"…Adina Bar Shalom, Rav Ovadiah Yosef's daughter appeared before the Knesset task force to help Haredim enter the work force which I founded and begged us to implement math and English because 50 percent of the boys in her chareidi college drop out due to their lack of math and English. I meet regularly with chareidi young men who are still completely in the chareidi world and they tell me that the one thing which is necessary is some basic math and English.…"
Member of Knesset Rabbi Dov Lipman
Baltimore Jewish Life posted a letter from MK Rabbi Dov Lipman responding to Ner Israel Rosh Yeshiva Aharon Feldman's despicable attack on him last week.
Here is an excerpt of that letter. Everything in square brackets are my annotations, not Lipman's words:
I owe so much to Ner Yisrael and want to be clear from the outset that my words are not against the yeshiva. Tremendous damage for me and the yeshiva has been caused by an audio tape in which I am quoted as saying something which I never said and anyone who knows me knows I would never say. [Lipman is referring to a recording of Ner Israel’s rosh yeshiva, Rabbi Aharon Feldman, speaking to students last week in which Feldman repeatedly lied about Lipman.] I was quoted as saying that "all yeshiva ketanos [high school and grade school yeshivas] in Israel should be closed" and then for all intents and purposes I was called a rasha [an evil man] and equated with Amalek [the biblical arch enemy of the Jewish people that Jews are commanded to kill] and Haman [the villain of the Purim story considered in rabbinic literature to be a descendant of Amalek]. The following is what I actually have said and what my political party Yesh Atid is working for:
1) The Israeli government should not fund institutions which don't teach basic math and English. Yeshivos which don't do so will not be closed down but they won't receive government funding. It should be pointed out that there are numerous yeshivos which already take zero government money and continue to flourish. Adina Bar Shalom, [Sefardi haredi leader] Rav Ovadiah Yosef's daughter appeared before the Knesset task force to help Haredim enter the work force which I founded and begged us to implement math and English because 50 percent of the boys in her chareidi college drop out due to their lack of math and English. I meet regularly with chareidi young men who are still completely in the chareidi world and they tell me that the one thing which is necessary is some basic math and English. I believe it is a sound decision for a government to make and look forward to seeing the yeshiva ketanos flourish and continue producing gedolei Torah [Torah giants] while teaching basic math and English. Ironically, the basis for my supporting this plan [is] knowing that gedolei Torah can still be produced if general studies are taught is [that] actually Ner Yisrael [which teaches secular subjects] which produces [them].
2) Comparing me or anyone in my party to Amalek and Haman who wanted to kill all Jews including "children and women" is simply incomprehensible. We are going to help Chareidim sustain their families - literally feed their children - and we are compared to murderers???…
[Hat Tip: APC.]