Jewish Literacy, Part I
By Rabbi Dr. Wallace Greene
The state of Jewish education is not in good shape.
We've known Rabbi Greene since 1979 when he served as principal of the Hebrew Youth Academy of Essex County (now known as the Joseph Kushner Hebrew Academy.)The following article is right up our alley. The state of Jewish education is not in good shape.
We quote from the opening portion of the article and invite you to read it on line.In the words of the old Chinese curse, we live in interesting times. Never before in Jewish history have so many people been engaged in Torah study across the globe. Never before in Jewish history have so many Jewish schools operated. Yet at the same time, despite all of this Jewish learning taking place, there are legions of Jews who are abysmally ignorant of their heritage, and myriads of children who receive no Jewish education at all or only a smattering barely sufficient for the bar/bat mitzvah rite de passage.
We can't agree more with this assessment. Read the full article ejewishphilanthropy.comThe positive results can be seen in the numbers and the quality of highly educated men and women who are not professional rabbis or educators and who continue their studies lishma. Often this cadre has spent a year or two of post-high school intensive study in Israel. All over the world there are ongoing shiurim at all hours, chavruta study, Daf Yomi classes, lectures, batei midrash for retirees, etc. The level of discourse in Torah by baalei batim who are businessmen, electricians, lawyers, physicians, retirees, housewives, pharmacists, tradesmen, professionals, etc., is quite elevated. At the same time, the abysmal ignorance displayed by the masses of Jews today is deplorable and directly responsible for the plague of assimilation and intermarriage.
Your comments are welcome.
The Alisa Fund for Jewish Education accepts contributions. Checks may be mailed to the Jewish Community Foundation, 901 Route 10, Whippany, NJ 07981.
