web analytics
June 18, 2013 / 10 Tammuz, 5773
At a Glance ▼
InDepth
Sponsored Post
Bicycle in South Pioneers of the Periphery: Olim of the South

Got that pioneering spirit? You’re invited to help build Israel’s periphery by planting roots in southern soil with Nefesh B’Nefesh.



Holiday Bus Service For Yeshivas: Why The Uproar?

Published: November 23rd, 2011
tell a friend

There was a disturbing lack of balance in the reporting on the recent controversy concerning bus drivers being asked to work on Thanksgiving to transport Lakewood yeshiva students scheduled to attend school that day. For obvious reasons, anything that highlights differences between Jewish and non-Jewish observances needs to be handled with great sensitivity. Thankfully, the issue has been resolved. But the media’s singular focus – devoid of context – on the purported plight of drivers being forced to work on their holiday was unfortunate and merits scrutiny.

The Associated Press headlined a story “Bus Drivers Asked to Transport Jewish Students on Thanksgiving,” and began the report with:

 

Thanksgiving might be just another day on the road for school bus drivers in one New Jersey town.

Lakewood is asking drivers to work in order to transport 18,000 Orthodox Jewish students to and from their private schools in the township.

 

On its website, WCBS (Channel 2) headlined the story “N.J. School Bus Drivers Balk At Having To Work On Thanksgiving” and led with the following:

 

Forced to work on Thanksgiving? A school bus fight in New Jersey is pitting drivers against parents.

CBS 2’s Derrick Dennis talked with some drivers who said they would rather give up their jobs than their holiday.

School bus drivers in Lakewood, finishing their rounds, say “no thanks” to some holiday humbug which involves working on Thanksgiving.

“Who’s gonna work on Thanksgiving? I’m not,” bus driver Bill Fitzgerald said.

 

These themes were typical. One would think there was something downright un-American going on. What did not come through were some very significant parts to the story. In the school district at issue there are some 25,000 students – 18,0000 of whom attend private Orthodox schools that were scheduled to hold classes on Thanksgiving. So these students were not exceptions to the rule, they were the rule.

In addition, under New Jersey law private-school students in the state are entitled to free transportation to and from their educational facilities “when the non-profit nonpublic school is in session.” In order to accomplish this, the school district contracts with private bus companies specifically to transport the nonpublic school students.

So despite intimations to the contrary, what was involved in the controversy was not some mindless, parochial nastiness but at worst a request that people meet their contractual obligations – which were clearly understood to include service on legal holidays.

But there is a broader dimension to our concern. Why was it that the Lakewood story became a big deal when the media have virtually ignored a more significant one relating to major retailers requiring their employees to work on Thanksgiving? Sears and Walmart stores will be open for business on Thanksgiving this year. And with the expectation that the number of Black Friday shoppers will increase from 212 million last year to 225 million this year, retailers are trying to outdo each other in opening earlier and earlier Friday morning. Indeed, Toys “R” Us is opening at 10 o’clock Thursday night and Target will open at midnight.

Because of our special practices, Jews will always be vulnerable to charges that we are different and therefore subversive. The fact that some streams in the Orthodox community choose not to partake in the outer trappings of Thanksgiving has no bearing on the gratitude they feel to this country and what it means for Jews. They are loyal Americans and certainly appreciate the key role America continues to play in their survival. That element was noticeably missing from the coverage of the Lakewood school bus controversy.

tell a friend

About the Author:


You might also be interested in:


If you don't see your comment after publishing it, refresh the page.
one comment so far

One Response to “Holiday Bus Service For Yeshivas: Why The Uproar?”

  1. jrrenzo says:
    November 28, 2011 at 5:09 AM

    Why doesn’t the Jewish community celebrate Thanksgiving? It isn’t a religious holiday, it’s an American holiday. This is a Holiday for everyone in the USA, aren’t Jews Americans?

SocialTwist Tell-a-Friend

Current Top Story
Arabs kicking IDF soldier on the ground.
What’s Going On with the IDF?
Latest Indepth Stories
Dancers celebrating Iran's nuclear holiday in Tehran.
InDepth → Op-Eds

Making Rouhani the president was a brilliant strategic move for Khamene’i.

Rabbi Shmuely Boteach (R.) and Mayor Cory Booker.
InDepth → Columns → America's Rabbi / Shmuley Boteach

Noone, least of all me, wants to see any Arab child suffer, God forbid.

