These Hypocritical Times       

The New York Times has long had a Jewish problem. From ignoring and downplaying the Holocaust to decades of negative coverage of Israel, the Times has never been a friend to those whose Jewishness is central to their identity. Recently, the Times has turned its jaundiced eye and poisoned pen on New York’s Orthodox community.

It began with a September 11 front-page attack that was meant to inflame public sentiment against yeshivos rather than educate outsiders about them. It was followed by an article in which elected officials were pressed to condemn yeshivos. Those with negative things to say were quoted, while those who wouldn’t comment were called out. The views of elected officials who disagreed with the thrust of the Times’ take on yeshivos and sought to share positive impressions of yeshivah education were omitted.

The journalistic sins the Times committed with these articles, with their inaccuracies, lack of context, and stereotyping, were grave enough. Far more pernicious was the goal behind them: to marginalize frum Jews in New York. The point of the articles was not to identify a problem or propose a solution, but to delegitimize our community. The message being directed to those who represent our interests or are sympathetic to our needs is that they are doing something wrong, that they are associating with the wrong people. We are to be regarded as the untouchables of New York society.

With election season in New York upon us, the Times’ campaign reached its apotheosis earlier this week with a 2,500-word article whose subhead declared that “elected officials rarely embrace positions that could antagonize Hasidic leaders.”