Israel – In response to claims by an ultra-Orthodox youth movement that the Education Ministry is “placing it beyond the pale and with a yellow patch” for not inviting it to a Holocaust conference of youth movements, a ministry official replied that the movement did not meet the criteria for funding, and he would not give into pressure “even if you call us kapos in your next letter.”
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The chairman of the movement, Pirchei Hadegel, Naftali Zvi Porush, wrote that what he called the ministry’s ban on his movement was part of a trend of “Judenrein [a Nazi term for freeing an area of Jewish presence] that still prevails in the State of Israel.” Porush is the brother of deputy education minister Meir Porush, a member of the ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism faction.
In the ministry’s reply to Porush, administration head Yossi Levy accused him of improperly seeking government funding. Education Minister Gideon Sa’ar wrote to Porush that: “As long as I am education minister, pressures and attacks on public servants will not change decisions made by egalitarian, professional and germane criteria,” adding that he backed Levy’s decision completely. Porush on Tuesday declined to respond.
The storm started about three weeks ago, when Porush wrote a lengthy letter to the chairman of the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial, Avner Shalev, in which he complained that his movement had not been included in a conference on the Holocaust for representatives of the various youth movements.
“We are ashamed that the trend of Judenrein still exists in the State of Israel, when a lively and active movement is boycotted by wheeler-dealers,” Porush wrote, in an apparent reference to the administration responsible for funding youth movements in the Education Ministry. Porush further wrote: “Only the youth who represent the continuation of authentic Jewish youth, which was hugely decimated during the Holocaust, was not seen at the conference.”
According to various sources, Pirchei Hadegel has for several years failed to meet the Education Ministry criteria for funding as a youth movement. The government gives NIS 60 million to 16 different youth groups, divided according to various elements such as “education in the spirit of the Declaration of Independence,” “existence of democratic institutions,” activities within the community and organizational elements such as branches throughout the country.
Levy, the head of the administration that deals with youth movements in the Education Ministry, wrote Porush following the letter to Shalev: “To [associate] public officials, who serve the state and the youth, who have taken part in the defensive wars of the country, with Judenrein is monstrous.”
Levy also wrote that Porush had never requested to participate in the conference at Yad Vashem, and therefore no one had prohibited his movement’s participation.
“The body you direct is very interested in being supported by the government, but unfortunately it does not meet the standards for support, despite repeated examinations, above and beyond what is usual for other bodies who approach us. These pressures, together with other improper pressures you are trying to exert on us in recent years, will not deter us, not even if you call us kapos in your next letter.”
I do not understand why a charedi youth group wants to join an event that has only non Jews attending since it claims that without the charedim the event would be Judenrein.
Secondly Mr Levy is wrong in saying that the charedi group would call him a kapo in the next letter. The kapos were Jews It is obvious from the use of the word Jundrein that the charedi gtoup does not consider him Jewsih.
if the criteria for State Funding is indeed “education in the spirit of the Declaration of Independence,” then i cannot see how a Chareidi youth organisation would ever wanted to be associated with this.
Porush said:
“Only the youth who represent the continuation of authentic Jewish youth, which was hugely decimated during the Holocaust”
This is a very provocative statement and is very politically incorrect. I am left with the feeling that he really did not want a reasonable outcome to the conversation and he got what he wanted which is a fight.
His father was a diplomat and he should have learned that skill from him.
Which groups participated? Is it true that no other frum group was there? So, mimoh nafshoch–if no other frum groups were there, maybe there was a reason on their part for not wanting to attend; and if there were others, it’s not anti-charedi discrimination.
I think it’s considered polite to wait until the third or fourth round of an argument before implying that your opponent is a nazi. Also (and this may be a bit too subtle for Porush and his ilk), many scholars who study the Holocaust believe that there’s a real distinction between (on the one hand) not sending funding to a particular Jewish group and (on the other hand) attempting to wipe out all Jews.