In New York, home to nearly half of the world’s Jewish population, tens of thousands of Jewish children are not receiving a basic education. Children in many of the most orthodox yeshivas often finish school without being able to read or write in English. Because of the extraordinary political power of ultra-Orthodox communities, their schools have never been required to comply with state law. Unorthodox Education lifts the curtain on these communities, revealing the human cost of actively depriving kids of a secular education.
The 40-minute documentary, created by Jewish filmmakers (including CBE member Elana Sigall), presents interviews with people who have left the ultra-Orthodox world as well as journalists, academics, and advocates. It chronicles a decade-long political struggle for these children that ended in disastrous defeat in May 2025, when the New York State legislature gutted the ability of state education officials to enforce the law. The film exposes the tragedy of forced ignorance hiding in plain sight in the biggest city in the United States.
The screening will be followed by a talkback moderated by Rabbi Timoner featuring:
Elana Sigall is an educational expert and attorney who has held high-level education-related legal and policy positions. She serves as the education advisor for Footsteps, the non-profit that supports people who choose to leave the ultra-Orthodox community, and is the producer of Unorthodox Education.
Adina Mermelstein Konikoff is YAFFED’s executive director, leading them in the fight for educational rights for Hasidic and Haredi students. She comes to this work with a deep commitment to human rights and a lifelong history of working to promote and support Jewish values and community.
Joe Kolman's publications as a print journalist range from the Chicago Reader (1979) to the Economist (2017). He began filming Unorthodox Education in 2020 after learning that thousands of Jewish children were being denied their right to a basic education.
Libby Pollak grew up in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, attending a Hasidic girls’ school. She had a strong desire for an education, and would sneak in to libraries to read the forbidden material, and she was able to leave the community. She now works as a Yiddish translator and voice actor for Duolingo’s Yiddish course.
Hosted in partnership with Yaffed & New York Jewish Agenda