miracles of the earth opening up — the fire that consumed the Levites who brought the censors, and the staffs that flowered and produced almonds — finally ended the revolt and restored order.
In those days, miracles were visible — and solved the problem. But now both in the Diaspora and in Israel, we are faced as never before with our internal divisions and the increasing tsunami of hatred and denial of our rights (and lives) across the world.
The picture looks so bleak from almost every point of view, so it is not surprising that more and more of us are looking for miracles. And because we can see no rational and logical fair resolution, we turn to prayer.
Prayer is a wonderful tool both of self-validation and connecting with spiritual energy beyond the physical world. But it’s not a tool that can guarantee anything. Similarly, the dream of a Messiah may give us a sense of hope, but we have no guarantees. Besides as the Talmud says, “Ein Somchin Al HaNes” — we cannot and should not rely on miracles
It is up to us to be proactive in our lives ,and take the steps necessary for our self-defense and well-being.
Not everyone is suited or equipped to deal with every threat, whether it is physical, political, or cyber. But we must all be prepared to rise to the challenge and do whatever we can to play our part, no matter how small. We never know how things are going to work out, and we may be surprised by turns of events that we didn’t expect.
Yes, I hope for miracles — but I know one cannot rely on them.
The author is a writer and rabbi, currently based in New York.
The post Jews Today Cannot Wait for Miracles first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Why Will The New Republic Not Take Action Against Inciteful New Hire?
A scene from the anti-Israel protest that took place outside the exhibit “Nova: Oct. 7 6:29 AM, The Moment Music Stood Still” in New York City on June 10, 2024. Photo: Screenshot
Some journalists report what they see and hear on the ground, while others report what they want to see or hear. It’s unfortunate when that happens, and it is especially prevalent in today’s media.
Talia Jane (or Talia Ben-Ora) belongs in the latter category.
Jane (who identifies with the pronouns they/them) is an associate writer for The New Republic; their work for the publication is labeled as “breaking news.”
Only much of this content is not necessarily breaking news, and it’s not written as such. With headlines that are sarcastic and distorted from the truth, Jane probably manages to grab eyes, but irresponsibly misleads readers.
Jane continuously steps out of bounds as a journalist, backing vile anti-Israel activity (and behavior towards Jews), and passing it off as valid resistance to the Israeli “occupation.”
Earlier in June, Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch published an in-depth article on Jane — exposing that The New Republic’s latest hire is a raging anti-Zionist. It appears that Jane also has Jewish heritage.
Deutch’s article centered around this heinous piece Jane wrote for The New Republic on June 14, which defended the recent anti-Israel protest outside the Nova Exhibit in New York. The “breaking news” writer claimed that the protest was not antisemitic in nature.
Here are some clips from said protest.
Appalling antisemitism in NYC — protesting an exhibit commemorating the victims of the massacre at the Nova music festival. The only logical conclusion one can make when you show up to protest against people who were murdered by Hamas, is that you support Hamas and the murder of… pic.twitter.com/c3eyZwRXvV
— Adam Milstein (@AdamMilstein) June 12, 2024
Today the almost daily anti-Israel protests that have besieged NYC since Oct 7th converged on the Nova Exhibit. Those who went to commemorate the slaughter of 100s of innocent Israelis at a music festival were met with chants of “intifada revolution” pic.twitter.com/6mT8FpLfp5
— daniela (@daniela127) June 11, 2024
The TNR journalist also refuses to accept the actual definition of Zionism as the right to self-determination of the Jewish people in their ancestral homeland. Jane has defended this since-expelled Columbia student, who led anti-Israel protests on its campus:
In April, Jane called it ‘insane’ for the White House to criticize a Columbia student who said on social media that Zionists deserve to die, because ‘Zionism is synonymous with ethnonationalist supremacy and *not* Judaism.’
Since Deutch’s article was published on June 20, Jane’s behavior has not changed; this “journalist” and activist continues to share despicable comments and reposts on X (formerly Twitter). This, despite TNR magazine editor Michael Tomasky’s assurance, quoted in the article, that the publication is “working to address the situation.”
Jane took to X to defend anti-Israel protesters, while there is a clear presence of a Hamas flag in the frame:
Just a reminder that NYPD fully and illegally kettled the anti-genocide demo outside a Biden campaign event in Manhattan, then made arrests because the group they prevented from moving…didn’t move. https://t.co/FhcPtXzof0
— Talia Jane (@taliaotg) June 29, 2024
Jane also reposted a donation link from the Hamas-run Gaza Municipality’s X account.
Our damages amount to approximately 1 billion dollars. Please help us raise the first million. Your support is crucial for us to continue our efforts in #Gaza City.
Donation link: https://t.co/DR0P9iVohK
— بلدية غزة – Municipality of Gaza (@munigaza) June 26, 2024
It is a wonder, that after intense backlash over Jane’s piece more than two weeks ago, TNR’s chief editors have allowed this journalist to remain on their staff. The most they appeared to muster up was a disclaimer at the top of said piece.
Although Jane’s articles are currently more US politics-focused in recent weeks, that does not detract from still occurring behavior online. Does TNR approve of this kind of rhetoric and biased, unprofessional behavior to define their reputation?
The author is a contributor to HonestReporting, a Jerusalem-based media watchdog with a focus on antisemitism and anti-Israel bias — where a version of this article first appeared.
The post Why Will The New Republic Not Take Action Against Inciteful New Hire? first appeared on Algemeiner.com.