According to 29-year-old Chaim Glick, learning mathematics in school when he was younger would have indeed been a waste of time. He explains that ‘when one wishes to enter into a university, he has to learn everything over in any event,” referring the intense studying required prior to taking the psychometric exam, a prerequisite to entering into a university.
Glick is a resident of Elad, and he is working towards a bachelor’s in computer science. A number of months ago, he took the psychometric and scored an impressive 730.
Glick entered a program for chareidi men in the Michlelet Yerushalayim, preparing him for the exam. The 29 others who attended class with him on the average scored above the national average. 70% passed the 400 mark. (The national average for earning over 400 is 50%). Four of them scored over 700, representing 15%, as compared to the national average of 5%.
While the daily Haaretz reported on the above average scores, the secular media is quick to report that this is too small a number to draw any conclusions regarding the [success of the] chareidi community as a whole.
Glick, a Nadvorna Chossid explains that he and his chareidi colleagues have an advantage. He explains that most of the people entering the preparatory course have a basic knowledge of math and perhaps English, on a third grade level, but what they do have in abundance is ambition and motivation. “You must remember we are all married, and have homes and families. We are required to invest hours and hours of studying at home.” Glick adds that when his wife went to the hospital to deliver a baby, he was outside reciting Tehillim and then he took out his box of 500-600 flash cards and began studying his English vocabulary.
Ehud Tzeletner, the director of the EZ WAY program which prepares the chareidim, explains the program is an entirely different world. He explains that for the chareidim it is easier to grasp the material due to the years of study in beis medresh, gemara and other Torah subjects, which prepares their minds – now with an ability to learn and absorb on a higher level that others.
Ironically, the report comes this week when the Knesset passed the Talmud Torah Law which circumvents a Supreme Court ruling, permitting state funding for talmedei torah even though they do not accept the state public school curriculum which includes the general studies subjects. The passing of the law generated a harsh condemnation of the chareidim for rejecting the curriculum and for ‘depriving their children of a true education’.
(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)
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10 Responses
We knew it all along that
תורה מחכימת פתי
the Torah mikes one wise.
So, here is the nswer for all you secular/MO types who support the Israeli Education Ministry in its drive to impose Israeli Public School standards on Chareidi Education.
It has always been a Dirty Little Secret that most of what passes for education in the Public School System is nothing more than Socialization and Indoctrination into the prevailing secular/Zionist values of the State.
Real Vocational Education for making a living doesn’t all that much time and can be easliy accomplished by anyone who has mastered the discipline of learning Gemora.
well it sure proves s/t to the chilonim–let them see us in a diff light for a change
It seems to me that all this means is that chareidim send their best and brightest to take the psychometric exam. There is nothing wrong with doing that, but it also is no indictive of anything either. BTW #3 the correct translation of the posuk to which you refer is “Torah makes the foolish wise.” It’s a pasuk which challanges the underpinigs of my religious faith.
#5- are you a statistician to tell us that the sample size is too small????? Why do you have to turn a kiddush hashem into a numbers game??!!
While the daily Haaretz reported on the above average scores, the secular media is quick to report that this is too small a number to draw any conclusions regarding the [success of the] chareidi community as a whole.
TRUE TRUE, glad to hear that some Charadeim are taking the test for university, shows that they are motivated and probably a tad smarter that the average. Would help to teach english, math and a touch of science, and some workmanship coursed to all yeshiva ketanas!!! Let’s make the change, in the ole shtiel you didnt need to paint, change washers, do basic electric work or balance your check book monthly. Chinuch from Yisroel Saba adopts to the times.
Don’t be afraid to use your common sense please.
A Yeshiva Ben-Torah, who has toiled for years with the discipline of Gemora is way ahead of his Public School peers, not only in Israel, but here in the U.S. too.
Small sample?–Here in the good ole USA, it is an open secret that Yeshivos score much better in state tests.
The truth is that most of what the Public Schools teach is worthless fluff, designed to keep active youngsters out of the job market to avoid competition with union labor.
It’s a baby-sitting service, and smart kids catch on fast. They become bored with the junk that is being shoveled at them and are labeled ADD and given Ritalin tranquilzers to pacify them.
The public school system in Israel is a violence-ridden place, and even secular Russian immigrants gladly remove their children and place them in Hareidi SHUVU schools to get some relief.
So why don’t we propose that the Israeli government reduce by 40% the per-capita support given to those schools that don’t have a traditional (talmud-centered)curriculum.
There is a dangerous message here. It is implying that skills for parnasa, or to be educated in general, can be acquired quickly and at the “last minute”. This is a falsehood and not recommended. Education, whether in Hebrew or English, is hierarchical. The fact is, the overwhelming number of young people in our community who want/need parnasa in a certain area, do not qualify or have the skills to do an adequate job in the workplace. Yes, there are exceptions. The exception pool is small and has not grown, and the people talking about the exceptions are not near the achievers of the exceptions they are putting forth as examples.
Psychometrics missed the point
– If you are taking a psychometrics exam, you are already in the self-selected group.
So this applies to BOTH the Charedim and others.
It shows the fraud of the ordinary educational system.
In re unions motivating – you are forgetting that there are Teachers Unions as well, very powerful, with vested interests, and in the US interwoven with the gay movement leadership.
In the US, these folks fight all parent control, attack home education, etc.
Even non-Jewish home education is better then public schools here, and the data supports it.
What is taught by a full year at a public school can be taught in one tenth of the time.
So yes, public schools are pretty much a waste of time at best, and openly harmful in general.