Should Yeshivos Be Teaching Limudei Chol for Government Funding?

In recent months, the education department of the Israeli government has been pressuring yeshivos to introduce secular studies, or they will lose millions in funding. Some Lubavitch yeshivos satisfied this demand with Torah-related math and history, but others see this move as dangerous and against the core of Tomchei Temimim.

By Anash.org reporter

In recent months, various factions within the Israeli government have been exerting immense pressure on Mesivtas and Zals in Eretz Yisroel to introduce secular subjects into their curriculum. While this has been a topic of discussion for years, and Lubavitch yeshivos—among all chareidi yeshivos—have categorically rejected it, the recent threats of losing government funding, amounting to millions of dollars, has led some Chabad yeshivos to start exploring ways of accommodating the government’s requests. 

Naturally, the yeshivos would not consider introducing outright limudei chol. However, the topics are being presented as Torah related: math using the laws of Kiddush Hachodesh, dikduk and Hebrew grammar using Torah sources, and history using Jewish history. 

This shift has not been met without resistance. Many parents of bochurim in those yeshivos are unsettled by limudei chol being brought into Tomchei Temimim. Though it is currently limited to Torah related topics, there’s no knowing what will come next. And once the government has a foot in the door, it will be more difficult to resist.

A growing backlash has also emerged from within the yeshivos themselves. Some staff members and bochurim have expressed dissatisfaction with the introduction of secular studies, even in their Torah-based formats, but administrations – which are hard pressed for funds – are not eager to leave go.

Other hanhala members defended the yeshivos’ move, saying that the change is necessary for the survival of the yeshiva system in the face of mounting government pressure. “It’s a problem,” one menahel admitted, “but how else will we support the yeshiva?” Others suggested that the secular education is actually a good thing, since it would help bochurim succeed on shlichus.

However, Rabbi Moshe Orenstein, Rosh Yeshiva of the Netanya yeshiva, has been an outspoken critic of this change.

“Tomchei Temimim was established with mesirus nefesh! Yes, this is a big challenge, and I’m sure some will permit it, but Temimim come from mesirus nefesh!”

Rabbi Orenstein noted that when the Rebbe Rashab founded Tomchei Temimim, his first wish was not for the yeshiva to have harchava b’gashmiyus or to produce great geonim. His wish was “that the yeshiva should produce talmidim who are ba’alei mesirus nefesh.”

Indeed, in those early years, the haskalah movement invested tremendous effort into infiltrating the yeshiva system. Their strategy was gradual—first introducing Jewish history, then dikduk, and so on. But Tomchei Temimim was established with the explicit intent “to stand with strength against these outside influences and not allow them to breach the holy yeshiva.”

The yeshivos that have acceded to government demands say that if the government will demand outright secular subjects, they will refuse. Yet, just months ago, when they first agreed to the government proposal, they insisted they were only agreeing in principle and had no intention of implementing it. “If we don’t take a stand of mesirus nefesh now,” Rabbi Orenstein says, “it will only go from bad to worse.”

Currently, several Chabad yeshivos have allocated a half-hour daily—during Chassidus Erev—for subjects such as math, history, and geometry, using booklets prepared by government agencies. While these materials presently draw only from Torah sources, many are growing increasingly concerned that the yeshiva system, following a prototype set by the Rebbeim, is being tampered with.

Despite the significant pressure and financial strain, Rabbi Orenstein firmly rejected the claim that yeshivos cannot survive without government funding. “We are living proof that it’s possible. Yes, it’s difficult, but if you follow in the footsteps of the founders of the yeshiva, if you follow the way of the Rebbe—the Rebbe is walking with you! And when you go with mesirus nefesh, the brachos of the Rebbeim are immeasurable.”