Wednesday, May 2, 2018

Court to Decide Today on 10 Million Grant to Lakewood Yeshiva

Update: Supreme court Overturns the Appelatte court decision but sends the case back to the lower courts.
The NJ Supreme court is expected to rule today on the allocation of grants to religious institutions reports the APP. Back in May 2016 the Christie administration gave  1.1 billion grant to 46 colleges and institutions of higher learning. among them was a $10 million grant to Lakewood yeshiva BMG. The ACLU filed a lawsuit claiming the yeshiva is a religious institution with students going to clergy positions an no secular studies thus the grants would be using tax payer funds to support religious groups. The ACLU said the money violated anti-discrimination laws, since BMG's student body is exclusively white Jewish males.
 In an interview with Hamodia Bmg's Vice president responded:
 that most of the 6,800 students at the yeshivah go into non-clergy professions “BMG’s positive economic impact is widely recognized, with our graduates entering diverse fields, including business, education, finance, law, technology, social work, and more,”BMG graduates have a solid record in establishing and expanding businesses that create jobs and contribute to
New Jersey’s economy.” “Excluding these students and the institutions which serve them from funding solely on the basis of religion — ‎even though they meet all grant criteria — is its own form of discrimination,” he said. “This doesn’t just hurt Jewish students, it hurts us all.”

 Last year an appellate court ruled the grants were unconstitutional. It was appealed. The high court is expected  to rule on it this morning.


8 comments:

  1. “BMG’s positive economic impact is widely recognized, with our graduates entering diverse fields, including business, education, finance, law, technology, social work, and more,”BMG graduates have a solid record in establishing and expanding businesses that create jobs and contribute to New Jersey’s economy.”
    That’s IN SPITE of going to BMG, not as A RESULT of going to BMG.
    And he doesn’t address their main issue of BMG having a discriminatory selection process of who gets to go there.

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    1. Harvard and Yale,also have a discriminatory selection process so what is your point ?

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    2. Really....? Harvard and Yale don’t except women? Or non-Jews? I didn’t know that.

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    3. It's accept not except . Bmg accepts non Jews.If tgey eantvto come . They have to if tgey get Pell grants

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  2. https://www.judiciary.state.nj.us/attorneys/assets/opinions/supreme/a_22_16.pdf?cacheID=Ib7MhuG

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  3. Harold HerskowitzMay 2, 2018 at 9:10 AM

    The question is would Rav Aaron or Rav Shneur have ever risked causing a chilul hashem by playing with the laws of separation of church and state and causing our neighbors to hate us. Would they pretend to be something they are not even if the money goes directly to those learning Torah? What amount of money makes even the risk of causing a chilul hashem ok? We get so much hatred for using taxpayer funds for things we are legally entitled to such as special education and busing. How can we validate such a public demand for taxpayer money when there is a glaring issue of church and state? What would happen if we got the money and someone were to investigate the "library" that the funds were used for? What happens when a woman decides to enroll? This, just like Cedarbridge, is another example of certain people that feel that they deserve whatever they want, even at the expense of others that may not subscribe to their way of life, thereby causing a chilul hashem that cannot be rectified by hiring a PR firm or kissing up to a gullible APP reporter.
    And this attitude is typical in how our Township is run. Our "other Mayor " has promoted this idea that they can do as they please as long as they pretend to look like they are just like everyone else. I once heard him speak to a group of seniors and say that we also eat Sushi.
    And that makes all the difference.

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    1. “I once heard him speak to a group of seniors and say that we also eat Sushi.”
      Lol, that’s priceless.

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    2. would have been better off saying we both eat chicken, or hot dogs. Sushi is a relatively new fad in the U.S. and even so, it is not as popular as a lot of other foods, and even less popular among seniors.

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