For my first encore...

Sep 03, 2008 08:00

Daf left to finishing to finishing Moed: 30
Today's quote: "I know that there are people out there who do not love their fellow human beings, and I hate people like that!" --Tom Lehrer

Don't worry, this post is presidential-politics free (the subject is actually a line by Tom Lehrer on his "An Evening Wasted With Tom Lehrer album). I actually wanted ( Read more... )

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A couple of things joshbrown September 3 2008, 13:35:54 UTC
First of all, about relying on Artscroll gemaras - there was someone at HaKotel who (so I was told) made his חברותא צעיר take a neder (yes, a real neder) not to use them. That is one or the problems with yeshivas today - they really don't teach kids how to learn. And you know what, I agree with him, but never had the guts to force my chevrutas to make nedarim. But I never allowed them to show up for night seder with them in hand.
The thing is, I am not 100% against them. My father didn't have a yeshiva education. It really wasn't available when he was growing up, even if his family had been frum enough at the time to want that sort of thing. So now, when he wants to learn in his pensioners' kollel, Artscroll gemaras are perfect for him to use.
As for not learning other things, one of the things I used to do with my חברותא צעירים on one of the first nights i learned with them was to ask them to list the 24 books of Tanach. Of the 7-8 guys I had the pleasure of learning with at HaKotel, only one could do it. And these were guys from all different high schools in the US and England.
It's not just in Chutz LaAretz either. Kids in Israel either go to charedi yeshivot where the boys are taught ONLY gemara and the girls are taught how to be wives, or they are taught what is on the Bagrut exams. Anything not on the exams is considered unnecessary. Which means that when you decide what your major is going to be (usually done in 10th grade), that means you aren't going to even be exposed to what you won't be tested on. So if you chose a non-science major, you aren't going to be exposed to any kind of science after 8th or 9th grade. And if you chose a science, chances are you won't be exposed to any other science outside your field. But back to issues specific to Jewish education.
Another of the problems of Jewish education is that while it costs the parents an arm and a leg to send their kids to good Jewish schools, teachers are still seriously underpaid. For a religion that places such importance of learning (and therefore, on teaching) and of the importance of our future (i.e. our children), we are doing a terrible job of actually doing anything about it.
As for what needs to be done, I think that there is a lot that needs to be changed. We have to realize that the way we educate our kids is the way that the next generation of Jews will look. And if the future of Judaism is that the vast majority of Jews are unable to pick up a gemara and learn it, then we have a serious problem on our hands.

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Re: A couple of things johnny_blade September 8 2008, 12:50:00 UTC
I'm not saying that I'm 100% against them (your father's case is a classic example of where they are very useful), I'm just against having any boys that I will (hopefully) have growing up to rely on Artscroll gemaras as I have.

As for Israeli education, I read an article recently that the courts are letting the charedi schools cut back on secular education. That's pathetic to me. They tend to get the gemara skills, but no outside knowledge (it's the complete reverse of my main problem. No one's taking the Rambam's middle road with this).

Teachers are seriously underpaid, or in some cases not paid at all. My father last year around this time got a call from Skokie Yeshiva (where I went to high school) saying that they needed money because some of the rabbeim hadn't been paid for the last 2 months. It seems outrageous, but I looked into it, and it was actually true (it's because Skokie's college program is dying, so they don't have the same amount of money they had a few years ago to pay for teachers. Why they don't just get rid of the college, or merge with Landers--as has been proposed by Landers--is anyone's guess)

This is an absolutely pathetic situation for a religion that claims to value education. The future is going to be a problem that no one's really seeing very well yet.

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