<html>
<body>
The latest of volume of Hakirah, The Flatbush Journal of Law and
Thought, has an article with this title. One can read part of
it at <br><br>
<a href="http://hakirah.org/Vol14Epstein.pdf" eudora="autourl">
http://hakirah.org/Vol14Epstein.pdf</a><br><br>
The article concludes with <br><br>
<font size=3>Suggestions on How and When Mathematics Is to be
Taught<br><br>
How and when the necessary mathematics skills are taught should<br>
depend on the school. Schools offering formal high school
mathematics<br>
courses in their secular studies program can present the<br>
<i>sugyos </i>we have touched upon above29 in a semester-long hour
period<br>
after the underlying mathematics have been mastered in the
<i>limudei<br>
chol </i>studies. Yeshivos not offering high school-level
mathematics<br>
courses will either have to rely on rebbeim who are sufficiently<br>
mathematically literate to incorporate this material into their<br>
<i>shiurim, </i>or perhaps utilize visiting lecturers who can assist with
selected<br>
<i>shiurim. </i>There are many available <i>sheilos u teshuvos seforim,
m'forshei ha shas<br>
</i>and journal articles that discuss a wide variety of Talmudic<br>
sources from a mathematical perspective. It should not be
difficult<br>
to put together high school-level Gemara/mathematics classes that<br>
are enlightening, stimulating, challenging and enjoyable. The main<br>
thing to ensure is that the mathematics material be taught sooner<br>
rather than later in a student's education. Studies show that
mathematics,<br>
like languages, is most easily learned when someone is<br>
young, and delaying the introduction of these skills until a child
is<br>
older is a recipe for failure. <br><br>
I am surprised that the authors do not recommend the study of the GRA's
sefer Ayil Me' Shulash. In my article
"</font>
<a href="http://personal.stevens.edu/%7Ellevine/jp/The%20Case%20for%20Secular%20Studies%20in%20Yeshivas.pdf">
<font size=3 color="#0000FF">The Case for Secular Studies in
Yeshivas</a></font><font size=3>" <b>The Jewish Press</b>,
November 19, 2004 page 1. I wrote<br><br>
In most "right-wing" yeshivas students take three years of
mathematics<br>
consisting primarily of selections from topics in algebra, geometry,
trigonometry, probability,<br>
logic, and statistics. In New York, passing the math Regents is the goal,
while in other states,<br>
the state guidelines for public school curricula are adhered to. Often
there is no mathematics<br>
taught in the twelfth grade. I do not understand why the yeshivas do not
gear their<br>
mathematics courses to the goal of having their students study selections
from the GRA's<br>
sefer Ayil Me'Shulash in the twelfth grade.<br><br>
The sefer Ayil Me'Shulash HaMevuar-Ha'GRA, volume 1, by Rabbi Avinoam
Solimani was<br>
published not long ago in Eretz Yisrael. It contains the text of the
first three sections of the<br>
GRA's original sefer as well as modern day diagrams and Hebrew
explanations of these<br>
sections. If yeshiva students were to study this sefer they would not
only learn some of the<br>
mathematics that the Vilna Gaon thought was important, but they would
also have the benefit<br>
of studying these topics in Hebrew, something that would no doubt improve
their mastery of<br>
the language.<br><br>
These comments are, of course, geared to American high schools that teach
secular subjects. However, I fail to understand why Israeli
yeshivas, even the Chareidi ones, do not teach enough mathematics
so that their talmidim can study the sefer Ayil Me'Shulash and
incorporate its study into their curriculum. Clearly the GRA felt
that the study of these topics in mathematics was important, so why
don't the yeshivas today? <br><br>
YL</font></body>
<br>
</html>