The WOW group praying at the Kotel. Soon, they can pray as they wish, but not at the main Western Wall Plaza
InDepth → Personal

The Sanctuary was built with an ezrat nashim, a separate area for women.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Hosseini Khamenei
InDepth → Op-Eds

The 686 men who expressed their desire to run in Iran’s presidential election were whittled down to 8.

InDepth → Op-Eds

Every American child seems to be on Ritalin and Israelis are imitating them.

InDepth → Analysis → Rubin Reports

The weapons will be given to people whose politics encompass hatred for Jews, Christians, the West generally, and Women.

InDepth → Op-Eds

Rohani’s election positions the regime to cater – superficially – to reform-minded voters in Iran, while improving Iran’s prospects in international negotiations.

InDepth → Op-Eds

The top Israeli advocate for letting the terrorists out of jail is none other than Shimon Peres.

InDepth → Op-Eds

The “Community Democracy” model meets all the criteria of the liberal democratic outlook, but it is based on the Jewish heritage and the Torah.

InDepth → Op-Eds

“The Lord conferred statehood upon His people so that they might defend the enforcement of justice and preserve the truth contained in our Law as handed down by transmission.”

InDepth → Op-Eds

With Iran and Hezbollah openly supporting the anti-Sunni side in Syria, the battle lines have been redrawn, this time according to ancient and familiar traditions.

InDepth → Analysis → Rubin Reports

Yusuf al-Qaradawi knows how to express his ideas clearly and persuasively.

InDepth → Op-Eds

The boys who leave yeshiva to go to work are made to feel like they are second class and this makes it difficult for them to remain chareidi.

InDepth → Op-Eds

At some point I noticed an arresting picture on his wall and discovered that his maternal grandfather was Rav Dovid Lifshitz.

InDepth → Op-Eds

The Obama team included many outspoken advocates of U.S. action against the Bashir regime.

More Articles from Editorial Board
InDepth → Editorial

The unauthorized release last week of the text of a four-page order issued by a federal judge sitting on the special FISA national security court has unleashed a torrent of controversy over possible governmental overreaching.

InDepth → Editorial

We take it as a sure sign of the times that the recent stunning news that the Claims Conference had negotiated a four-year $1 billion infusion of funds from the German government to aid Holocaust survivors has been largely overshadowed by criticism that those leading the conference mishandled an internal investigation into the embezzlement of $57 million by some employees over a fifteen-year period.

InDepth → Editorial

Last week we lauded the efforts of several Jewish organizations to ameliorate the plight of the victims of the recent massive Oklahoma tornado and the extraordinary gesture the owner of Agri Star Meat & Poultry of Postville, Iowa, made in donating ten tons of meat for distribution.

InDepth → Editorial

We have no doubt that there is some measure of political partisanship in the controversies swirling around the Obama administration. That is, after all, the American way of governance and, frankly, how wrongdoing is often identified and uncovered. But political maneuvering is just a sideshow that distracts from the questions that should concern us, each of which strikes at the heart of American self-government.

InDepth → Editorial

We proudly salute those Jewish organizations that have rallied in support of the victims of last week’s devastating tornado that destroyed a large swath of the Oklahoma City region. As we reported last week, though there are relatively few Jews who live in the area, Jewish groups are providing an array of assistance.

InDepth → Editorial

President Obama’s speech on counterterrorism last Thursday at the National Defense University was one of the more impressive he has delivered while in the White House. Indeed, in discussing a reevaluation of how to fight what we all have come to refer to as “the war on terror,” he eloquently identified some profound issues.

InDepth → Editorial

Reports that the Obama administration targeted the records of reporters in an effort to determine who in government leaked secret information about a Yemeni bomb plot and a CIA report on North Korea would almost be amusing if the implications weren’t so troubling. Leaking information seems to be a forte of his administration – mainly, it seems, when the image of the president is thereby enhanced.

InDepth → Editorial

In an editorial last week (“Circling the Wagons”) we noted the efforts by the administration and its supporters to dismiss allegations that the government’s spin on the Benghazi attack was designed to shield the president and that the IRS was improperly used to stifle opposition to Mr. Obama’s reelection.

    Latest Poll

    Female, Orthodox, Halachic Deciders and Spiritual Leaders (Maharat)









    View Results

    Loading ... Loading ...

Printed from: http://www.jewishpress.com/indepth/editorial/holiday-bus-service-for-yeshivas-why-the-uproar/2011/11/23/

Scan this QR code to visit this page online:

No related posts.

Close