With about two weeks left to the beginning of the new school year, approximately 25 girls from the former Bais Yaakov Elementary school are without a school. The girls – mostly from 1st through 7th grade – and a total of 72 girls – were left without a school after the school announced its closing in February, as first reported on TLS.
The closing of the school also forced five families with eight BYE students, to move out of Lakewood, parents from the former school tell TLS.
Following the closing in February, TLS obtained the audio statement released by the school’s administrator – posted below – which stated the following: “In accordance to the court order, Bais Yaakov Elementary school is officially closing. All parents are advised to please place their children in another school, and the teachers are advised to seek other employment. We would like to thank the teachers for their tremendous Mesiras Nefesh to the school and to the children as well. And the same applies to all the parents who stood by the school in all its trying times. Thank you very much”.
After the closing, An Askan working with the school told TLS, that “the school was losing over $20,000 monthly, and the fact that the building was lost, added to the strain”.
Approximately three weeks after the schools closing, a large number of the girls were placed in several Mosdos, including several girls who were accepted into Bais Faiga.
” Move out of town” because they need a school?? If only this happened to the illegals!!
This is a total busha (moderated) that girls are without schools and are still not being accepted! And for what reasons do they give? They are too full??? They found room for the girls who moved here from elsewhere, They should first take the Lakewood girls and then “squeeze” #31 or #32 that just moved here! It’s very upsetting.
“Accepted innto Bais Faiga”
I understand the responisibilty of ALL the mosdos to place the girls, nut why does Bais Faiga have any extra responsibilty.
contrary to what people think NOT EVERYONE BELONGS HERE IN LAKEWOOD!! These families and thier children will have more hatzlacha living in a place and attending schools that want them and accept them.
If I’m not mistaken, Bais Faiga ONLY took in 4 girls. That’s NOT “several”.
attn #4-
why can’t people live here? Who says they didn’t “belong” just because they came from that school?? Go back to yeshiva and stop using the internet. Maybe you’ll have more hatzlocha there.
#4 where are you from? Lakewood families belong in Lakewood. The entire focus of the Torah is Derech Eretz Kadma Latora, In other words, the way you act towards others is more important then Torah learning. You can be the biggest Masmid but if you treat your fellow Jew horribly, Hashem doesn’t look at all the Torah learnt. It’s amazing how people are interested in doing Kiruv Rechokim (who here doesn’t donate to Oorah’s chinese auction?) but an already frum family that doesn’t keep up to your standards of Yeshivishness is not accepted in the community??? If Rav Aaron Kotler was around today he would be very dissapointed. WE are ALL responsible for those precious Neshomos that are not accepted in school and might go off the Derech because of the rejection they feel today. Everyone should take a stand and try to make sure these girls have a place and feel as accepted as possible.
If the school system in Lakewood is not for you then Lakewood in general is not for you.
#7 how easy was it getting your kids in school? AND THESE KIDS ARE FROM A SCHOOL THAT CLOSED DOWN
#6 thank you for answering 4 me (#4)….i know couples who have moved and are so much happier elsewhere
I recently heard a drasha about how schools were 30 some odd years ago and the children from the frumer homes felt a responsibility to help and inspire the ones from a weaker background. Isn’t this what we want during Chevlei Moshiach?
Consider how many russian children made their parents closer to Frumkiet.
wear were thay till now if the school closed in feb
believe it or not some of these children have not been in schools since then. There actually was one morah that continued teaching the children in her HOME. Hatzlacha to them all.
Step back and think of what just happened, Yidden were not accepted by other yidden! (no big deal, they just moved out of town…).
Think of Europe 70 years ago. There will be a din v’cheshbon.
Where is all the organizations that help out children that are not frum? lets start at home.
#7, WELL said. Until we all truly care for each other, don’t bother mouthing words about Moshiach coming.
To #4
God judges YOU in the manner that you judge OTHERS. Keep that in mind the next time you have what to say regarding who in the Jewish religion doesn’t “belong.”
How sad it is that once again we are at the threshhold of a brand new school year and there are still many girls from bais yaakov without a place to go!You think they want to change schools, these innocent neshomos were happy with their school with their friends and now they have to be uprooted to a new place once they finnally get accepted to a school here in lakewood.These children, many of them are not little , they know and understand the meaning of REJECTION!!Their parents dont sleep at night, there is much stress in the homes i’m sure and the children may feel responsible for all the turmoil even when they are not at fault!!WAKE UP LAKEWOOD!!!’I’ts time to take responsibily, all of you reading this..get your spouses, friends, neighbors and even your own children and speak up.Go to the lakewood vaad, go to the local rabbanim and beseech them to help push these poor children into schools,.Make sure that all the mosdos DO NOT open on time until EVERYONE is placed!!!BIG DEAL whats a few extra days with YOUR children home.Think about all those months that many of the parents of bais yaakov students had THEIR children at home.B’zechus of this may you all merit to raise mishpachos of bnei torah and may you all never know tzaar and may we see the coming of moshiach bimherah viyamainu!!!!!
