Dear Editor,
I am worried about the proposed NY State regulations that could impact yeshivos, which I have been reading about for the past half year on Matzav.com.
However, there is a question that people have been asking that no one seems to be answering:
Many, if not most, yeshivos in New York State – the ones that Matzav.com readers in New York send their children to – provide an excellent general studies education. In fact, sources have told me that if the schools in question were only these yeshivos, then, because of the existing robust English programs that they already have, chances are that the State wouldn’t even be where it is today, trying to ram regulations down our throat.
So who is at fault?
It hurts to say, but there are mosdos in certain segments of the community, predominantly chassidishe ones, where the English programs are poor or non-existent. It is hard to understand why the decision has been made to jeopardize an entire yeshiva system in New York by aligning with these educational institutions that insist on having weak or non-existent English departments.
It is time that we say in a clear voice that our mainstream mosdos DO have solid English departments and that we do NOT align ourselves with those mosdos that do not.
Enough is enough.
A Worried Yid
Flatbush, Brooklyn