"...when the Regents, their deputies, and the local school authorities have been through the 2,711 folios of the Talmud..."

Photo: Eli Greengart

“With respect, when the Regents, their deputies, and the local school authorities have been through the 2,711 folios of the Talmud, the Code of Jewish Law, the Scripture, with all of its voluminous commentary that our children learn with the hermeneutic rigor of critical textual analysis that our system teaches and nurtures, then we could perhaps have a sensible conversation about ‘substantial equivalency.’ Our community, of course, stands ready to throw its full resources into an appropriate process to achieve the goal of putting the relevant Regents, deputies, and LSAs in that position.”

—MITCHELL A. SILK, immediate past assistant secretary for International Markets at the US Department of the Treasury, a recognized expert on Chinese law and international finance, and a talmid chacham as well, in a letter to the New York Board of Regents opposing their proposed regulations to ensure that instruction in nonpublic schools is “substantially equivalent” to the public schools in the district. The effort by New York State to rein in nonpublic school education has garnered over 250,000 comments opposing the regulations.

(Originally featured in Mishpacha, Issue 914)