Rabbi Aharon Kotler arrived in the U.S. on April 10, 1941, having escaped Lithuania as the Nazis approached. Even as the Holocaust proceeded to destroy Jewish life in Europe, Rabbi Kotler declared that he would rebuild it in America.
He convinced 13 students to join him in Lakewood, N.J., where in 1943 he founded Beth Medrash Govoha. Today, BMG enrolls more than 6,800. Another mark of its success is that the school now has become caught up in a lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union.
In 2013 the state of New Jersey decided to give grants to colleges and universities to promote business and job opportunities. BMG was awarded $10.6 million to help build a new library and improve other of its facilities.
But the ACLU filed a lawsuit against New Jersey, objecting that the grant violates the state constitution. [ACLU is] offended that BMG is an all-male school, even though that is perfectly legal. After years of procedural wrangling, the lawsuit will be heard in a New Jersey appellate court on Monday—75 years, almost to the day, since Rabbi Kotler debarked in San Francisco and set about to transform Jewish life in America.
See Also: Will NY Haredi Schools Go The Way of England? About the DOE and Haredi Schol Curriculum.
Source: The Partial View (however, this is more than a partial view).
Original article at WSJ
1 comment:
Reading about this beyond chilul H' that the ACLU dares to dictate what an Orthodox school can and cannot do is frightening. Guess 'democracy' is no more. H' is speeding things up to awaken 'all' real Jews. That's why no matter how hard the financial situation of yeshivahs, they should stay away from taking even a cent from public monies. Shame that so many billionaire Jews do not give big charity to Yeshivahs, which should be their first priority. As long as they take gvt money, they become beholden - not good!
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