It is known that the Netziv’s approach to allowing people to study in schools – he even allowed Biallik to remain in Volozhin even after Baillik circulated a death notice about the Netziv himself and the Netziv’s own wife urged him to expell Biallik. Yeshivos/Bais Yaakov’s need to be viewed as tools to educate all Jewish children – not just ones we like.
this is a boosha vicherpa.
I as a local yungerman, with no power or clout feel greatly ashamed.
This is a tragedy on many, many levels.
how come all the boys go to school with no trouble they open schools all over lakewood for them???????
Note to comment #17.no-child-left-behind
You are certainly right I think that the vast majority of children still not in school yet is NOT because no school will accept them, but rather because they would like to get into one (or maybe two) particular schools.
I have lived and been in Chinuch outside of Lakewood. I used to watch the children coming out of school and their parents picking them up (there was no bus service there). The difference in yeshivishkeit between the parents and children was remarkable. The effect of the chilnuch on the children was very noticeable. What likely had a bigger effect however, was the feeling of acceptance for everyone. Without compromising standards, everyone felt comfortable. It’s amazing what warm feelings can accomplish for yiddishkeit.
There is definitely more to this story than meets the eye. A. Where were all the protests til now? B. Was there a specific reason why they weren’t accepted into the mainstream schools? C. Were any of these kids accepted to ANY schools , but the parents were unwilling to keep to the guidelines. I know the local schools and any parents who are really sincere in their growth in Yiddishkeit would NEVER be turned away. People, there’s always another side to the story and I’m sure the Vaad has been on this case for months. Let’s not jump on the bandwagon til we all know the facts .
Shame, these are nice frum families with nice frum children. The BY school was never able to shake off it’s image or name as of a day school. That’s why the girls and their families are being unfairly judged. Lets not forget that EVERYONE used to go to the day school.
these kind of things happening & people being Niftar at young ages or in strange ways R”L are all wake up call to klal yisroel & to the people of that town, that we only care about ourselves, but when it comes to helping/caring for another yid then i cannot help you.
with that being the case, each time tragedy strikes Hashem has the same question-for each person separately-now you have woken up, now you are crying at this baby’s levaya R”L but when we hear of someone else in tragic cases… we dont care. hashem then wants to know if we will wake up now to help others or do we need another tragic WAKE-UP call from hashem C”V to care for one another?
Yishmael was judged “b’asher hu shom” that was what Avraham Avinu told Sara. If that was good enough for our father Yitzchok, isn’t that good enough for our dear children?
To# 4
RASHA.
You have a lot of michla to ask for. I hope you can track these Famlies down, because ben adam lechavero you mustsk michila from them directly.
To #7,
Unfortunately, we are too judgemental. No matter the month, Elul or Shvat. We judge books by their cover. TLS is not a place give reason for someone’s actions. The is HKB”H job.
Let’s not allow Elul to pass without heeding this call. Let’s say Tehillim for these families. What the Mosad needed to do was unfortunate. I bet the administration is hurt and embarrassed. The families are the victims. The only thing we should do is daven to Hashem. Lashon Hora will only make it worse.
Without getting into wrong or right, I just want to make one comment to all those that bring up kiruv, oorah etc (and the same actually holds true regarding schools many years ago). There is one very big difference, whereas the families who are not frum and are willing to send to a kiruv school are trying to be frummer and willing to conform. Unfortunately, in many cases (of course not al) the more “modern” families who want to get in to more “yeshivish” schools don’t want to change and want the schools to accept them the way they are (and when they don’t , they start screaming derech eretz kadma latora etc).
Just a thought (from someone who’s not in the “parsha”, but likes to think objectively )
what i dont understand is why is lakewood taking such small things and making them into problems. there are too many tzaros for us to afford to have fighting with schools…come on chashuva admistrators……it is petty…take these girls into ur schools and lets look at the important stuff and work on those things
I am not very fond of many things going on in lakewood but this story the way it is being presented on TLS is so twisted and far from the truth.
lets get the facts straight.
1.BYE is a MODERN ORTHODOX school. while there are some families that can be called regular orthodox , for the most part the school is MODERN ORTHODOX as it belonged to cong sons of israel. it is not like your comparing the cheder to orchas chaim. not that one is more yeshivish one less yeshivish, modern orthodox is a different world. since when are yeshivisha people obligated to take in modern orthodox people into thier schools?
