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| Chasidic school bus (YWN) |
I get their point. Parents should have the right to educate their children as they see fit. Especially as it pertains to religious education - as a matter of the First Amendment. I support that too. But requiring a secular curriculum does not deny them that right. If it did, no New York Yeshiva would offer it. And yet even some right wing Yeshiva high schools do. Some even require their students to take the Regents Exam before they graduate high school. So the claim they are being denied their religious rights by requiring those courses is patently false.
What the defenders of that right ignore is that the issue here is not only about the right of Chasidim to perpetuate ignorance if they so choose. It is also about how the fastest growing segment of Orthodox Jews present themselves to the world. It isn't only about them. It is about all those of us that call ourselves observant! The idea being that the most religious looking Jews among us ought not intentionally remain ignorant of something as basic as the English language.
Speaking English should not only be about others understanding what we are saying. It ought to also be about sounding intelligent when we speak. The opposite of which is often obvious in their public op-eds or the like. Some I have read are pretty embarrassing. (And no - I am not talking about the occasional typo which one may actually find in this very post!)
By refusing to teach English composition the Chasidic community perpetuates an image of observant Jewry which says the more religious you are, the more ignorant you are. Orthodox Jews ought not sound ignorant when they speak. Or when they put pen to paper.
Making matters worse is the following from YWN:
...the New York State Education Department showing massive increases in the number of students enrolled in yeshivos over the past 20 years.
In September 2001, yeshivos had fewer than 100,000 students, yet by September 2021, those numbers rose to more than 160,000 – a staggering 60% increase. That jump is largely being attributed to a 200% increase in Yeshiva students in Orange County and a 144% increase in Rockland County – the counties of Kiryas Joel and Monsey, respectively.
As the Chasidic community keeps growing, so too to does the image of ignorance among observant Jews.
The right might argue that ignorance is not defined by how well one speaks the language. That may be true. But when an entire community that keeps growing at an extremely rapid rate does that, they appear ignorant to the rest of the world.
They might argue that in the eyes of God, the only thing that matters is how observant one is and how much Torah they know. Who cares what ‘the Goyim’ think?! ...since they probably hate us anyway.
But it does matter what ‘the Goyim’ think of us. The Torah says that we should portray ourselves as a wise nation. Sounding ignorant achieves the opposite. And it isn’t only about the Goyim. It is about what secular Jews might think. Sounding ignorant is not any way to win them over to an observant lifestyle. It instead sets their values apart from the values of secular Jews. While there may be some secular Jews that are inspired by certain aspects of Chasidus and don’t care how well they speak English, speaking English poorly is not a winning strategy.
Another thing the right argues is the following:
“Nowhere in the proposed regulations is there any mention of the need to take into account the educational value of religious studies,”
“By ignoring this essential component of yeshiva education, the proposed new regulations may result in yeshivas having to make major changes to their school day schedules … this is entirely unacceptable.” The group insists that the yeshivas’ rigorous and lengthy daily schedule of study in Bible, Mishna and Talmud should have its scholarly value count towards the “substantial equivalency” requirement.
I reject that argument. True, a Yeshiva curriculum has educational benefits that in some aspects surpass what is acquired in a secular curriculum. But the analytical skills learned in a Yeshiva is not the way to measure substantial equivalency. The best way to determine that is to subject Yeshiva students to same tests given in public schools. (Perhaps adjusted for cultural differences. I'm not sure.) To the extent that a Yeshiva’s religious curriculum contributes to that - more power to them. But that is what needs to be done to assure equivalency in my view. Anything else short changes them.
The rapid growth of Yeshiva enrollment means a rapid growth in the perceived ignorance of observant Jewry. The one subject where that shows up the most is the English language.
The fact is that an increasing number of Chasidic Jews can barely compose a grammatically correct essay. Nor because they are stupid. But because their Chasidic leaders do not want them to learn the English language well enough to do so.
I have been told by someone I trust who discussed it with a Chasidic Rebbe that they see speaking English too well (let alone writing an intelligent article in the English language) as Chukas HaGoy – a Halacha that requires us to refrain from emulating gentile practices.
Most Poskim understand that to mean practices that will lead us to sin . But certain Rebbes of large Chasidic sects consider any practice that is not specifically Jewish to be Chukas HaGoy. Including speaking English too well. Chasidim are instead tasked with learning it as a second language - well enough to communicate what they need to the outside world. Beyond that – it is Chukas HaGoy.
This is what Orthodox right is defending. The right to be the fastest growing segment of our world and present themselves as ignorant to the culture in which we live. If this is anyblody’s idea of a Kiddush HaShem, I’d like to know how sounding ignorant does that.
The primary goal in requiring a secular studies curriculum is for reasons of Parnassa - getting a job that will provide for their families. Getting a decent education will better enable them to do that.
But the way Chasidim present themselves to the world is no small matter. Especially considering their stunning growth. And yet organizations like Agudah don’t seem to care about that. Even while their own leadership took full advantage of that kind of education in the Yeshivos they attended. Some of whom became professionals.
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard people on the right advocating for the rights of Chasidic Yeshivas to keep their status quo say something like, ‘Of course I would never educate my own children that way. But people have the right to educate their children as they see fit.’
Well if this education is not good enough for their own children they should not - in my view - be fighting to for the right to deny Chasidic children the opportunity they give their own children.
Nuff said!
