New York – In a historic move, a budget bill containing a tuition assistance package which would aid students in rabbinical colleges passed the New York State Assembly this afternoon by a vote of 110-34. The bill which is expected to pass the New York State Senate later today, will help thousands of rabbinical students statewide by making them eligible for the same financial aid that is available at any other college statewide.
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Assemblyman Dov Hikind, who spent ten years trying to get the Tuition Assistance Program known as TAP to include rabbinical students, recalls that people told him there was no way this bill would ever pass. But Hikind persevered, believing firmly that a student studying history, philosophy or classics in Brooklyn College or any other college was no different than someone in rabbinical college studying similar types of material.
Hikind, who is known to have a close relationship with Governor David Paterson, credited the governor for including the $18 million tuition subsidy in the budget. Hikind also singled out Assembly speaker Sheldon Silver, Sheya Ostreicher and Shmuel Lefkowitz of Agudath Israel, and New York State Senator John Sampson for their tireless efforts on behalf of this bill.
In an interview from Albany with VIN News, Hikind said that “It is a miracle, that TAP has finally passed, this year of all years when New York State is facing a nine billion dollar deficit and there are so many cuts and so many things taken out of the budget. This could not have happened without Hashem’s help and it is one of the things I am most proud to have had the z’chus to be involved in all these years. I am sitting outside the assembly right now, thinking I must be dreaming.”
FILE video below showing A delegation of some 20 prominent yeshiva representatives and advocates meeting with Gov. David Paterson May 11, 2010 in Albany.
The best news for a day like today.
Mazel Tov to the great askunim from Agudah for delivering and working hard for our community.
Thank You Assemblyman Dov Hikind for trying and working hard for the Jewish community in NYC and world wide.
BRAVO DOV BRAVO
SO…. What does that mean in practical terms?
$18 Million is a good sign for Jews 18 = CHAI
all politisions should be ashamed (included d.g.) for sucha brave people like dov hikind and shea ostreicher woh doesnt sleep nights and days just to help out our orginizations,moisdos,and INDIVIDELS,may you be zoicha to all brochos
Yet another welfare program for kollel guys. Good job guys, nothing like perpetuating welfare for all.
It’s about time. Rabbinical College is also college.
Good. I have 1 son left. BTW, does this also apply to seminaries?
Some goy will definitely try to test this in court as separation of church and state. However this particular type of assistance should pass since rabbinical students have been receiving Pell grants for years and TAP is the same type of financial aid.
Thank you dov for fighting and delivering for us at all times….. We have much hakaros hatov…
We also must to thank the big monroe yeshiva mr yakov sofer mr akiva klein & mr berl mittelman for they hard work, they arranged a dinner in dec & spend almost a half a million $$ to get the bill passed. thanks again
if you accept TAPS in Yeshiva you may lse it when you want to go to college to earn …. a living
Kudos to R’ Dov for seeing this to fruition.
Soon we will be able to celebrate our newest government sponsored Torah scholars!
With all the millions that are supposedly delivered for yeshiva, why is my tuition so high? Teachers are paid almost nothing and rebbeim don’t make much either. So where is all this money going?
I know for a fact that Dov is working on this for a very long time and for that we owe Dov!!!
Hes a true leader in the fullest sense of the word and we as a community should be grateful for dov’s leadership!!
There is of couse a great difference between a student studying history or philosophy or any of the liberal arts at Brooklyn College from someone studying at a Rabbinical College. Are you aware of any college which limits its students (or teaching staff) to male members of a particular faith or would expect its students to confirm to strict standards of private and personal behavior like a yeshiva or kollel does? No college will refuse entrance to women, non-Jews or ‘freethinkers’ so if Yeshivas pretend to be colleges they must do the same.
This is all nice and hooray for all the askanim who worked on it, but as #12 said, when someone who is finished yeshivah and decides to go to college, it used to be only the pell grant was empty, now with TAP being all tapped out to yeshivah, get ready to pony up some of ur own cash , so yeshivos that survived up to this point without will just raise the asking price and take all ur TAP as well….. Just saying
First let’s thank all who deserve credit – but just want all to remember that the night David Greenfeild won everone was saying that payback will be no TAP well I guess its not so…
david greenfield deserves none of the credit!!!!!!!!! What chutzpah! David Greenfield would have been the happiest person if TAP did not happen–anything to deprive Dov of a victory. In fact he tried to hurt TAP–everyone who knows, knows, what i am refering to. so please david greenfiled supporters let dov get the credit where credit is due and when david greenfield stops issueing press releases we will give you the credit as well.
Can somone explain what this program is all about?
Happens to be david greenfeld was against this bill because his connections with lopez who was very against this bill
Ask greenfeld himself
Unfortunately the tuition will go up and it will end up as section 8 rent. government favors. we will better off stopping all of these.
This is sure a great zechus for the state of n.y. In Israel they just stop to give money for kolel yungerleit, we can now tell them to restore it because in AMERICA they do so.
So now schar limud can go up!!!
Our public schools are losing millions in state aid and the kids have to lose sports, art, music and college courses, yet there is all this gelt for (male only) Rabbis to study Torah? It seems to me it is discriminating against women.
Dov you are a true hero!!! May hashem continue to give you the energy needed to fight for us!!!