I just read a very thoughtful essay by my friend, Rabbi Shael Siegel on his blog, Rabbi Shael Speaks. It is in opposition to my essay on the subject of high school choices for one’s children. I very much appreciate his thoughts and point of view. But before I comment, I want to take the opportunity to tell my readership a bit about my very unusual friend. I hope I don’t embarrass him.
There is a phrase that I use quite a bit and seems almost cliché but I can’t help it. It applies here: My friend Shael is one of the most brilliant people I know. He was in Rabbi Aaron Soloveichik’s Smicha program along with me and he consistently “aced” all of his Bechinos. He was definitely one of the brighter students in a Shiur that incuded the equally brilliant 3 oldest sons of Rabbi Soloveichik, and quite a few other quite brilliant people. Aside from being brilliant, Shael is also one of the most non-conformist people I know. I will never forget how that non-conformism was defended by Rav Ahron when we were in the Smicha program there:
The time was the late sixties. Rabbi Siegel did not dress in the most Yeshivish of ways… to say the least! He had very long hair and a beard. And he used to dress in the anti-establishment look of the late sixties. Some might say his appearance fit right in with the “Chicago Seven” seven radicals who in 1969-70 went on trial accused of conspiring to incite a riot at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Of course Shael was nothing like them… but he looked like them.
That resulted in some parents complaining to the administration which in turn got him suspended from the Yeshiva by the Dean of Students, Dr Joseph Babad, …until he “cleaned up” his “look. When Rav Ahron found out about it, he went to Dr. Babad and told him that not only is Shael one of the top students in his Shiur, but that he is to be immediately reinstated and that Dr. Babad had to personally apologize to him.
That same non-conformism also induced Shael to make Aliyah and join the IDF during the first Lebanon War in ’82. He served as a captain and saw action there where he put his life on the line for the Jewish people. Truly a great human being.(He has since moved back and currently lives in Skokie, Illinois.)
Of course that non-conformism also means that he also does not follow your typical path in life. And that is in part, why I believe Rabbi Siegel has adopted an a-typical path, for an Orthodox Jew and Rabbi, in the education of his children. He is an intellectual, very thoughtful, and does not do anything without giving it thorough thought and analysis.
Although Shael is a good friend, and even though I admire and respect his views and his mind, he and I do not agree Hashkafically. He is far more liberal in his thinking than I am. I would characterize his views on Judaism to be on the far left of Orthodoxy (and he can correct me if I am wrong).
First let me state that despite his feelings about my essay, there is absolutely no condescension to the values of public school children per se. My post was silent on that issue. My concerns were strictly in the realm of the ability to retain Orthodox Jewish practice and belief. In my view it is unarguable that a public school is in any way conducive to that although it is possible, and does happen. But the odds are not in favor of it. And though Rabbi Seigel says his daughter was properly tutored, my concerns have nothing to do with the level of Torah and Judaic knowledge that can be achieved through tutoring. One could even argue that private tutoring can even achieve superior results. But I would retort that focusing the major part of the day on secular subjects does not in most cases leave sufficient time for the level of knowledge that could be achieved in a religious high school with a good curriculum taught by good teachers.
Another point Rabbi Siegel makes is that putting your children into an environment where-in their values can be tested (Nisyonos) is positive enterprise which builds character. But I would argue that it isn’t always the case. The Nisayon may overcome your child who will succumb to temptation. Is it really better to put your child into an environment where the influences and temptations are so great that a young, teenager would have to have near superhuman powers to resist them? That Rabbi Siegel succeeded with his daughter is no proof that others would. And in fact the evidence is quite to the contrary. Even if a student doesn’t succumb to all of the social ills usually present in today’s public schools, they will almost certainly at least succumb to the pressure to lessen Mitzvah observance. That Rabbi Siegel’s daughter didn’t lessen her own observance is a testament to her and to her parents and cannot be relied upon by every one in most cases.
Rabbi Seigel’s daughter is in that category of exceptions that I spoke of and in her case the concept of Chanoch L’Naar Al Pi Darkos applies. But it is a rare occurance, in my view that a child will emerge obsevant or in any real way knowledgable about their Judaism if they spend their teenage years in a public high school.
