Yeshiva University (YU) announced that it is suspending the Hareni toeiva student club, saying that it has operated in a manner inconsistent with the university’s religious mission and the terms of a recent settlement agreement. The decision was outlined in a statement from the Roshei Yeshiva of YU’s Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary (RIETS), who directed the Office of Student Life to suspend the club’s activities.
The Hareni club was established following a March settlement that resolved a nearly four-year legal dispute with the YU Pride Alliance, a student group advocating for official recognition of an LGBTQ+ club. The lawsuit, initiated in 2021, challenged YU’s initial refusal to grant club status to the Pride Alliance, citing the university’s commitment to Orthodox Jewish principles.
After escalating to the U.S. Supreme Court, the settlement permitted the formation of Hareni, a club intended to support students “striving to live authentic, uncompromising halachic lives” under the oversight of YU’s rabbinic leadership.
According to the Roshei Yeshiva, the settlement required Hareni to adhere to guidelines aligned with traditional Orthodox Jewish values. However, the university determined that the club’s recent activities and statements suggested it was functioning as a pride club, which the Roshei Yeshiva stated was “antithetical to the Torah values of our yeshiva” and in violation of the settlement’s terms. The statement concluded that such a club could not continue at YU, emphasizing the university’s commitment to guiding students in accordance with halacha.
The decision follows months of debate within and beyond YU’s campus. The settlement had initially been presented as a compromise, with YU President Rabbi Dr. Ari Berman clarifying that Hareni was distinct from a pride club and built on a 2022 proposal for a halachically compliant student group. However, Hareni’s leadership described the club as a step toward greater LGBTQ+ inclusion, highlighting its ability to use “LGBTQ+” in public communications.
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16 Responses
Sounds like they’re retroactively coming to terms with the fact that they can’t be part of religious judaism and have such a club. backing off their mistaken step over the abyss of assimilation. and this is what the gedolim saw many years ago that they didnt
Let’s hope YU loses govt funding because of this.
Like I always say, you can’t trust these rump wranglers.
Hi everyone. Just so you’re all aware, the title of this article is misleading. The club is not discontinued. The Roshei Yeshiva are “directing the Office of Student Life to discontinue this club” The club has not been shut down or suspended in any form as the Roshei Yeshiva – for better or worse – do not have the power to do so. They can only instruct the secular devision of the Yeshiva to shut it down.
Doesn’t take a rocket scientist to realize that this is so obviously connected to Both of this week’s פרשיות:- The 1st 1 labeling this behavior as a תועבה even being read on יום-הכיפורים מנחה; The 2nd 1 calling for סקילה for this horrifying depraved עבירה.
Why don’t they discontinue all student clubs? That way they can’t be sued for discrimination.
This is a happy ending, but any wise person, איזהו חכם הרואה את הנולד, saw it coming from the outset.
In this case, it didn’t take a great chochom to anticipate the direction things were heading. On the surface, their requests seemed innocent: they simply wanted a group where they could receive chizzuk from rabbanim for their struggles.
But when we look beyond the walls of the yeshiva, we see a familiar pattern. Decades ago, the movement began with similarly modest demands—just the right to do what they wanted privately in the bedroom. Then came the push for legal recognition of marriage. Today, they march in our streets, infiltrate our schools, and demand that society devote an entire month to celebrating their confused “identity.”
Now they approached the yeshiva, saying, “All we want is a little space and some pizza for our chizzuk, nothing more.” But we’ve seen this playbook before. We know how it begins, and where it leads.
the irony is rich for an University to point fingers at someone else for not being “uncompromising” in halacha.
clowns all around.
YU should be okay until the Democrats retake control of the Federal government. Then they are likely to be seriously persecuted (e.g. threatened with loss of tax exempt status similar to what Harvard is dealing with now).
It’s hard to imagine that the YU organization will be able to withstand the enormous political backlash that will almost inevitably develop. They may have to close their doors.
They had the wrong Hareini all along. They claimed it was הריני מקבל עלי מצות עשה של ואהבת לרעך כמוך. But it should have been הריני מקבל עלי מצות לא תעשה של ואת זכר לא תשכב משכבי אשה תועבה היא.
They can now say הריני כפרת משכבו/משכבה on it.
This sounds reasonable and mature (if reported correctly): YU agreed to terms of the settlement and now will close the “club” because the terms are not adhered to. Good legal maneuver.
AYidIsEhrkich, saying “Let’s hope YU loses govt funding because of this.” shows you to also be a sonei Yisroel.
somejewiknow, your comment “clowns all around.” requires teshuvah. Go the YU beit midrash and beg forgiveness from all the RY you were mevazeh.
AYidIsEhrlich says:
Let’s hope YU loses govt funding because of this
Why stop funding YU?
Good for them
Note many New York area frum leadership celebrating the government increasing funding to frum schools. That increases the school’s dependence of the government, which has some very un-frum ideas of what it expects schools to teach.
Think of someone being happy since they found a cheap source of heroin to get addicted to. You end up dependent on your pusher.