2. BYE was losing money because tuition was about $4000 . whoever heard of a modern orthodox day school charging $4000 ??????
every other modern orthodox school i know in the USA is at least $10000 , with some as high as $25000. i would say the average is about $15000 . ask people in the states of NY FL CA and IL . which have the most modern orthodox day schools.
3. these people are all working. it was a matter of money to save the school. so who is supposed to put up the money? the kollel guy or the guy that has been working since he was 21 or younger? it is absurd that the kollel community should be held financialy responsible for the working people ( and i am not in kollel)
4. the true story behind this whole thing is as follows. (Moderated- This is not the place to discuss private issues. Thank you for understanding).
so who is to blame ? the schools ?
The same old story applies-Don’t judge others until you have been in their shoes! BYE was a great school with GREAT girls. It is still sad to think of it as closed. My daughter was one of the fortunate ones to be placed. However, that is not the case for some of her classmates as of yet. NO, these families are NOT holding out for a specific school to take them, they would go ANYWHERE if only someone would take them. We had the best school around. They are not holding out for something better-trust me! Since all the others did get in somewhere, no one has followed up on those who weren’t as fortunate. Now that the new year is about to start, we need to have an awareness of what is going on.
Believe me, they would jump at the chance to go to ANY school at this point if only someone would let them in!! They ARE GOOD GIRLS!
“Arrogance, Arrogance,Arrogance, ” The Holy Rav Steinman in reply to 2 Rebbes who did not want to let a child into their Yeshiva.
#30, How do you know that these families do not want to go up in Madrega? Are you involved it their daily lives and do you know how they feel in their hearts? I know a lot of these families personally and I know plenty of people in Lakewood who do not “fit in the mold” and seem like they are doing things Lehachis. Maybe they are just feeling rejected by the “frummer” families in Lakewood? Maybe they have an attitude because that is what keeps them from breaking apart. Maybe if we were more accepting of the person for who they can become and not who they are right now or what their backround is we can prevent a lot of families turning into families that might never come back to being religious. Maybe they aren’t rejecting the Frumness of the schools but don’t understand the Chumros. Maybe all they need is someone to take an hour out of their days to explain why a certain thing is done. I highly doubt that any of these families don’t keep kosher or don’t keep Shabbos. I’m pretty sure (at least the ones I know personally) that they are Shomer Torah Umitzvos, they might not keep the Chumros or be as sensitive to the Chumros of the school. Try very hard to be Dan Lekaf Zechus. They aren’t out to corrupt your children!!! They just want a place for their girls to have a fighting chance in a Bais Yakov enviroment.
#30 yu are 100% correct!!!
I am closely involved with certain people in this town who tirelessly work to get every girl accepted into schools.
I know what goes on. I am part of long conversations that go deep into the night. Hours upon hours upon hours.
There is a very important point that people need to realize. Many of these parents, after working long and hard to get them into schools, are asked to accept certain dress modes so that their girls are accepted into schools in Lakewood. I’m not talking about chumras. I’m talking about BASICS, like not wearing the snood two inches back, and having the skirt cover the knees. Some of these parents refuse to listen to these simple BASICS. They say we need to accept them AS IS!. And then when they are not accepted, they start fuming.
I must tell you, it is a tremendous slap in the face to us, when we work for weeks trying to convince schools to take kids from a certain family, promising the schools that the parents will dress tznius BASICS, and then the parents will just stab us in the back and refuse to change, and then blame us for not accepting every family.
#36
Would the gedolim from previous generations not accepted these children under these circumstances? Don’t forget, if a parent doesn’t fit into the way the school wants them to look or dress, does that give them a right to deny the children a yiddish education? Even if you are correct that the parents are lehachis, and have no interest in conforming at all, what right does a school have to deny an child from going to school?
Sorry to break the news to you, Lakewood is a town with all TYPES of people that are trying to live a nice Jewish life.
if only you knew how many Roshei Yeshivos Rabbonim Akonim and Erliche Balai Batim who came from non religious or semi religious or very modern homes who started off their elementry or high school years in public school or very modern Jewih schools or who were taken off the streets by yeshivos such as Telshe Mir Chaim Berlin Torah Vodath etc etc these people and their children and grandchildren number in the thousands and tens of thousands hundreds if not thousands in lakewood alone
#30 hit it right on the head this is the truth in most cases.When i walk around lakewood and i see woman not keeping basic halachas like covering you hair fully or not covering their knees at all i wonder which schools they send their kids to i guess the answer is some dont get into schools and they shouldnt now dont get me wrong im not saying all people that dont get into school dress this way just there are exceptions.I happen to know a close relative of mine that tried to get into a school and they didnt get in but after begging and signing a shtar that she will change certain modes of her dress they took her in.as a side note the administrator told her that most people promise they will change and after they get in they dont and he was burnt numerous times.
