YAFFED INC
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Mission Statement
YAFFED is an advocacy group committed to improving educational curricula within ultra-Orthodox schools. Our work involves raising awareness about the importance of general studies education, and encouraging the leadership of the ultra-Orthodox world to act responsibly in preparing their youth for economic sufficiency and for broad access to the resources of the modern world. We encourage compliance with relevant state guidelines for education while maintaining respect for the primacy of Judaic studies and the unique cultural and religious values of the ultra-Orthodox community. Our mission is to ensure that all students receive the critical tools and skill-sets needed for long-term personal growth and self-sufficient futures.
About This Cause
Our Mission YAFFED is an advocacy group committed to improving educational curricula within ultra-Orthodox schools. Our work involves raising awareness about the importance of general studies education, and encouraging the leadership of the ultra-Orthodox world to act responsibly in preparing their youth for economic sufficiency and for broad access to the resources of the modern world. We encourage compliance with relevant state guidelines for education while maintaining respect for the primacy of Judaic studies and the unique cultural and religious values of the ultra-Orthodox community. Our mission is to ensure that all students receive the critical tools and skill-sets needed for long-term personal growth and self-sufficient futures. The Issue Presently, many Chasidic Yeshivas and some other ultra Orthodox Yeshivas focus on Judaic studies almost to the exclusion of general studies such as science, literature and history. Students attending these Yeshivas do not receive a “substantially equivalent” education in comparison to public school students as mandated by New York State law, and though many of these students are extremely intelligent, they lack the knowledge base and skill sets that would give them a competitive edge in the workplace. While students graduate from these institutions well-versed in Talmud, Chassidic philosophy, and Jewish law, and while it is true that some students can build lives based upon these teachings as they pursue Rabbinic careers, many students are limited by the absence of a general education. Additionally, a well rounded education fosters intellectual curiosity and the promotion of civil liberties. It also lends itself to the awareness of and to greater tolerance and respect for other cultures, all of which tend to be absent in these insular Chasidic communities where students reside and are never exposed to other cultures through contact or through study. Under other circumstances, this matter would be easily remedied. However, the department of education has neglected to enforce proper education in these religious and private educational institutions as meticulously as they do in public schools. From these circumstances, YAFFED was born with its mission to help these communities improve their system of education and bring about lasting reform. Who We Are YAFFED was founded by individuals raised within the ultra-Orthodox communities of New York City, and is committed to improving general studies education alongside traditional curricula of Judaic studies. Due to our own upbringing, we are familiar with--and have been affected by--the severe deficiency of the education systems in the ultra-Orthodox world, particularly within Chasidic boys' schools. From elementary school through high school, we were provided with a rigorous curriculum in Judaic studies, including Tanach, Mishna, Gemara, Halacha, mussar, and chasidus. Our general studies education, however, was limited to non-existent. We, therefore, have come together to effect change, to work in concert with community leaders and public officials in order to create an improved and more diverse curriculum in our schools. Our goal is to help create curricula that are rich in the subjects mandated by civil laws while maintaining respect for the primacy of Judaic studies and the unique religious and cultural values within the ultra-Orthodox communities. Our mission is to ensure that students receive the academic skills they need in order to pursue lives of economic self-sufficiency with a broad range of opportunities for personal choice and individual fulfillment.