UPDATE: Open letter to Jewish university condemns newly formed student group
Yeshiva United released a letter condemning Yeshiva University's creation of a student group 'Kol Yisrael Areivim' Club in place of the LGBTQ student group YU Pride Alliance
A list of demands was included in the letter. One of which called for the dissolution of the 'Kol Yisrael Areivim initiative.'
A website called Yeshiva United released a letter condemning Yeshiva University’s creation of a student group “Kol Yisrael Areivim” Club in place of the LGBTQ student group YU Pride Alliance.
In the letter, it stated that “LGBTQ+ Jews, like all human beings, deserve not only our love and support, but to be listened to fully, in all of the depth and complexity of their personal experiences.”
The Oct. 28 letter claimed, with “great pain and sorrow,” that despite this, YU had not listened to the wishes and demands of its LGBTQ community.
YU was accused of failing to discuss the new student group with the YU Pride Alliance and of “misleading” the community.
“We are heartbroken that an institution that preaches Torat Chesed, a Torah of compassion, created an initiative intended for LGBTQ+ students without the knowledge of its LGBTQ+ students with whom it had been in dialogue,” the letter read. “We are embarrassed that an institution that espouses Torat Emet, a Torah of truth, defended its actions with words that, regardless of intent, have the effect of misleading readers.”
Accusations of discrediting the “dignity” of LGBTQ students were made as well and claimed that YU was in error to suggest that “efforts to attain recognition of their identities [were] necessarily incompatible with Torah values.“
A list of demands was included in the letter. One of which called for the dissolution of the “Kol Yisrael Areivim initiative.”
[RELATED: University offers ‘safe space’ program to educate LGBTQ+ allies]
Another demand insisted that the Jewish university “[r]e-enter dialogue with the Pride Alliance” and “[c]ommit to full transparency and cooperation with the Pride Alliance” in finding a solution.
In an email sent to Campus Reform, Levinson Group’s Director, Zac Sawyer, claimed the announcement was signed by “several thousand students, alumni, faculty, and staff of Yeshiva University.”
The website, however, notes that the signees’ “signatures were collected for Yeshiva United’s original letter, ‘A Call from the Heart of the YU Community,’” and that “[t]hey do not imply endorsement of the above letter.”
YU spokesperson Hanan Eisenman told Campus Reform, “The framework for the Kol Yisrael Areivim club… [was] endorsed by senior rabbinic scholars and reflects input and perspectives from private conversations with current and past undergraduate LGBTQ students.”
Eisenman further explained that any students interested in contributing to the discussion are welcome.
The letter comes after YU’s Oct. 24 announcement of the new student group designed to be a “traditional Orthodox alternative to YU Pride Alliance,” as Campus Reform previously reported.
In the press release, YU explains that “input and perspectives from conversations between Yeshiva’s rabbis, educators, and current and past undergraduate LGBTQ students” were a vital component of creating the new club.
Campus Reform contacted YU and will update this article accordingly.
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