Since 1952, Montreal’s Hasidic Yeshiva Toras Moshe high school has taught the ways of God and the Talmud to the exclusion of nearly everything else. Only five hours a week are dedicated to non-religious study. It has completely ignored several ultimatums from Quebec’s Education Ministry to change its curriculum and, by doing so, has become the poster child for reasonable accommodation run amok.
Now, however, it looks like Toras Moshe may be altering its ancient syllabus once and for all. You might call it peer pressure: two other Hasidic schools that have been fighting to keep their curricula intact recently announced that they will conform to Quebec’s education standards, and it looks like Toras Moshe may not be able to hold out on its own.
The Education Ministry recently gave Toras Moshe, as well as the Belz and Skver schools, until the fall to conform to provincial accreditation norms—meaning they must teach a minimum number of hours of non-religious subject matter. Belz and Skver, which are subsidized by the Quebec government, have both agreed to meet the government requests. Toras Moshe, which isn’t subsidized, hasn’t.
However, the school is in discussions with the province and will likely conform to the law once Belz and Skver have done so. School officials didn’t return calls, but a community spokesperson told Maclean’s that change is coming. “When the other two schools are settled, Yeshiva will begin negotiations,” he said. “Toras Moshe wants to come to a deal. I don’t know how, but we’ll do it.”
Alex Werzberger, a graduate of Toras Moshe and the ad hoc spokesperson for Montreal’s 17,000-strong Hasidic community, isn’t happy about the development. The Hasidic community, he points out, has managed to get this far without changing. “If it ain’t broke,” he says, “don’t fix it.”
(Source: Maclean’s Magazine)
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17 Responses
all praise almighty govt involvement in our private lives!!!!!
Shoin tzeit
This will benefit the student body to read, write and speak English (or French), be updated in the world of Math, Science and a bit of History.
“IT IS BROKE….so FIX it!!!!’
I guess they just don’t have the same MesirAs NeFesh as the Volozhner Rosh Yeshiva, The NETZI”V, who closed the Yeshiva, rather than alter its mission of full-time Torah.
“If it ain’t broke,” he says
That’s why the Gov wants the schools to learn more
5 hours per WEEK of combined math, science, English, history, phys ed, music, and art?
Sounds “broke” to me.
A good argument against accepting government money.
It ain’t broke? Obviously it is!
When are we going to learn the 2 basic rules of “Dina D’malchusa Dina”, and “Im Ein Kemach, Ein Torah”!
if you want to live in Galus, then you must follow the rules. Otherwise, come back to Israel, where you can learn Torah 24 hours a day without Government intervention.
If you ask the government to give you money, sooner or later the government tells you want to do. Next time your local day school is trying to support government aid to remember to frum schools, remember the price (and if you don’t have any kids in school, send in the money to Mr. Obama or Mr. Patterson won’t).
The arguments in #8 (that it’s broke) would be viable only if the frum community in Montreal is noted for exteme poverty. That is not the case.
“Otherwise, come back to Israel, where you can learn Torah 24 hours a day without Government intervention”. —NO COMPLAINTS THAT THERE IS NO FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE to the schools or aid to the student body either.
“I guess they just don’t have the same MesirAs NeFesh as the Volozhner Rosh Yeshiva, The NETZI”V, who closed the Yeshiva, rather than alter its mission of full-time Torah.”
Not true … look into the history of what really happened … the Netziv agreed to teach secular, and taught it to the bare minimum. The gov’t then decided that they didn’t like it (the netziv was cheapining out, so to speak), so they shut down Volozhen, contrary to what Artscroll may tell you
‘ lo huashiris min huimnus v’lo huanies min huimnus’. there are more rih people who went to yeshivas , than tose who went to ollegaes
#8 ..and when are you going to learn to apply properly mamrei chazal? ‘dinei demachusei dina’ doesnt apply to this situation. ‘im ein kemach ein torag ‘ got me stumped. what youre trying to say?
To all you detractors just wait till the US Govt wants us to teach thing in our yeshivas that go against halocha or against yiddishkeit. Dont think it cant happen!
I hope we have the guts to tell the govt to go to someplace hot and I dont mean florida!
From my understanding the ONLY yeshivas left today which have absolutley NO secular studies at all, are Lubavitch yeshivas. If I am not mistaken, that includes the yeshiva in Montreal too.
It definitley is the case with their yeshivas in NY, NJ, CT etc. The others always give the kids the option not to have any Eng, even in first grade!
#16 see #13
I propose they give more money and respect to their wives and daughters and Jewish women in general and the government will not ask them to change anything. Tehilim #78