Last week, many talmidei torah around Eretz Yisrael received a letter from the Education Ministry informing them they must begin giving the nationwide achievement test given in public schools. Gedolei Yisrael Shlita have forbidden talmidei torah from participating in the exams.
The heads of the mosdos were outraged upon receiving the letter and stated they were determined to adhere to the instructions of gedolei yisrael. In the interim, MK Moshe Gafne used his connections and experience to work behind the scenes and on Sunday, 26 Shevat, a letter was received from senior ministry official Ofir Tal, informing them the letter sent earlier about the achievement tests was sent in error and is to be disregarded.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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9 Responses
Could someone explain why they object to providing their students’ test results if they are receiving funding from the government? The article is a bit unclear as to why they are so upset.
Dear editor – do you not know that the plural of Talmud Torah is Talmudei Torah? Not Talmidei Torah? Talmidei would be referring to the Talmidim, the students, not the Talmud, the school.
Western schooling is designed to separate an elite from those designated as unelite. The idea is that only the elite will benefit from education. The introduction of exams was actually an improvement, since before than being part of the elite was largely determined by yihus (family ties, whether you were a nobleman, etc.).
Among Jews, our tradition is that learning Torah is the right of everyone, from the Gadol ha-Dor’s brilliant grandson, to the child of the Am ha’Aretz with Downs Syndrome, and everyone else in between.
But in the zionist state, if you want to get paid by he who calls the tune, you can expect to play his tune, not ours.
Why not testing?
Most Yeshivos in USA implement changes according to testing results. Testing in schools is similiar to a yearly health exam – informing dr (principal) & patient (Talmid) what the strengths & weakness of the system.
If Gafne doesn’t like the achievement tests of the Ministry then have him design his own –
You take money from the government, you follow the government’s rules. Refusing to follow the rules just creates more resentment of charedim.
If the government subjects you to its taxation, the government must pay your children’s education like anyone else’s without giving it the right to override parent’s religious or other preferences in how they choose to educate their children. If the government doesn’t want to pay for some children’s education, exempt them from being subject to government taxation.
$5- Excellent argument for rejecting the medinah. The medinah wants to act contrary to Torah. That’s why many hareidim think the hareidim shold continue to explore post-zionist alternatives. I doubt King Abdullah would object to us running our schools according to traditional Jewish principles. But at least you seem ready to admit, that the government’s funding of hareidi institutions is designed to force the hareidim to give up on traditional Torah values.
#6 Lior – “Must”? Hmm, the US doesn’t seem to agree – they are happy to take tax $$$ from those who send their children to unsubsidized religious schools.
And to #5 and #7 – Just because you don’t take government funds does not mean you don’t have to follow government rules. As a child growing up in the US, I recall needing to take standardized tests given by the government (not sure if it was State or Federal – I was only in elementary school at the time), despite our not getting government funding. Face it – you live in a country, you’re subject to its oversight and laws, whether you like them or not. The hogwash about “We only allow Gedolim to determine how we run our system” is a position Jews would never dare take in any other country – and any other country would only wait until they stopped laughing at the ridiculousness of such position before absolutely rejecting such a position.
Having a dialogue to make sure there’s no Kefira is absolutely legitimate. But testing on Math and Language skills is not Kefira.
an Israeli Yid
“Among Jews, our tradition is that learning Torah is the right of everyone, from the Gadol ha-Dor’s brilliant grandson, to the child of the Am ha’Aretz with Downs Syndrome, and everyone else in between.”
Unfortunately, many mosdos don’t practice this. If this were the case, schools would accept all talmidim equally on a first come first served basis until they reach capacity. The fact that the mosdos try and gauge who is more worthy to enter their institutions, whether it’s by brilliance, yichus, or money… demonstrates that even yeshivos cater towards the elite (or to whom they believe to be elite).