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<DIV><FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" face=Arial color=#000000
size=2>RAM writes:<BR>>> But the OP, <BR>as posted, seems to include
a hava mina that RYBS's psak might go so <BR>far as to suggest that I'd consider
sacrificing my child's -- or <BR>someone else's child's -- chinuch in order to
avoid supporting a non-<BR>Orthodox day school. And I, for one, am not willing
to consider that <BR>option.<<<BR><BR>Akiva Miller</FONT></DIV><FONT
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<DIV><FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" face=Arial color=#000000
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<DIV><FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" face=Arial color=#000000
size=2>>>>>></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" face=Arial color=#000000
size=2>You think that keeping the kid out of the non-O day school would
"sacrifice his chinuch"? The opposite is true. Keeping him /in/ the
non-O school would sacrifice his chinuch. Do not think, "The non-O
school provides a good chinuch but we don't want to show support for
non-O." Rather, as bad as the chinuch might be in public school, the
education in a non-O day school is /even worse/. In public school he won't
learn anything about Judaism at all and will be left a tabula rasa, for his
parents or outside tutors to fill in later. In the non-O school he will
learn all kinds of sheker, which will be exceedingly difficult to eradicate from
his mind later on. Much harder to write on a palimpsest than on a
tabula rasa.</FONT></DIV>
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<DIV>In the "community" day school in Chattanooga where I taught, for example (I
was the only Orthodox teacher they ever had, and I only lasted a year), the
children were taught that Rivka loved Yakov because they were two of a kind --
false, lying, scheming, conniving people, who plotted together to deceive
Yitzchak and rob the innocent Esav of his birthright. That was just an
example of a general rule that they were taught, namely, that the Avos and
Imahos were deeply flawed human beings, no better than you and me (thus, there
was no particular reason for G-d's having chosen them -- that was just
arbitrary). Paradoxically or inconsistently, they were
also taught (on alternate Tuesdays) that the Avos and Imahos never
actually existed, but the Torah was a wonderful work of literature, amazing for
the life-like characterization of its many colorful albeit fictional
personalities, whose lives taught us many wonderful lessons and who were
entirely allegorical. Krias Yam Suf was allegorical, Ma'amad Har Sinai was
allegorical, and so on.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>I used to joke around with a Jewish studies teacher named Chaim, who often
told the children that Judaism teaches that all people are the same, we are all
the children of G-d and no one is any better or worse than anyone else and that
the lesson of Judaism is that we should love all mankind. He used to
ostentatiously high-five the black janitor to show how he loved all mankind and
to prove what a tolerant and loveable humanitarian he was. Paradoxically
he always used to tell the children that they should be very, very proud of
being Jewish. I used to say to him, "Chaim, what are you saying? We
should be very, very proud of the fact that we are exactly the same as everyone
else?"</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Now I have just summed up what is taught in non-Orthodox schools. I
will add one more thing, which is that only ONE kid in my entire fifth grade
class in that school was halachically Jewish (a fact I did not know at first,
but found out one kid at a time). Thus, if you think the kid in the Jewish
school will at least have Jewish friends -- think again.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Far, far better to send the kid to public school and supplement his Jewish
education at home or in an after-school Talmud Torah or Sunday school.
Also be sure to send him away to an Orthodox summer camp.<FONT
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<DIV><BR><BR> </DIV></FONT>
<DIV><FONT lang=0 face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2 FAMILY="SANSSERIF"
PTSIZE="10"><BR><B>--Toby
Katz<BR>=============</B></FONT></DIV></FONT><BR><BR><BR><DIV><FONT style="color: black; font: normal 10pt ARIAL, SAN-SERIF;"><HR style="MARGIN-TOP: 10px">Get a sneak peek of the all-new <A title="http://discover.aol.com/memed/aolcom30tour/?ncid=AOLAOF00020000000982" href="http://discover.aol.com/memed/aolcom30tour/?ncid=AOLAOF00020000000982" target="_blank">AOL.com</A>.</FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>