The Issue

The articles contain many inaccuracies. Only the stories of yeshiva critics and those who have left the Orthodox Jewish community are told.

Notwithstanding repeated efforts, the Times has refused to feature alternate viewpoints.

These representations are hurtful to the hundreds of thousands of parents who save taxpayers billions annually and sacrifice dearly to self-fund their children's education.

We are proud of our yeshivas, which produce law abiding, successful citizens in every walk of life. There is a reason Jewish parents dig deep into their pockets to send their children to yeshivas.

KnowUs represents thousands of yeshiva graduates and parents who firmly believe that parents - not government or media - should determine how their children are raised. 

The misrepresentations peddled threaten our way of life. And, in the current climate, they threaten our bodily safety.

“...The New York Times also weakens its case by leaning into tropes, including those about Jewish power..."

“...as the court made clear, it is the parents’ prerogative—and duty—to keep their children in the nonpublic school of their choosing, even where it fails to meet the criteria, and supplement their education through other resources, including homeschooling."

"The current burst of aggressive reporting regarding Hasidic Jews could be seen as a revival of a campaign that began during the COVID-19 pandemic, or even earlier, to hold to account—or to malign, depending on your view—this strange community."

“Asked about the Times’ reporting on Jews in the context of poisoning wells, Waldman said that “history repeats itself. It’s shocking today, where we have access to so much information to research. People fall into the same traps and the same nonsense.”"

“...The evidence appears relatively conclusive. The assertions of the activists are baseless. This is not surprising, as their worries are obviously outlandish..."

"These students have grown into a culture that says, “In order to get closer to the truth, at least as best as humans can approximate it, it’s important to hear multiple perspectives.”

“Left-leaning publications are generally reluctant to attack minority communities as culturally alien; if anything, they tend to condemn such attacks. Yet for the Times, Orthodox Jews seem to be an exception. Why?"

“We actually have very little clear or systematic data about how and why Haredim responded to COVID—or how the virus responded in turn."

"In fact, from the beginning, experts have pointed out that the articles were filled with inaccuracies. One representative article was “rife with half-truths and distortions”

“...it soon became apparent that the Times was interested in more than just that narrow question."

“Any constructive, legitimate issues these articles may have sought to raise were buried by misleading statistics; an unethical lack of transparency of the Times' sources; lack of balance; omission of critical context; questionable credit-taking for subsequent events; and repeated engagement in negative association fallacy"

 "The letter noted that The Times quoted Yaffed board members without disclosing their involvement with the group, and ignored input from community members who went against the series’ narrative.”

“Our Orthodox brothers and sisters are constantly under threat...it is one that needs solidarity and support from everyone – Jewish and non-Jewish alike."

“The case rests on two personal anecdotes presented by sources who were anonymized in violation of the Times’ code of ethics, a school that isn’t Orthodox, and two schools that credibly dispute the figures provided by the Times..."

 "...Whatever the outcome in New York, the “substantial equivalency” conflict between those advocating for the rights of parents and those opposing public investment in private education is sure to repeat itself in states like Arizona, West Virginia, Florida, and Arkansas...”

 "...According to Judge Ryba, the constitutional challenges were premature: the new regulations did not add substantive educational requirements...”

“We are proud of the thriving Orthodox Jewish communities in New York and the values they hold. They have maintained Jewish continuity in a way others have not."

 "...the state will have to turn to other methods to enforce those standards, such as choosing to “tie particular requirements to the way in which schools receive funding.”

“The elements the letter claims as misleading range from statistical information about how the poverty line is calculated to the Times’ failure to disclose the associations of quoted sources with activist groups assisting people in leaving Orthodox communities"

 "...the state will have to turn to other methods to enforce those standards, such as choosing to “tie particular requirements to the way in which schools receive funding.”

"New York policymakers put themselves in a difficult spot with the September regulations. They stand on even shakier terrain after the recent court ruling."

"We resent that the Times are engaged in what appears to be a crusade," said Rabbi David Zwiebel, the executive vice president of Agudath Israel — an organization founded in 1922 that represents various Orthodox Jewish communities. "A crusade to get people to consider Hasidic Jews in a negative light."

“It deeply disturbs me these days that my community seems under siege — not only by antisemites — but from the media as well. Our educational system has been repeatedly misrepresented and maligned, with misinformation spread about children of divorce, like me."

"The Times tells JNS it is “confident in the accuracy” of its reporting, but not confident enough to answer any questions."

"Here are some of the ways in which the Times coverage fails to meet the highest standards of journalism..."

“'Publishing inaccurate, offensive articles against a minority group is always wrong. Churning such articles out in today’s climate, when Jews are being beaten in the streets of Brooklyn, is like chain-smoking in a gas station,' Avrohom Weinstock, associate director of education affairs at Agudath Israel, told The Daily Signal on Thursday."

"The billboards — one near the Lincoln Tunnel, another in Times Square, and on a building next to the paper’s Eighth Avenue skyscraper — ask the paper to 'please stop attacking our community.'"

"The campaign from Agudath Israel of America, an umbrella group, aims to provide an alternative narrative on the Orthodox community to the general public."