The Real Story: I have one daughter who just turned two years old, and she is happily still attending the same gan. I also have a son who is only a few weeks old and is not yet enrolled in any educational institution.

Rumor - "Rabbi Slifkin was asked to leave Yeshivas Shaarei Torah in Manchester and was encouraged to leave Yeshivas Midrash Shmuel by the Rosh Yeshivah because he was messed up."

The Real Story: Yeshivas Shaarei Torah put immense pressure on me not to leave their yeshivah, but I left anyway. When I decided to leave Midrash Shmuel after nearly six years there and a very close and positive relationship with the Rosh Yeshivah, he first tried to talk me out of leaving, then changed his mind and supported my decision. He added that he could not be entirely certain if he was acquiescing because I had gained enough from the yeshivah and it was time to move on, or because my extensive writing on my laptop computer affected the rest of the student body engaged in the Yeshivah's regular program of Talmud study.

Rumor - "Rabbi Slifkin was kicked out of Ohr Somayach when the controversy began."

The Real Story: I left Ohr Somayach four years ago after I moved to Ramat Bet Shemesh and did not want the lengthy commute. The controversy did result in my being asked to leave one of the seminaries where I taught, due to Rav Moshe Shapiro's instructions to the dean. I enjoy continued employment and support at Yeshivat Lev HaTorah and Midreshet Moriah College for Women.

Rumor - "There are yeshivah students who dropped out of yeshivah and abandoned Torah observance after reading these books."

The Real Story: I know of no such cases. There was a story being spread about two students in Monsey, described as "angelic," who dropped out after reading my books and concluding that "if the Sages could have been wrong about science, then they could have been wrong about everything." Further investigation showed that one of them was barely observant to begin with, and dropped out of yeshivah before my book on the Sages' knowledge of science was published. When I discovered the identity of the other student and wrote to ask him if it was true that my books caused him to drop out, he wrote this reply.