Who are you to call this closed school “modern orthodox”?
Did you know the parent body that went there?
Did you know the length of the average school uniform was far below that of other “frum” yeshivish girls schools around here. Why is it the handbook for these other schools say to please make sure before school starts that uniforms are long enough to cover knees while sitting.
They were NOT a “modern orthodox” day school. They were a BAIS YAAKOV and held that name proudly. It makes my blood boil when ignorant people like you write in on topics you obviously don’t know about.
Maybe they charged so “little” for tuition because they were actually a B.Y. just like what you send to, only more accepting! And BTW, tuition was actually $4800, but what family (even us working folks) can afford that plus other tuitions!
Bais Yaakov had NOTHING to do with Cong. Sons of Israel! In fact that was part of the reason it closed!
Just a point: I went to BY schools in Lakewood and graduated around 15 years ago. I had girls in my class whose mother’s didn’t cover their hair. There was always a mutual respect. Growing up in Lakewood is inspiring on many levels. Having girls in my class whose father’s learned all day, and girl’s whose families were coming closer to yiddeshkeit, I can say with certainty that I learned a tremendous amount for each one of them. The most of which was achdus and caring for another.
the girls should be split up evenly between ALL the elementary schools in lakewood!
try being the parent of a beautiful neshama who knowing she’s not accepted asking her mother “what’s wrong with me?” shame!
Is it ACCEPT or EXCEPT
lets focus on the former
Why are the schools so afraid of these young girls? Are they the satan in dresses?
WHO IN THE WORLD DO U THINK U ARE???
everyone has the right to live everywhere! You have a problem with that ??? You think ur epes a besere mentch? Do you own lakewood? But yup, there’s tons of big shots like you here!
By the way: Lakewood is not what it used to be anymore! Face it! You don’t like it than YOU MOVE SOMEWHERE ELSE!
There are a few kids that stayed home THE ENTIRE PAST YEAR!!!!! And yes they are from regular heimishe families!!! Why don’t we hear such things in BP Flatbush Williamsburg or Monsey??? Y only in lakewood? WHOEVER reads this knows that’s crazy to get YOUR child into school!
my kids are a lakewood kid and did not get in to schoole yet and i am hering that kid are geting in from out of town like n.y. is that right or is that not. I think my kids should get in furst not them.
I am not familiar with the specifics int his case, nor do I personally know anyone involved. However, the intolerance of fellow yidden displayed here is sickening. No, the parents might not dress to your standards, even to halachic standards. How dare you claim that as a reason to deny a child a frum Jewish education! You are all so high and mighty, you focus on one halachah when you yourself know how deficient you are in other areas of halacha. People in glass houses should not throw stones. These children are not stupid, and they understand what’s going on. Your heilege kannois will be held against you l’achar me’ah v’esrim when one, just one of these kids ends up off the derech because of your rejection. Shame on you.
Everyone sighs and complains about us teens at risk. There are all types of “hellpful” people out there that want to solve “our” problem. Let me tel you it’s stuff like this (especially #4) that are causing the problem to begin with. Maybe you don’t belong in lakewood!
“ol eilah oni bochei” how can we do this to our children? how we can do this to our fellow jew? how can we do this to Hashem?
These profiled children are not the recipe for going off the derech! Look around! There are kids from every type of family that are off the derech. These include families in chinuch, rabbanus, roshei yeshivos, kollel, heimish, baale battish etc. The problem children in a school who are affecting other kids are the kids with rotten middos. Bullies, mechutsafim, and self centered children are the children that ruin the atmosphere in a class and cause fighting and rebelliousness. May Hashem have pity on our children.
Who cares what the parents do, as long as the kids do as expected.
It’s a bigger zechus to gain these neshamos. And they may be mashpiah on their families.
Cheshbonos never work. Doing the right thing always work.
I think that all these problems come from bitul Torah.We had a fw weeks of vacation and boom, problems.
My advice would to cancel bein hazmanim and focus more of our free time in learning.You will see, that all your problems, parnossa, shalom bayis, kids off the derech will go away.
to the parents of these children, i have a suggestion:
go to Shalom Torah Centers. Tell them you know a kid who would like a jewish education. They are always happy to accept a child who wants to learn. The difference in attitude is mind boggling.