Antwerp – Sons of Former Neturei Karta Member Enrolled in All-Girls Yeshiva in Belgium (video)

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    Rabbi Moshe Aryeh Friedman arriving at school with his children on Jan. 7 2013. Photo: Joods ActueelAntwerp – The sons of former Neturei Karta member Rabbi Moshe Aryeh Friedman were registered today at the all-girls school Benoth Jerusalem in Antwerp.

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    As previously reported on VIN, Friedman sued the school for denying admission to his sons, ages 8 and 11, citing a recent decision from the Commission on Students’ Rights which held that a child cannot be denied admission to a school on the basis of their gender. A Belgian judge ruled that Benoth Jerusalem must admit the boys or face a $2,600 penalty per child for each day the boys are not permitted to attend.

    According to a news report in the Belgian Jewish weekly Joods Actueel (http://bit.ly/ZgEUKH), Friedman arrived with his wife and two sons by taxi at the school this morning to register his children. The family was accompanied by a police escort and a court bailiff to ensure the school complied with the judge’s ruling. Benoth Jerusalem also had a bailiff present to protect its interests.

    Following registration, Friedman told the press that his children were very happy to finally be able to attend school, and that the schoolgirls were excited to have boys in their classes. Mrs. Friedman, who has previously stayed out of the controversy, said, “Our children are 100% Jewish and must therefore attend a Jewish school. That is our right.”

    Friedman has said he sees himself as a role model for co-ed instruction in the religious schools, and that by registering his sons at an all-girls yeshiva, he has finally put an end to discrimination and segregation between boys and girls in Hasidic Jewish schools.

    Aron Berger, whose daughter attends Benoth Jerusalem, said by forcing his boys to attend a girl’s institution, Friedman’s actions are akin to child abuse. Berger was especially angry that Friedman has attempted to undermine hundreds of years of tradition which states that boys and girls be educated separately.

    A siruv was issued in New York last week warning Orthodox Jews around the world to avoid interacting with Friedman in any way. It has allegedly been posted in 35 synagogues in Antwerp.

    Friedman, meanwhile, has now sued an all-boys yeshiva in Antwerp for denying admission to his daughters. The court case has been postponed until January 17.


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    108 Comments
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    Zachh
    Zachh
    11 years ago

    Love how strict the NK is when it comes to the laws of reestablishing the state of Israel, but when it comes to matters of negiah, etc, it’s all cool.

    shredready
    shredready
    11 years ago

    in feel bad for the kids

    FrumJew
    FrumJew
    11 years ago

    As long as the boys follow the dress code…

    shredready
    shredready
    11 years ago

    the real blame is the yeshivas who would not allow his children into the boys school and for not allowing his girls in beis yakov

    zooog
    zooog
    11 years ago

    The wife looks like she is proud of her husband

    commonsense99
    commonsense99
    11 years ago

    nebech poor kids, father is lo anlou a pyc job

    VeyIzMir
    VeyIzMir
    11 years ago

    DISGUSTING!!

    How can this despicable poor excuse for a Jew, be allowed such terrible actions! He is undermining Judiasim as a whole!

    This comes to show you that any belief that is not based upon the truth, will in the end, will show it’s true colors.

    NETUREI KARTA IS FALSE!! And this come to prove what comes out of this!!

    To those who speak/understand Flemmish (as I do) LISTEN TO THE GARBAGE come out of his mouth!!!!

    He believes in Co-Ed of schools, the interaction between Jewish boys and girls, and is truly happy he could spearhead such a movement.

    May Hashem punish this evil man in front of our eyes, and may this happen real soon for all of us to see.

    “V’Chal Ha’am Yishmu Viyarhu V’Lo Yazidin Od”

    11 years ago

    The children need to be placed in the care of child protective services. The act of enrolling them in a girls school will be detrimental to their mental health. We, the Jewish community, will pay for this abusive act when these children grow up.

