Blatant Antisemitism or a False Alarm?

Image of Chasidic children for illustration purposes only (TOI - 2017)

There is something terribly off about a YWN news report.  Because if true, it would be one of the most blatant antisemitic acts ever to be taken by a government official.  A few days ago I reported my satisfaction with NYSED’s new guidelines. Which require all private schools to offer a core secular studies curriculum that includes science, math, social studies, and English. However, according to YWN that is not all NYSED did: 

…at the last minute the State Education Department, led by Commissioner Betty Rosa, slipped in a section to the regulations that threatens jail time for parents who send to a non-complying yeshiva.

OK.  Jail time is a little strong. But if it gets parents to comply with a law designed to benefit their children where non compliance would hurt them, I can live with it. All parents would then need to do is follow a law that the vast majority of Orthodox Jewish schools already follow. But according to YWN it does not end there: 

…all of the non-Jewish schools in the State will be exempt under the new regulations, leaving only Yeshivas subject to the review and approval of local school districts.                

That crosses a line. To single out for punishment only parents in Jewish schools while exempting parents of non Jewish schools is the very definition of discrimination. I don’t see how it’s possible for someone to do that in 2022. It violates everything this country stands for!

Even if one might argue that the Chasidic community is being singled out because they are the only community that deliberately refuses to offer a secular studies curriculum - it does not make it any less discriminatory. Ether you apply the law equally or you don’t apply it at all. If it happens that the vast majority of parents being punished are Chasidic it will only be because they were the ones most guilty of non compliance after all schools were monitored! If only Chasidic schools are monitored it is blatantly discriminatory and probably violates the First Amendment.

If this is the case, it is an outrage that must be vigorously protested. I would be the first to urge all of us that care about  our people and the county in which we live - to do whatever we can to reverse that policy. But as I indicated, I find the veracity of this story to be highly questionable. It just doesn’t make sense in our day and age to single out Jews for punishment while exempting everyone else.

(As an aside -YWN’s final point about letting public school parents whose children attend failing schools off the hook, while jailing Jewish parents that do that - is a faulty comparison. Public school parents are not at fault.) 

As far as the rest of this story goes, I hope YWN’s accusation proves to be untrue. It is just too unbelievable. In fact I searched several other Orthodox Jewish news outlets and did not find this story reported anywhere else. Perhaps YWN just got their facts wrong? I sure hope so.