A clandestine undertaking on behalf of Israel, the Jets and the Jews.

 
Lakewood Follow-Up

I've gotten a fair amount of criticism for my post about the situation in Lakewood in which as many as 80 girls were not admitted into the community's high schools. Most of the responses were via e-mail.

Some of the responses - both in the comments and via e-mail - were simply vitriolic ad hominem attacks on me and/or my family, all anonymous, of course. Those I simply deleted.

Then there were those who stated that I lack "das Torah." They are probably right that I do not accept "das Torah" in the manner that they define it, that one must accept everything rabbis say (or don't say) about any topic.

Several people questioned whether the Internet is an appropriate place to discuss internal controversies in the observant Jewish world. I respect their position, but feel that ordinary people are entitled to express their opinion.

Finally two people strongly argue that my facts are all wrong, that the rabbis in Lakewood did make efforts to get the girls into schools, ultimately gaining support of the leading charedi rabbis in Israel. They both were outraged that I would write what they saw as an assault on the honor of the Lakewood rabbis.

I believe that the facts as I presented them are substantially accurate. They were verified by a person I trust (who does not agree with my post). It seems clear that the Lakewood rabbis used quiet diplomacy so that the girls in question would be admitted into a school. Then they slightly less diplomatically tried to cajole the schools in relenting. Only at summer's end, just before school was about to open, did they take a strong stand. Until then, their stance was quite timid.

This is sharp contrast to the ban by the Lakewood rabbis of Lakewood BlueClaws games (under which if any family member goes to a game, nobody from that person's family can be admitted to a Lakewood yeshiva), or to the bans of several books which prominent Lakewood rabbis joined.

When it came to the girls who were not admitted into schools, they and their families had to wait anxiously for months while the rabbis quietly and respectfully discussed things with selfish school administrators.

The bottom line is that the Lakewood rabbis know how to take a strong and immediate stand, but only choose to do so when it comes to prohibiting things.

In any event, I do regret some of the strident language used in last week's post, and have just updated that post to strike much of the language that might unnecessarily offend.
posted on 9/20/2005