Yale Five Not Guilty of Judging Peers; Following Their Beliefs

In his editorial, "Yale Wins Either Way," (Sept. 16) Daniel M. Suleiman '99 writes that the "Yale Five" (five Orthodox students who are threatening suit against Yale for the right to live off campus) "are tacitly judging all of their classmates" and are averse "to modern people of any religion, color or creed, including other Jews."

I would like to suggest that this judgement of the students' motivations and attitudes is misinformed.

First, religious Jewish students who opt out of dorm life often do so out of their conviction that dorm life prevents them from following the Jewish laws of personal modesty properly. This decision, which is usually made by, or with, the help of the student's rabbi, neither implicitly nor explicitly judges "all of their classmates." It is a decision made to allow a religious Jew to follow Jewish law as closely and honestly as possible.

Second, a religious Jewish student who decides that dorm life is unacceptable is no more judgmental than a student who tells the housing office that he will not live with a smoker.

Just as the non-smoker is rendered extremely uncomfortable in a smokey environment, and feels that the smoke is a detriment to his health, the religious student feels uncomfortable in the co-ed dor and believes that its lack of separations jeopardizes his spiritual wellness.

Lastly, the characterization of these students as "averse to modern people" is unfounded. What these students object to is not modernity, but the relatively brand-new policies which force all first and second-year students to live in co-ed dormitories with virtually no guidelines for modest speech or conduct.

Many very modern students have positive religious views which embrace both modesty and deep respect for one's colleagues. To portray these students as judging, or having contempt for their "modern" classmates is an error. Zachary L. Shrier '99