Why Are New York's Hasidic Children Being Denied An Education?

A few months ago, The New York Times released a truly heartbreaking exposé. Nine schools in New York State had less than 1% of students testing at grade level in 2019. All of them were Hasidic boys' schools. Whereas most of us think that knowledge is power, some fundamentalists fear knowledge...

That's why I have so much respect for people like Beatrice Weber. Raised ultra-Orthodox, this mother of 10 overcame enormous communal and theological pressure and found the courage to leave her turbulent arranged marriage of over 20 years — and everything she'd ever known. Now the executive director of Young Advocates for Fair Education (YAFFED), she's leading the charge to require New York's Hasidic schools to provide children — including her own — with a bare minimum of secular education.

I hope you'll tune in and join me for this intimate conversation wherever you get your podcasts.