Beginning with the next school year, girl’s high schools (Ulpanot) will be permitted to teach Gemara as per the decision of Education Minister Rabbi Shai Piron regarding the states religious public schools.
Education Ministry Director-General Dalit Stauber added she does not plan to compel anyone to study Gemara, and the program will require a request from at least 50% of the parents of girls in a school.
Piron explains his decision, which he feels seeks to prevent discrimination and to acknowledge the different hashkafos in the religious community. He feels a request to learn Gemara reflects on the different backgrounds of students, boys and girls alike, attending the state’s religious schools.
Ministry officials report during recent years an increasing number of girls have expressed interest in learning Gemara.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
Join the official YWN WhatsApp status
17 Responses
Rabbi Kook was dead set against this. But the religious zionists today conveiently dont care much of what Rabbi Kook holds when theyd rather do otherwise.
he just doesn’t aknowledge the hashkafos of the charedi community. very open minded he is.
Oh, I can’t wait for people’s wonderful comments now!
I think we can safely now the “Rabbis” of Yesh Atid are exactly the reason Rav Chaim Zonnenfels z”l was so against changing traditional chinuch. I am certain Rav Kook z”l would never, ever approve such nonsense in Israeli education. It’s time for Piron to tell us exactly who gave him smicha.
This will damage the girls’ neshamos. Women are on too high a spiritual level to learn gemara.
Allowing parents and students to make decisions is very “unIsraeli”. Israel is infamous for “top down” decision making.
The substance is open to debate and is best decided by the individual families with their own personal halachic authorities – not the central government deciding for them
SimchaG
“It’s time for Piron to tell us exactly who gave him smicha.”
Vesamach yado al rosh hapar.
#4 – He received smicha from harav Mordechai Eliyahu at the age of 26.
Wow! AK wrote something that is actually true and makes sense!
It certainly IS open to debate. R’ Yoshe Ber felt there was nothing wrong with girls learning gemara in today’s day and age. In fact, he gave a shiur at Stern College on the first day it was taught.
Oh, wait. He was a Tzioni. According to most people here, he would not count.
ha, ha ,ha, they have come to realize the importance of limud torah. They take the boys out of yeshiva, so the girls will have to do the learning. Wait… wasn’t that what Paroh also did, didn’t he also switch genders to do each others jobs?
Yanky55 — I never said tzionim don’t count as frum. In fact, the zioni rabbanim do a very good job at learning and writing sefarim. Indeed, if the zionim got out of this “medinah” business and stuck to learning and writing sefarim, we would all be better off.
#5 Shazam, explain how women are on a higher spiritual level. Why I ask is because I recently read a 5 page article in a frum magazine regarding this question. People say this phrase as easily as pouring water out of a faucet but defining the importance of tznious and humbleness is becoming difficult to teach to children. No, I am not against tznious, we just need to improve way we convey that message. My second point regards why people are so blatantly against girls learning gemorah. I prefer my daughters not to learn it but I’m not going to go screaming in all the seminaries who now teach it. Rather, I will continue to question why girls know more about the parsha than my boys. Or the mitzvah of Challah, as some men do bake on erev shabbos.
#11 akuperma, you are right on the mark!
#11- I didn’t say YOU consider Tzionim as not frum. I said MOST posters here seem to think that.
“WE would all be better off” if they stuck to learning? Please tell me how YOU would be better off if R’ Yoshe Ber did not express his support for the State? It was precisely the Holocaust (you know, that annoyance thing) that persuaded him to change his views from the Agudah anti-Medina position to the pro-Zionist position.
OH GUYS,,,cool your jets!!!
Many girls school learn Gemorrah even now, they receive Xerox copies of the daf, with underlined ‘mar mekomos’ and it is read, researched and compliments the Chumash, Halacha, Navi or Hashkafa shiur. BIG DEAL!!!!
Gemorrah is an integral part of our collective heritage. Collective. I can understand the objection if these girls were Catholics, but as part of the Jewish nation, they should be able to learn firsthand of their own heritage and culture if they express interest. How can you claim that learning is important for Am Yisroel, and at the same time claim that it isn’t important for 50% of the population?
Use the Steinsaltz Gemara