    BigMasmid
    BigMasmid
    11 years ago

    As it has bees said “sick and getting sicker”

    bracha18
    bracha18
    11 years ago

    I’m sick to my stomach!! This is child abuse and this has NOTHING to do with religion!!
    This is parents’ using innocent helpless victim children as chess pieces in a chess game.. they are using their boys for their own selfish desires..
    This is sooooo sad on soooo many levels regarding the children’s emotions…
    These kids are probably being emotionally abused anyway- aside for this. Because if parents can do this to their children- then they have no sense of boundaries and respect for children’s rights.
    Every child has a birthright to be part of normal society and not turned into circus clowns…

    Since they did not grow up with the idea of co-ed- as I have also not (and I NEVER felt deprived) This is not a normal thing for them. It’s like putting one african american student into an all white school….
    I am so saddened for these innocent children. Someone MUST stand up to protect their rights.

    When I was young, my parents also forced my siblings and I to do some crazy antic- we couldn’t refuse…we could NOT refuse. or else we would suffer tremendous abuse… until today- I still feel helpless, shameful and regretful for that…. but I know I am not to blame.

    Materetsky
    Materetsky
    11 years ago

    wow WEIRD

    monseygal
    monseygal
    11 years ago

    sad day for us

    bracha18
    bracha18
    11 years ago

    The wife is being abused- and so are the children. I feel like flying there and smacking the father.
    As a child from and emotionally abusive home- my blood is boiling. where is child services???? Im in tears literally!!!

    i have been through this myself as a child- different circumstances… my heart goes out to those children and (I think the wife is also a victim of domestic violence- but I am enraged at her too!! no matter how scared she may be to leave him- when the abuse rolls over to the children- it is time to go… I can say this because- I had a terribly abusive childhood and was married to an abusive person years ago.. It’s hard to leave… but what shouldn’t a parent do very their child?)

    where is the community??? the government?? child services????

    Those boys need you!!! They can NOT defend themselves…

    thats sadistic smile on the dads face makes me want to vomit.

    This is NOT about religion, or anti segregation to him- this is about him exercising his control and power over whom ever he can and sadly the children will and are suffering the most.

    A1826
    A1826
    11 years ago

    Now he is fighting for his daughters to get in a boys’ school? Why couldn’t he put everyone where they belong? If they didn’t accept him, then he should sue the schools for that.

    stamm
    stamm
    11 years ago

    oy oy is right. how come the authorities don’t see this as terrible abuse. the only thing i can console myself a drop is most probably these parents are not Jewish, although they think they are. I still feel horrible for these innocent children . i hope they pay back only their parents and no one else.

    puppydogs
    puppydogs
    11 years ago

    can’t wait for the shabbos play dates

    puppydogs
    puppydogs
    11 years ago

    Look on the bright side at least he will know Navei. How many boy’s know anything about Navei??

    11 years ago

    Why is this person dignified with the title of “Rabbi?” He is no one’s Rov or teacher. If he once received Smicha, it should be rescinded.

    Somebody
    Somebody
    11 years ago

    I really respect this rabbi here he moves to a place where the schools will not accept yiddisha kids In to school so he does something drastic yasher koach to him and shame on any city that people have resort to drastic measures to teach their kids tohara this city is like sodom nebech this city is a real chillul hashem not the father

    anonymous23
    anonymous23
    11 years ago

    What happend to his vienna gig?

    ChareidiMan
    ChareidiMan
    11 years ago

    The big picrure here is that all over the world Jewish Rabbis and Jewish law is being destroyed by the courts and they have the last word.

    Wonder why?

    ShatzMatz
    ShatzMatz
    11 years ago

    Don’t loose sight of the ball. this all could have been avoided if the boys school would have acepted the boys in the first place. The schools knew that they were vulnerable to this when they decided to register their chool as a legal “public school” in Belgium in order to receive almost 100% government funding. When you are in a vulnerable position you do not incite people to exploit your vulnerability. Now that the cat is out of the bag I am afraid its too late. It is only a matter of time before a muslim parent tries to register their child in the school.

    Bad decisions by silly people.

    lazerx
    lazerx
    11 years ago

    I am soo sad for their sad faced sons. What a terrible thing to do to a child who knows nothing of NK politics nor wants anything other to be like all other frum kids: to play with other boys.
    Sad.

