New York’s Jewish Orthodox community is under immense pressure from the state to include secular studies in Yeshiva curricula or face punitive measures.

NYS amended Education Law stipulates that private schools not providing sufficient secular education, known as “substantial equivalence,” may have their status altered resulting in the loss of legally mandated amenities like transportation and meals.

As a result, Parents for Educational and Religious Liberty in Schools (PEARLS) took the matter up with the NY Appellate Court, arguing that the regulations violated the 1st Amendment. Despite PEARLS strong effort, the judges voted 4-1 in favor of keeping the regulations.

“We have no difficulty concluding that the statutory framework affords parents and similarly situated individuals wide discretion in fashioning an acceptable program of instruction, be it in a nonpublic school, homeschooling or a mixture of the two, that fulfills their duty of providing an education to children under their care that is substantially equivalent to that available in public schools,” the court’s decision reads.

According to Times Union, the regulations were put into place in 2022 after YAFFED, a group of formerly Orthodox Jews complained about the lack of secular education in Yeshivas such as English, math, and science.

“It’s time for the yeshivas who have been willfully ignoring the law to accept reality and improve their programs,” YAFFED director Adina Konikoff wrote on X. “Education is a Jewish value and a fundamental right in the US, regardless of the community children are born into.”

Editors Note: While opposition to secular education mandates may seem perplexing, it’s rooted in concerns about cultural preservation. Unlike in Israel, US Jewry faces the very real threat of assimilation and for thousands of years Yeshivas provided Jewish youth with a safe haven.