I don't understand why bnei torah from Eidut HaMizrach have to degrade themselves constantly and beg to be accepted in ashkenazic institutions...I have accepted upon myself, bli neder, to no longer assist anyone who approaches me for help in getting accepted to [ashkenazy] institutions. We have no need for this... We need to stand tall and know that we have the best institutions for girls and for boys...if we do not degrade ourselves and we know to be proud of our heritage and our institutions, they will also look at us and relate to us [with respect].
----- Aryeh Deri
funny coming from someone who has spent all his life in Ashkenazy institutions. It is alway7s the leaders in Shas, all of whom spent their years in ashkenazy yeshivas and have sent their kids to ashkenazy yeshivas, who have called upon the people to only send to the sfardi yeshivas... (I happen to agree with the above quote though and think that Sfardim have nothing to be ashamed of and their education in the yeshiva system is of equal footing with the ashkenazy)
When I came to E"Y, one of the most shocking things I came across was the flat-out rascist attitudes of otherwise nice, ehrlich Ashkenzim. Examples: Finding out if there are sfardim in a building before buying an apt. Not being interested in a school if they allow sfardim in. Making light of any psak by a sfardi Posek. Unfortunately, it seems the longer people have been in E"Y and the more Charedi-oriented they are, the more rascist their attitudes. I don't get it - what were the Rambam, Ritva, etc, and how many hundreds of hours have the typical Ashkenazi bochur spent 'horuving' over them? Would the Rambam be able to get his daughter into a Beis Yaakov? When I express horror at these opinions, the response is "oh, you have to live here longer to understand" - as if sinas chinam gets better with time!
ReplyDeleteI agree with you. They should be very proud of their history and customs. They are also one of the Tribes of Israel, all are equal in that they are one of the 12 sons of Yaakov, and should always remember that.
ReplyDeleteamen brother
ReplyDeleteRafi: "funny coming from someone who has spent all his life in Ashkenazy institutions."
ReplyDeleteUrr...is Ramla Prison a Sephardi institution, or an Ashkanazi one...??
hahaha... I think he ran the ashkenazy kollel there though.. :-)
ReplyDelete