There was a lot of angst among defenders of these schools - led by Agudah that a Pulitzer would lend undue legitimacy and prestige to what they viewed as a series of hit pieces against the world of Yeshivos. Hit pieces that exposed the lack of any Limudei Chol (secular studies curriculum) in their schools.
Their concern was understandable. Those articles painted an unfair and inaccurate negative picture of the Chasidic world. Had that picture been painted by non Jews it might have been considered antisemitic. That the Times used a couple of reporters with identifiably Jewish first and last names gave them ‘a fig leaf’ to criticize this community without being called antisemites.
Now there is such a thing as a Jewish antisemite. These are self loathing Jews who desire to shed their Jewish identity by dissociating themselves from anything remotely Jewish. But I do not believe this was the case with these reporters. I think they just reported what they found in the one area they were investigating: The education of Orthodox Jewish youth in the Chasidic world.
That said, the net result was a highly negative and frankly undeserved picture of the Chasidic world. Which if left unchallenged could easily be used as an excuse for violent attacks by recently emboldened actual antisemties.
I therefore give Agudah credit for offering a counter narrative through an ad campaign called KnowUs that tells a more accurate and positive picture of the Chasid world.
But the lack of a Pulitzer should not dilute or diminish the very real problems that the Times exposed. Which is the fact that certain Chasidic schools offer no formal Limudei Chol curriculum at all.
The argument that they don’t need one to make a living and be happy with their lot doesn’t mean that they aren’t disadvantaged by this lack. They are and that situation should be corrected. It is also misleading for Agudah to say that the Times smeared all Yeshiva education implying all Yeshivos are like that. They didn’t and they aren’t Most Yeshivos outside of the Chasidic world offer a Limudei Chol curriculum. In many of those schools students take the Regents Exam before they graduate.
In my view it is a mistake to embellish their complaint with misleading information about what was reported.
The truth is that Times investigative reporting was a double edged sword. On the one hand they correctly exposed a major flaw in the schools of certain Chasidic sects. On the other hand in doing so they painted an unfair and unrealistic picture of them as a whole. Whether intentional or not, that ought not be rewarded with a Pulitzer Prize.
But they deserve credit for putting pressure upon these schools to shape up. And hopefully start offering their students the education that their peers in other Orthdox schools get. One that - whether they realize it or not - would surely benefit them without harming their spirituality one bit.
