Agudas Yisrael Expresses Satisfaction That Pulitzer Prize Not Awarded to NY Times Series on Orthodox Jews

By Hamodia Staff

Agudas Yisrael of America expressed satisfaction that when the Pulitzer Prize Board announced the winners of its coveted annual awards – the deeply objectionable New York Times series on the Orthodox Jewish community and their yeshivas was not included.

There is no way of knowing for certain why the series was not awarded a Pulitzer Prize, or even if it was submitted for that honor. However, KnowUs, a project of Agudath Israel of America, sent a 30 page open letter to every Pulitzer Prize Board member explaining that the coverage was based upon demonstrably misleading data, buried sources, and numerous other violations of the Pulitzer’s own journalistic standards. The deeply objectionable portrayal of the Orthodox and Hasidic communities would have only been exacerbated if the series would be awarded the prestigious Pulitzer Prize.

In the past few months, KnowUs has shown that there are those who still value truth, diversity, and religious and parental rights.

“Respected intellectuals, secular Jewish organizations, including the Anti-Defamation League, and numerous national and state elected officials deserve specific appreciation for going on record, standing up for the Orthodox Jewish community, and fending off hateful invectives artfully posing as ‘constructive’ criticism,” said Avrohom Weinstock, director of KnowUs. “Such actions, and such people, give KnowUs and the Orthodox Jewish community hope for a more transparent, tolerant, and respectful tomorrow.”