Shas’ Mayan Chinuch Education Network has made the move, apparently in light of bleak fiscal realities. It has signed a deal with the Ministry of Education and Finance Ministry that will introduce a secular curriculum into its schools, permitting its schools to receive full state funding. The deal was signed by Mayan Chinuch CEO Yosef Buso, which commits the Sephardi chareidi education network to full transparency towards the government ministries as well as agreeing to comply with the education curriculum prepared by state education officials.
In the last school year the Shas network was home to 35,000 students in 173 schools, ending the 2012 school year with a 10 million NIS deficit.
As a result, school inspectors monitoring secular education will now be state officials exclusively, not necessarily chareidim; towards monitoring the schools are in compliance with the public school curriculum. With regard to limudei Kodesh, Shas will maintain total autonomy without state intervention.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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15 Responses
So will they teach Israel civics that show how the secular Ashkenazi saved the Sefardi from being ignorant middle eastern rummies?
The Sefardim don’t have enough rich cousins to bail them out, so surrendering as little as possible makes sense. Conscription is a bigger threat to them, and will be interesting to see what sort of compromise they’ll settle for.
Akuperma – as a Jew of Middle Eastern descent, I am extremely offended by your callous and senseless drivel.
Rich cousins to bail them out? Are Sefardic Jews now lacking in funds?? Furthermore, is that what Tzedaka is considered in your eyes?? Bailing out?? Shame on you!
Do you think before you type? I am aware that commenting on EVERY topic on YWN is your full time job, but sometimes just think please before your spew utter garbage.
To akuperma…
I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live. The Sefaradi jews chose life it is the Ashkenazi jew who chose death by making it their mission to eradicate any trace of religion and holiness from the Sefaradi jews. Learn your history.
unfortunately the s’fardim (ie deri) are mostly interested in getting more money than maintaining a pure Torah education (at least externally).
Until this far they have managed to imitate the Litvish cheder, but now without Moran they are making a wrong turn.
“schools are in compliance with the public school curriculum”
This is a huge step for good. Charedi schools teach secular curricula in return for government funding in most of the world. This is MUCH more important than army service.
“The Sefardim don’t have enough rich cousins to bail them out”
Funny that you should say that given that historically the Sefardim in Eretz Yisrael were always self supporting while the more recent Ashkenazi olim who formed the Old Yishuv never were, having to rely on tzedakah from Europe (and later from America).
Am i the only happy one to hear they will be receiving a secular education. Now well really see if ax+b or full sentences really sucks the neshama out of you.
Many of the Shas schools and Chinuch Atzmai schools have been teaching core subjects (math, english, science) for years in the elementary grades.
The question is what to do with civics, can it be taught by a Religious teacher and curriculum devised by the school? Some schools are going with that choice and BH why shouldnt they receive the funds due them.
This article seems to be wrong. The head of Maayam hachinuch claims there will be no changes in the curriculum. See Kikar.
aka pooka baal teshavooka
I must say your posts get more and more sick every time I come to this site
Math and science is against the Torah? On the contrary, the knowledge would enhance someone’s learning and may actually contribute to their ability to (I don’t know if I can say this four letter word without insulting some people)….oh well, here goes…..W O R K.
BS”D
I would like to ask Akuperma to please reply to #2 and #3 — the way I understood Akuperma’s comments is to suggest with some sarcasm that the secular curriculum will consist of the State’s party line that 60-plus years ago the State helped “save” the Sefardim from their so-called primitiveness and ignorance (i.e., those were attributes ascribed to the Sefardim by the secular Askenizic establishment). I also understood that Akuperma was suggesting that Shas did not need to give in to the financial pressure of running a deficit at their schools since surely there are in fact many wealthy Sefardi donors worldwide who could come in and help the situation thus obviating the need for Shas to make such a deal with the State. I think that these are two fair points (and favorable to the Sefardi perspective albeit critical of the deal that Shas just concluded with the State).
After I read the comments of #2 and #3 though, I’m thinking that maybe I misunderstood what Akuperma was saying.
“So will they teach Israel civics that show how the secular Ashkenazi saved the Sefardi from being ignorant middle eastern rummies?”
Will they teach that most of the Sphardim arrived religious, but could not give their children a religious education because the frum had quotas against them (like only 2 per class – in the back)?
“Until this far they have managed to imitate the Litvish cheder, but now without Moran they are making a wrong turn.”
The Sephardic world has always been inclusionary and less polar, unlike Ashkenazim. Sephardim don’t do “all or nothing” the way Ashkenazim do.
GeshmakMan: I gather you must be very obviously Sefardi so that people clean up their speech in front of you. Let me tell you what they say behind your back:
The fact is that the people who run Eretz Yisrael, meaning the secular upper class Ashkenazim, regard the Afro-Asian Jews as having been primitive and backwards, and believe that they rescued them for the depths of ignorance, poverty and depravity. That isn’t how frum Jews see history, but we only winners write the history books, and we haven’t won (yet).
“The fact is that the people who run Eretz Yisrael, meaning the secular upper class Ashkenazim, regard the Afro-Asian Jews as having been primitive and backwards, and believe that they rescued them for the depths of ignorance, poverty and depravity.”
Many chraidim also felt that way. For example, Sephardim were sometimes not counted in a minyan.
“That isn’t how frum Jews see history”
Not now openly, but back then they did.
Everyone views history in a way convenient for themselves.