Is It the Education or the Culture?

Moshe Krakowski is a native of Chicago (whose father I know quite well). As he is an expert in Jewish education I am reluctant to take issue with him. I am clearly not in his league with respect to Jewish educational expertise

And the truth is that I do not really dispute the observations he articulates in a Forward article. Therein he says that there is ample evidence that the secular education provided in the Chasidic schools that are so often criticized – do not warrant that criticism. The fact is that they do provide their children with a secular education. And the even though very little time is spent on it they do get a basic grounding in core subjects - although Moshe admits that there is no real data which exists to support this assertion. 

He bases his opinion on what he observed and gave examples of how some of those subjects are taught. He also disputes the poverty statistics often quoted about Chasidic communities (used as a measure of their educational failures). He says using poverty statistics is misleading since it is measured by income per family size. So that with the large families typical of these communities a $100,000 annual income might still place them at the poverty level. 

Moshe’s bottom line is that the Chasidic schools are not as bad educationally as they are made out to be.  And although he does not attribute nefarious motives to their critics he sees the problem as a cultural one. I have no reason to question his observations or his evaluations. 

The truth is that the problem is cultural. And that has a bearing on the educational paradigm. Just to take one example he uses as proof that the problem is cultural, the fact that English is taught as a second language is why they make spelling and grammar mistakes. And not because they are not properly taught English.

But one must ask why Yiddish is taught as a first language and English as a second language? Why is that a value?

I have been told by ‘insiders’ that they consider speaking English too well as Chukas HaGoy. Jews should have their own language (Yiddish). For the Chasidic community the purpose of the language of the land  is only so that they can function in it. The imperfect English is a desired result. They look at their Yiddish accent with pride. But to the untrained ear they sound illiterate.

There are other issues that are problematic. Which Moshe glosses over. For example he admits that in most cases the secular curriculum in Chasidic schools ends in 8th  or 9th grade. Does an elementary school education really prepare one to live in a 21st century world? ...even if it is a top notch one let alone one as ‘basic’ as he describes?

He indicates that apparently it is since Touro, a college that is designed primarily for the religious world is routinely filled with Chasidim that have attended these schools. But the word ‘filled’ is misleading. There may be a lot of Chasidim in Touro. But I would guess that there is an exponentially greater number of them that are not. And would not succeed there even if they wanted to. All Moshe showed is that there are a lot of bright people that can skip high school and do well in college and in some cases even attend ivy league schools! 

There is another thing that warrants discussion. He uses a ‘happiness’ scale as a means to justify their outcome. I agree that leading a happy life is one important goal of education. But it is not the only goal. One must live in the real world. They may lead isolated lives. But that does not mean they do not ever need to leave their bubble. As the most religious looking members of the Jewish people it behooves them to not be seen as illiterate. It behooves people born in the United states not to sound like immigrants. It behooves them to show the world that their education is world class and not just utilitarian to their own cultural needs. This is what is missing.

I would add that despite what Moshe describes as an adequate education for purposes of happiness is arguable. While it is true that most Chasdim are happy with their lot, I would argue this is because of a culture where everyone is seen like family. There is a lot of warmth in communities like that. People help each other out there. No one is ever left to fend for themselves. Being happy is not about what kind of education you get.


There have been many Chasidim that complain believing that they - or their children have been cheated out of an education. Although some are open about it most are in the closet about it for fear of the communal consequences about such complaints

I therefore submit that the cultural problem is responsible for an educational problem that persists despite protestations to the contrary - even if made by an educational expert like Moshe Krakowski. The culture needs to be changed to one that does not see evil everywhere they turn outside of their own community and treats a core secular subject like English as more than a necessary evil.