There was never any real draw of knowledge. There was an era in American history when everyone felt they had to become more “American,” not realizing that the American “melting pot” ideal never could work out, especially for people like us who have a way of life that is far older and far richer than that of the “Americans.”
Many Jews, even those who wanted deep down to retain Yiddishkeit, succumbed to that ideology. There was never any attempt by anyone other than Rav Soloveichik and R’ Bernard Revel to use madda as a tool for Yiddishkeit. For most, it was just a tool to keep Yiddishkeit palatable enough during an era of assimilation for the sake of conformity.
The one YU rabbi I know who fell for the madda trap preached to deaf ears – and rightfully so. He faded away and sold out for an easy position after starting off as a vocal advocate for Jewish issues. No one of any integrity wanted to listen to what he had to say.
I have suffered far more for wont of a good plumber or electrician than I have from not having access to a good doctor. I can figure out the results of a blood test, or even get online and figure out what I have, and get hold of medication on my own. I cannot fix even a simple leak without spending time that I don’t have and money on tools I’ll use once and then lose track of. With Obamacare looming, and engineering jobs (another formerly good field for frum Yidden) moving to India, I think some people ought to use their minds for learning at night and their hands for working during the day. What’s more, with surgery becoming more automated, I have no problem with Ramesh from Mumbai operating on me (I am now in Asia and I plan to have minor elective surgery done here by a local doctor because it’s something a mohel or even a cosmetician can handle), but if I were building or renovating a home, I’d prefer that the complex plumbing and heating systems of today be installed by a Yid with a Yiddishe kop.