Rabbi Shalom Cohen – whose hateful rhetoric against Zionist Orthodox Jews drew countrywide condemnation earlier this year – reportedly wrote a position paper/letter in his capacity as the president of Shas’ Council of Torah Sages that rules that teachers who teach in and the subject matter taught in colleges, universities and technical colleges are not in accordance with Torah values and principles and must be completely avoided.
Above: Rabbi Shalom Cohen
Shas Party Spiritual Head Bans All Women From Going To College
Shmarya Rosenberg • FailedMessiah.com
The new spiritual leader of the Sefardi haredi Shas Party, Rabbi Shalom Cohen, has banned all women from getting a higher education, the Jerusalem Post reported based on a report published today on the haredi news website Kikar HaShabbat.
Cohen – whose hateful rhetoric against Zionist Orthodox Jews drew countrywide condemnation earlier this year – reportedly wrote a position paper/letter in his capacity as the president of Shas’ Council of Torah Sages that rules that teachers who teach in and the subject matter taught in colleges, universities and technical colleges are not in accordance with Torah values and principles and must be completely avoided.
"The great rabbis totally opposed academic studies even in haredi institutions since a significant portion of the lecturers are university graduates who do not hold the perspectives of the holy Torah in which we were educated. Similarly, the subject matter in colleges is based on research and scientific methods which contradict the Torah. Therefore female [high-school] students should not even think about undertaking academic studies in any framework, because this is not the way of the Torah,” Cohen wrote.
Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, the founder and spiritual leader of the Shas Party until he passed away late last year, has a daughter, Adina Bar Shalom, who heads a haredi college.
Cohen is the head of Porat Yosef yeshiva in the Old City of Jerusalem and is widely considered to be an extremist. He an ally of Shas political head, convicted felon Aryeh Deri.