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LEGISLATING OR PERSUADING
The fact that the Ministry of Education, through the actions of the Israeli Knesset, has agreed to pay sixty percent of the costs of the Charedi school systems for the yeshivot ktanot – the early teen age classes - has raised a storm of protest in parts of Israeli society. The furor is based upon the fact these schools have not committed themselves to teach a so-called core curriculum, which includes English, mathematics, science and Israeli history and citizenship.
Those who have criticized this event call it another example of religious coercion. They claim it is forcing the state to pay not only for this program but guaranteeing that the students will eventually be unemployable - dependent on government handouts for their entire lives. And, all this at the expense of the already burdened Israeli taxpayer. These opponents also state that these funds should be diverted towards the university system in Israel. In their attack on the proposed funding, there is also a great deal of unnecessary demonization of Charedim and religious Jews generally, as well as the denigration of the importance of Torah studies for the survival of Judaism and Israel.
I feel that a little historical background is necessary to put this dispute in proper focus. Many times here in Israel, what we view to be a new issue is really a continuation of a struggle over the same basic issue that has existed unresolved in Jewish life for many generations. And, those past struggles evoke memories, perhaps even subconsciously, that resonate in our current society though never specifically mentioned or referred to.
The Russian government of the Czar in the nineteenth century, with the aid and sometimes instigation of certain maskilim – “enlightened ones” – attempted to force the religious Jewish community to include the study of Russian language, literature and other non-religious subjects in the curriculum of their schools and yeshivot. The great yeshiva of Volozhin was closed in 1892 by the Russian government when it refused to observe a decree of the Czar’s Minister of Education that limited Torah study to three hours a day and insisted upon the introduction of the aforementioned subjects into the daily schedule of study.
The Russian government, again with the cooperation of the maskilim of the time, had opened two rabbinic seminaries, one in Vilna and one in Zhitomir, to produce “modern rabbis” in the spirit of Russian culture of the time. These two seminaries turned out to be disasters, with many of its students succumbing to the pressure of the Russian instructors and even converting to Christianity. The Russian government eventually closed these institutions but the scar of coerced curriculum remained and still remains on the Jewish body, especially in religious circles.
The memories of the concerted attempt of the then Israeli establishment to secularize and Ashkenize the generation of Sefardic youth who arrived here in the 1950’s is also a bitter memory that has not been eradicated. It is the fuel that still empowers the political party of Shas. One would therefore hope that the Israeli society would, by now, have learned that coercion against religious schools and their curriculum is just not going to work. We are not called a stiff-necked people for nothing.
I am not arguing the merits of the core curriculum espoused by the Ministry of Education versus the current curriculum of the Charedi yeshivot ktanot. I do not believe that the Torah wished to create an entire society that is unemployable. But just as religious coercion is futile and harmful, secular coercion is also futile. These issues are not a matter of legislation, decrees and governmental fiat. They are a matter of reasoned discussion and persuasion. It may be that the Charedi school system is unchangeable by any means. If so, that is really the choice of its leadership.
Supporting university research projects which are not of immediate economic benefit nevertheless seems very acceptable to our educational and governmental leaders. The core curriculum of the Jewish people over the ages, the one thing that has guaranteed our survival over Greek culture, Roman culture, Christian ideas, Marxist nonsense and cruelty has been the intensive study and practice of Torah. Whatever improvements, and there certainly should be improvements in the Charedi school system, should come from within and not by outside coercion.
The marketplace and the fact that poverty as a way of life cannot be palatable over generations also will affect the matter. The colonial idea that the enlightened ones always know what is good for the uncultured masses has proven to be erroneous. It only intensifies differences and eventually breeds intolerance and even hatred. A different approach is certainly needed to resolve this issue.
