[Avodah] The Vilna Gaon and Secular Studies

[Prof. Levine]

At 06:05 AM 4/10/2018, Marty Bluke wrote:
>And Modern Orthodoxy which does learn a complete secular studies 
>curriculum has at least as high a drop out rate then Satmar if not 
>higher and even among those who do remain their level of observance 
>is not necessarily that high. See for example the following study 
><http://listserv.biu.ac.il/cgi-bin/wa?A2=LOOKJED;4e21c035.1801p>http://listserv.biu.ac.il/cgi-bin/wa?A2=LOOKJED;4e21c035.1801p 
>which has as one of it's conclusions the following disturbing statement:
>"All this relates to practice, so that it would be fair to say that, 
>when the dust settles, the graduates of Yeshiva high schools are 
>largely Orthoprax."

I am not claiming that the study of secular subjects is any sort of 
guarantee that one will remain religious.  The reasons for someone to 
give up observance or to water down their observance are complex.

However,  for many reasons it is important to have a basic secular 
education.  One of them is to open up some opportunities to earn a living.

And let me be clear,  I am not talking about a "Harvard"  secular 
education.  But I see no reason why someone born in the US should not 
be able to speak,  read and write English.

I have an Op Ed  piece that will appear in this week's Jewish Press 
on the topic of secular subjects in chassidic yeshivas.  In part it reads

Does it make sense that a Bar Mitzvah boy who is born in America 
cannot read English on an 8th grade level?  Cannot read an 8th grade 
science book and write a report in acceptable English about what he 
has read? Cannot speak English properly?  Knows nothing about the 
history of this country and cannot relate, at least briefly, what 
happened during the Revolutionary War and the civil War?  Has the 
mathematics skills of a 3rd grader at best? Does not have a basic 
knowledge of science and hence has no idea of how, say,  the 
digestive system works?  (BTW,  one way appreciating the wonders of 
HaShem is to study how some of the systems in our bodies work.)  Has 
no real knowledge of how our government works?   I think not.

Parents do not have a blanket right to determine the education of 
their children.  Would you say that a parent has a right to send his 
child to a school that preaches Antisemitism and prejudice? Also, 
based on my experience as an educator for over 50 years,  I have to 
say that parents do not always know what is best for their children 
educationally.  Choosing to enroll one's sons in a school that does 
not give a basic secular education is a very poor choice.  Also, 
having a school that does not give a basic secular education is 
against the law as is clear from my recent Jewish Press article.

Boys have to be equipped with an education that prepares them to earn 
a living to support a family.  How many boys who attend a Hassidic 
yeshiva actually earn a basic high school diploma let alone a Regents diploma?

YL
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