Yeshiva education nearly ruined us

Local Orthodox men warn of hardships from

JUDAISM refers to its followers as “people of the book.” But the children — some 57,000 of them in New York City alone, according to the 2013 census — of the state’s ultra-Orthodox communities are largely being denied an education that includes science, math and English books.

In April, state Sen. Simcha Felder (D-Brooklyn) refused to sign off on the state budget unless yeshivas, which accept millions of dollars in government funding, were given more autonomy over curricula. Per a Post editorial, “Felder demanded [legislation] to exempt private yeshivas from state requirements to provide adequate education in basic areas such as English, math, science and history.”

It was announced on Wednesday that Felder secured some $200,000 in discretionary funds for “education access” programs for Agudath Israel, the lobbying force that helped fight state efforts to impose instructional standards on yeshivas.

Advocates who believe Jewish children are being harmed by yeshivas are devastated by the news.

“[They] are being denied an education,” said Naftuli Moster, executive director of YAFFED, an organization that advocates to improve secular education in ultra-Orthodox yeshivas. “The main reason has to do with [yeshiva administrators] saying there’s no time to learn stuff [students] won’t use in life — especially boys, who are [expected] to be rabbis.”

Moster added that there are other issues at hand as well: “There are certain things in science and history that contradict portions of the Torah — fossils, dinosaurs.”

What secular education young boys receive typically ends at the equivalent of about seventh grade, with only minimal English and reading studied after that. “They don’t learn about the history of slavery or the Civil War,” said Moster.

Felder had no comment for this story. Rabbi David Zweibel, of the aforementioned Agudath Israel, said, “The majority of yeshiva graduates are happy with the education they receive.”

Around age 13, boys enter yeshiva in lieu of high school, where 12-hour days largely focus on the religious texts of the Torah and Talmud. (Girls, who aren’t required to learn Torah, receive a more well-rounded education.)

Hasidic boys are groomed to be rabbis, but roughly 5 percent of them succeed. “The other 95 percent are doomed to a life of struggle and poverty,” said Moster.

Indeed, New York’s ultra-Orthodox communities are disproportionately dependent on government handouts. According to a recent 24/7 Wall Street report, the Hasidic village of New Square, in Rockland County, is the poorest in the state — with a 70 percent poverty rate.

“You have tens of thousands of families who depend on government assistance,” said Moster. “It’s a double whammy, as these yeshivas get your tax dollars, too.”

He said that the new legislation will create more problems, adding, “The kids are going to suffer.”

Here, three men raised in New York’s Hasidic communities reveal how their yeshiva education has hurt them.