There is a story I saw in the news today that I have mixed feelings about. It is the issue of bribing children so as to teach them to be religious. This seems to be what a group of Bnei Brak Rabbanim are doing. According to an article in Ynet they are going into a neighboring Ramat Gan high school and paying students 18 Shekels to attend Torah lessons. Remember we are talking about secular Israelis, not religious ones.
One could say that this is not a bad way to teach young secular Israeli children about their heritage… and what Torah and Mitzvos are all about. What takes place is described by the school's principal:
Principal of Ohel- Shem High School in Ramat Gan, Adam Kniksberg, said Monday at a session of the Knesset Education, Culture, and Sports Committee, that religious “missionaries” from Bnei Brak, that have as of late become part of the school environment, have started influencing its students little by little.
“They start off by instituting prayer sessions at the school, then move on to lessons in Judaism and keeping kosher at a nearby synagogue, and the end result is, at times, students who leave the school and do not enlist in the IDF”
A great Kiruv ploy - one might think. Leaving out the issue of not serving in the IDF and acknowledging the fact that this principal seems to be anti-religious… what could possibly be wrong with this?
Well, I am unsure that a tactic of by-passing parents in being Mekarev adolescents is such a good idea. By bribing these young people to be religious they might be creating sudden discord in the home. Bribes are almost in the category of ‘shoving religion down their throats’. It is never a good idea to create discord in family situations. That can tear a family apart. The goal of making a young person Frum can easily backfire and turn a child into a resentful adult who will blame religion for ruining his family. These rabbis from Bnei Brak might therefore in the end be accomplishing the opposite of their goals.
I don’t know what the success rate is in this kind of Kiruv. But even if some of those kids become Frum in the end, they might be making others into enemies of the Torah. Have they really accomplished their goals, then? Is it worth destroying a family to save a soul?
The whole thing sounds a bit underhanded to me.
One might be tempted to make comparisons to NCSY. After all there are many parents of NCSYers that are resentful of their children becoming religious. There too, conflict can result which may destroy a family.
But the comparison is inapt. NCSY is very careful to include the parents as much as possible and to make sure that no parent is ever disrespected in the process. But more importantly they do not bribe. They inspire. I think that makes a huge difference. The inspiration process is slower and there is more time for the parents to absorb what’s happening
Paying kids cash to learn is not the same as inspiring them to learn. It has no depth and can cause immediate friction. Inspiration is far more deeply rooted. Bribes might get kids into a classroom but without inspiration - the conflict that might result can make for tragic consequences.
There is however another issue, that of making available unused classroom space for prayer. If there are children who sincerely want to Daven in a secluded classroom, the school ought to accommodate them. By not allowing it, the school is just as guilty of shoving secularism down the throats of their students as the rabbis might be for trying to shove religion down their throats. In a Jewish state, thwarting the right to pray is pure evil.
Bottom line - I agree with Rabbi Melchior:
“I object to religious coercion, but also to secular coercion as well,” he stated. “If the prayer sessions do not disrupt the school there is nothing wrong with holding them, and those students who truly wish to pray ought to be aided.”
