ADL Praises New Campaign Aimed at Shattering Myths About Orthodox Jews

One of the most prominent liberal Jewish advocacy groups is praising one of the Jewish community’s most conservative groups for an initiative to set the record straight about Orthodox Jews.A chapter of the Anti-Defamation League has issued a statement in support of the Agudath Israel of America’s new campaign, Know Us, aimed at combating hate directed at Orthodox Jews. “We have a community with low crime rates and strong family values,” Rabbi A.D. Motzen of the Agudath says of the campaign. “We’re trying to correct the impression of what some think when they hear ‘Orthodox Jews.’”The statement of the ADL criticized the New York Times for its portrayal of the chasidic community in a recent series of investigative pieces on yeshivas.“Given that hate crimes and hate incidents against Jews — particularly Orthodox Jews, who are more visibly identifiable — have risen greatly over the past few years … such stereotyping can add fuel to the fire,” the ADL’s New York and New Jersey chapter tweeted.The ADL has come under criticism from some in the Jewish community, particularly its right-leaning flank, for what some see as an affinity for Democratic politics and a focus on celebrity antisemitism.The editor-at-large at Tablet Magazine, Liel Liebovitz, criticized the organization for the direction it has taken under the current CEO, Jonathan Greenblatt.“It’s time to say goodbye to the ADL,” Mr. Liebovitz wrote, criticizing what he saw as the “rank partisanship” of the organization since Mr. Greenblatt took the reins from Abraham Foxman in 2015.“Sure, [Mr.] Greenblatt and the gang occasionally murmur some correct condemnation of some real hater, but no one in their right mind can inspect his tenure and deny that he has hollowed out the ADL of any and all connection to its original mandate, instead using its clout to turn it into an effective and stealthy progressive, partisan operation,” Mr. Liebovitz said in November.“When your raison d’etre is being the go-to guy for blessing or denouncing misbehaving celebrities — depending, of course, on where they fall on the political spectrum and how ‘contrite’ they’re willing to be in public — you can’t actually protect the dentist in Cleveland who wonders why his kid in college just had her mezuzah ripped off her doorpost or the Hasidic kids in Brooklyn now regularly getting their heads bashed in,” Mr Liebovitz said.

ADL Praises New Campaign Aimed at Shattering Myths About Orthodox Jews

ADL Praises New Campaign Aimed at Shattering Myths About Orthodox Jews

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