    OPTIMIST
    OPTIMIST
    11 years ago

    Interesting separation of sexes he says is from 100 years ago…. What about his hat and dress code? Isn’t that million years old????

    mendygolem
    mendygolem
    11 years ago

    well i would notrespect the “rabbi” i wouldnt call him that

    but besides that we all need to learn that when a community punishes children for the sins (including the sin of being poor)of their parents the children get hurt . whether it is in Antwerp or in williamsburg or monroe or crown heights boropark flatbush etc etc
    these are jewish children and have a right to a jewish education!! so there is enough blame to go around
    this man reacted to their decision and he fought back and won. i guess if you get screwed it is “tomus nafshi im plishtim”

    but the schools should enact a dress code i am sure they have one and require the children to wear skirts etc etc and see if the parents react

    for example in the boys school pants and short hair etc etc

    but for this person who knows what he will froce his children to do

    may we all learn to live together and get along and then we will be zochech to the ulitamate redemption with moshiach

    LouKay
    LouKay
    11 years ago

    This just shows what happens when you TOO frim .

    Case in Point: The NK where he started consider themselves Frumer then the frumest– From their views on the Medina to what they wear etc…. They know better then everyone.

    Now he is SOOO holy that co-ed education – a strict no-no by most “normal” Frum Yidden — is ok by him. He knows better the everyone.

    This is becoming an truly upside down world. We really need Mosiach to come!

    bubii
    bubii
    11 years ago

    As i always say the hassidim are their own worst enemy.

    Balaboos
    Balaboos
    11 years ago

    Back in the day, in “der alte heim”, do you know what was done to a person like him? Ask your bubbies and zaidies….He’s lucky he’s living in these times….vehamayvin yovin.

    commonsense99
    commonsense99
    11 years ago

    who shows in in a year and half for his bar mitzva, does he get the to chip in for the class bas mitzvah gifts

    enlightened-yid
    enlightened-yid
    11 years ago

    This what happens when zealotry is pushed to the max by communities. It’s like Jurassic Park experiment gone wrong and now the rabbis have no control over what they created with their crazy ideology. Individual crazies will splinter off from flock crazies and create their own game. But I like how the guy is trolling his own community for trying to mess with him by punishing his kids, it’s funny to a degree. In Europe, it is not child abuse to send your kids to be educated in none same gender classrooms. Do they have Solomon Schechter schools in Belgium that can help out?

    bigduvid
    bigduvid
    11 years ago

    He was a member of the Neturei Karta. I do not see him being involved. Forget that he dresses in the Chasidishe levush. Do not judge the book by ther cover, but rather by his actions. He is not a Torah observant Jew. He does what he can to be in the lime light.

    He is a sicko..

    Beis din can not control him as he does not listen. Maybe he join Rabbi Avi Weiss’s Yeshiva a lecturer and his to enroll in the Rabbah program.

    He stated it that he has a new agenda, he want to be the trensetter for gender seperation in religious scools.

    Why does he not open his own school or sen the kids i a Mizrachi type school that has a mixed setting.

    CSLMoish
    CSLMoish
    11 years ago

    School should have went for the fine and then hired top lawyers in belgium and sued the gov for law fees and for fine fees because this is entirely outrageous. They should have closed down their school before allowing their establishment to be used in this way!!

    myownopinion
    myownopinion
    11 years ago

    Coming to a US school near you. Some parent will do the same after being rejected by all schools leaving them no choice to file a suit for profiling.

    Anon99
    Anon99
    11 years ago

    What happened to appealing? The earlier story said the girl’s school could appeal the decision.

    Aryeh
    Aryeh
    11 years ago

    Studies show that segregated classes perform far better than coed.

    stamm
    stamm
    11 years ago

    I am sure he was not accepted in the boys school for good reasons. perhaps they know he is a moiser and don’t want to have anything to do with him. who knows what he has done in the past . we never get the whole story from little newstories like this.

    Berel13
    Berel13
    11 years ago

    His views on zionism are just as correct

    PashutehYid
    PashutehYid
    11 years ago

    Most comments very well stated. Little to add. One point. The main difference today between extremist Chareidim and Modern is that extremist Chareidim view the Torah as designed to get into people’s faces, because they are nobodies and the RBSH is angry with them; while the modern view the Torah as making life enjoyable with a purpose, and enhancing interpersonal relationships.

