I was somewhat surprised that no one responded to Chagai Raviv's provocative post regarding differences between the education offered in the Israeli dati le'umi community in contrast with that found in American Modern Orthodox high schools. Is it true that American schools focus is largely on grades and college acceptance, while Israeli schools foster a sense of ideals and commitment?
As a former American day school teacher and a current parent of children in the Israeli educational system I cannot deny that there is a kernel of truth to his statement, although I am reluctant to paint either side with a broad brush. Leaving aside my own anecdotal observations, I was struck by this recent assessment of the differences between the two groups that appeared in the Jerusalem Post under the title: "US Orthodoxy and fear of the arts - How can a society that crams the classes of law schools and medical schools barely yield a single poet or painter?"
Excerpt:
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Understandably, Orthodox parents steer their children into lucrative professions rather than encouraging them to do what they love (and I include the sciences as well). The word muse is not part of their vocabulary. Even the rabbinate and Jewish pedagogy are spurned by the best and brightest, as these do not pay enough to make Jewish life affordable. It shows in the quality of American rabbis and day-school teachers who, with a few noteworthy exceptions, are distressingly average.
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See it in full at [
www.jpost.com]
Shalom Z. Berger
The Lookstein Center for Jewish Education
Bar-Ilan University
