“I think that hasidishe people should get more education and moreover, there are so many kids rejected from hasidishe schools for reasons that aren’t worth risking having them go off the derech. Parents and kids need to know that the world doesn’t end in Kiryas Joel or Borough Park and there are other options to explore. Hashem [God] knows what he is doing and the answer might be to find a different school."
Above: Elimelech Wagschal
Satmar Hasid Graduates YU, Headed To Law School
Shmarya Rosenberg • FailedMessiah.com
Elimelech Wagschal, a Satmar hasid who was denied admission to Kiryas Joel’s post-high-school yeshiva, took that rejection – reportedly issued despite a straight A school record – and ran with it all the way to a degree from Yeshiva University in Manhattan and a law school scholarship.
Wagschal kept his untrimmed beard, his peyos and hasidic style of dress and continued to live with his family in Kiryas Joel, VIN reported, commuting every school day from the hasidic village to YU.
The now-22-year-old hasid has just graduated from YU with a degree in business management and 3.5 GPA. And he is now headed to law school on a full scholarship.
But Wagschal didn’t go directly from Kiryas Joel’s yeshiva high school to YU, because his high school yeshiva – like most haredi schools – only taught very minimal secular subjects. (Some haredi schools teach no secular subjects at all, and it is unclear whether the Kiryas Joel yeshiva is one of them.)
Instead, Wagschal spent a year at Touro College first. (Touro is geared for haredim and has many remedial courses to help them mainstream academically.)
Wagschal reportedly earned straight A’s at Touro, as well.
Buoyed by his academic success, Wagschal transferred to Yeshiva University, where he completed a degree in business management with a better than 3.5 grade point average.
Wagschal said he was accepted by his YU classmates and said he was not pressured to abandon his hasidic way of life to better fit in.
“I am a very strong hasid and that is something that you are at heart. It isn’t superficial and a hasid can fit in anywhere. At no point in time did I ever have to compromise even a single drop on my values or beliefs,” Wagschal, who also got married last year while still a full time student, reportedly said.
He also believes that haredim should get more education, and he said he hopes that his story will inspire others to do so.
“I think that hasidishe people should get more education and moreover, there are so many kids rejected from hasidishe schools for reasons that aren’t worth risking having them go off the derech. Parents and kids need to know that the world doesn’t end in Kiryas Joel or Borough Park and there are other options to explore. Hashem [God] knows what he is doing and the answer might be to find a different school,” Wagschal said.