    This is the logical next step of extremists. I can be as crazy as I want, because I am frummer than you and G-d hates you. When we lose the message of vahavta lreyacha komocha, zeh klal gadol batorah, and stop being meurav im habriyos, there are no limits. Islam is based on this anything goes for G-d primciple, as are the nuts from Westboro Baptist Church.

    But traditional Torah Judaism is based on Avraham hanging up the phone on G-d, to serve a meal to 3 idol worshippers. He understood that when we put people before G-d, it gives nachas ruach to G-d.

    basmelech
    basmelech
    11 years ago

    Why doesn’t he send his boys to the local public school? He’s not frum obviously so why should they go to a frum school? Besides the problem of having boys and girls together, in Limudei Kodesh they don’t even learn the same things. He is scarring his children for life. He’s a real nut job. His wife should leave him and take the kids with her, unless she is also not normal.

    Not_just_that___
    Not_just_that___
    11 years ago

    Let the school merely require that the kids wear the school uniform. I assume he would never let his boys wear skirts.

    The fact that he violates halachic requirements should be enough to make his family rejected by the school on religious grounds. There’s a clear entanglement here. We can’t discriminate based on gender, but they can’t force religion on us.

    A legal maneuver might be to merge the cheder and bais yaakov administrations and admissions. We admit boys and girls to the combined institution, we just have separate classes for them.

    TLERMA
    TLERMA
    11 years ago

    Since when do the Jewish people deny a Torah education to Kinder? The travesty here is not the Father’s politics or mishegas, but rather that these children are suffering for his shenanagins….. Both Yeshivot in town that denied his children and education are violating Torah by doing so…..

    mutti
    mutti
    11 years ago

    well at least this might help solve the shidduch crisis.

    ALLAN
    ALLAN
    11 years ago

    Will someone please explain why he is refered to a former NK member…did he drop out or was he forced out?
    I am in agreement with those who say that the children should not be punished for the sins of their father. I am a secular person but respect the values and traditions of Hasidic and Orthodox Yeshivas where the boys are with boys and the girls with girls. These are still Jewish children and probably suffer enough because of the insanity of their fathers views, why make them suffer any more.

    Butterfly
    Butterfly
    11 years ago

    I feel sorry for these confused boys!! They will be learning cooking and sewing. A real big help to their mothers. But 2 confused kids!!

    MIESQ
    MIESQ
    11 years ago

    Clearly this fellow and apparently his wife as well have a need for attention and contraversy. The source for seperation between men and women concearns mixing at a funeral Chazal explain in Succa that if the Yetzer is present during burial so more so in other circumstances. It is time for every honest Jew to pray for worthy leadership and an end to pesuo faux Rabbis and Rabbanim

    DanielBarbaz
    DanielBarbaz
    11 years ago

    I may be wrong…..and correct me if I am, but it appears that this “rabbi” is also familiar with “finger gestures.” Check out his right hand!

    bahby
    bahby
    11 years ago

    Even the dung heap that is Neturei Karta has expelled this piece of drek.

    ShatzMatz
    ShatzMatz
    11 years ago

    To all those who are commenting erroneously, he could not sue the boys school to accept his boys, since the boys school is not a legal “public school”, since they don’t teach the required secular subjects. The girl’s school, on the other hand, is considered a public school. It is government funded and Tuition is basically free. The schools called his bluff and he won.

    Now that he has established a precedent regarding gender discrimination in schools he plans to take the next step and force the boys school to accept his girls. Although his case is not as clear cut, he might still be able to pull it off, since the boy’s school also benefit from some government assistance.

    I would advise the schools to come to some sort of settlement with him quickly. I can assure you that if he is not given any attention it will not be long before he moves out of Belgium. He never stays in one spot for long. He gets himself into legal trouble in no time. His only place left to go is Iran.

    TexasJew
    TexasJew
    11 years ago

    Have a dress code in the school where all students must wear skirts. That should help solve the problem.

    Lodzker
    Lodzker
    11 years ago

    I am affiliated with Neturei Karta. I will tell you that he was never Neturei Karta. He came to Iran on his own accord on his own program. Rabbi Yisroel Dovid Weiss and R’ Hirsch and Rabbi Beck do not get along with nor like Aryeh friedman. He was never afiliated with us. Rather he always had his own crazy thing going on for himself and used the NK name to suit himself.