In the News

In a letter addressed to the University of Maryland and the American University, the CJV said that Peri’s outburst demonstrated “unbridled hostility towards religious activity” which calls into doubt her ability to “demonstrate appropriate tolerance and accommodation of religious needs.”

The premise of the case was patently absurd.

Ellenson responded: “it does not occur to us at HUC-JIR to quash or vilify political criticism of Israel out of a preemptive fear of controversy.” He even claimed that Zaray’s tearful essay, bemoaning how Ellenson and Chabon “ambushed” and ruined her graduation, was testament to the diversity of opinion at HUC-JIR.

In an interview with Washington Jewish Week, CJV Managing Director Yaakov Menken said the purpose of the letter was to ask the university to mandate diversity training for Peri to “help her get past being offended by public personal displays of religion.”

Given the proven correlation between ‘anti-Israel’ activities such as this one and open Antisemitism, the school has created a hostile environment for its Jewish students, and even opened itself to a claim of liability should anything transpire.

The CJV cited three ways that the school’s moment of silence failed its educational mission.

The CJV called for two universities to revisit the courses assigned to Professor Pnina Peri next year, and to mandate diversity and sensitivity training before her return to teaching.

The Coalition for Jewish Values (CJV), a rabbinic organization, was another early objector to Beacon’s moment of silence. “There are no two ways about it; claiming that Hamas operatives are ‘victims’ is to say that killing Jews is a peaceful activity,” said Rabbi Pesach Lerner, president of the coalition.

If Professor Peri’s hostility is so severe that it overwhelmed common decency and decorum in a public place, it is difficult to imagine how she could banish it from her classroom presentations for a full semester.

The Coalition for Jewish Values has called for a review of Perry over the incident. Had she done this to Muslims, it’s unimaginable that she would still be employed.