Telling Its Own Story: KnowUs Billboard Campaign Celebrates Jewish Education

Not content to have others tell their story, KnowUs, a project of Agudath Israel of America, has erected large billboards across the Manhattan skyline. The billboards, depicting a yarmulke-wearing teen and the words “Our boys will not be educated to hate America,” celebrate how American Orthodox Jewish children are taught to be upright, peaceful, and patriotic to their country.

“Before every bite they take, and from the moment they open their eyes, every Orthodox Jewish boy and girl is taught to express gratitude, constantly. No one will agree with everything their country does. But living in a country that stands for freedom, justice, and equality and protects the free exercise of religion begs that inculcated gratitude,” said Mr. Avrohom Weinstock, Agudah’s Chief of Staff and Director of KnowUs.

After publicly confronting protracted coverage by The New York Times which sought to portray Orthodox Jews as backward and benighted, and after what media and observers credit as denying The Times the Pulitzer Prize for this coverage, KnowUs is proactively sharing an authentic perspective about the Orthodox Jewish community and its education.

“That Orthodox Jews are, as a rule, eminently peaceful, upstanding citizens, speaks to the unique education they receive,” said Rabbi Chaim David Zwiebel, Agudah’s Executive Vice President. “In addition to the rigorous intellectual environment that yeshivas nurture, and the essential role they play in ensuring Jewish continuity, yeshivas’ proven ability to raise generations of caring, patriotic human beings is something in which we take great pride, and indeed something other educational systems would do well to model.”

“At a time when our cathedrals of higher education, especially the most elite, have devolved into bastions of anti-American and anti-Israel fueled confusion, yeshiva education stands in sharp relief,” said Agudah Board of Trustee member, Mr. Chaskel Bennett. “Following the horrors of October 7th, American Orthodox Jews reacted to tragedy not with violent demonstrations, but with an outpouring of charity, prayer, and a tenacious resolve to support those in need. G-d bless America.”