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| Families in Williamsburg (JTA) |
Although I have communicated with him a few times about this issue, I don’t really know Naftuli Moster. I found him to be quite reasonable and sincere about his goal of improving the education of his former Chasidic community.
However, when discussing this issue with members of the opposition, (many of whom I know, trust, and respect) I heard nothing but accusations of Moster’s ulterior motive and evil intentions based on some sort of vendetta against his old community.
Based on my admittedly limited discussions with him and everything I’ve seen him say on the subject, I find that a bit difficult to believe. But I have been assured by people I trust that in private he has said things that exposed who he really is.
Where the truth lies is anybody’s guess. I was not privy to any of those private conversations. But to me, the entitre discussion about Moster and his ‘evil’ intentions is nothing more than a ‘red herring’. Moster is not the issue. Nor is YAFFED the issue.
The issue is whether or not the students that attend religious elementary schools and high schools are being denied an education that puts them at a disadvantage in a world where a secular education matters. Which is not only about making a living. It is also about not presenting as illiterate and ignorant to the world.
It therefore wouldn’t matter to me if Moster was a serial killer – as far as this issue goes. It is irrelevant.
The question arises whether Moster’s claim - that many of the parents in those Yeshivos actually desire a secular studies curriculum at all for their children - is true. Is he right? Or is the claim by Agudah et al true - that they don’t really care about a secular studies curriculum at all and are quite happy with a full day religious studies program. And that the only complainers are expatriate Chasidim that are no longer observant and have a chip on their shoulder.
There might be an indication of how some parents feel about it from the following story reported in the Jewish Week article published by JTA:
A New York State Supreme Court justice ruled in favor of an Orthodox Jewish mother who said her son was denied an adequate secular education at his Brooklyn yeshiva.
Well, there is at least one observant mother from that community that feels her son was denied an education. I am willing to bet that there are a lot more like her in the closet - fearing the repercussions of disputing the ethos established by their charismatic all powerful rabbinic leadership. We know all to well how people that disagree with that ethos are treated. As we saw recently with Ger.
It could very well be the case that there are significant numbers of Chasidic parents that secretly agree with that woman but are afraid to go public with it. This is not to say that there aren’t those that are sincerely happy with the way things are now. Maybe even the majority. But I would not be surprised that there are a lot more like that woman who are afraid to speak up.
It would be interesting to find out the truth. But I’m not sure it’s possible. The fear of repercussions to those that publicly dissent is real. I doubt whether we can ever really know what is in their hearts.
Which leaves intact the opposition's claim that the community they are defending agrees with them.
And yet I find it difficult to believe that illiteracy and ignorance has become so widely acceptable to otherwise intelligent people.