Not so long ago, boys in cheder would cover all of Chumash and large sections of Mishnayos and Gemara. In recent years, there has been an effort to slow it down in the name of helping the talmidim “develop skills.” But is it working?

By Rabbi Yitzchok Roness

Rabbi Nochem Kaplan, the director of the Merkos Chinuch Office and a longtime menahel of mosdos chinuch, once shared the following observation with me:

Just a few decades ago, it was commonplace for boys throughout their years in elementary school to complete all of Chumash, along with substantial portions of Mishnayos and tens of dapim of Gemara.

Along came others and decided to change this. Arguing that focusing on skills in the younger grades will yield better long-term results by enabling students to learn more in later years, they decided to slow down the pace.

Following this new approach, Rabbi Kaplan concluded, we would expect today’s students to learn even more over time, perhaps completing the entire Chumash multiple times by the end of their cheder years. Instead, the opposite is happening: many students today are learning far less than those taught under the old method.

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Before discussing whether slowing learning helps with developing skills or not, it’s appropriate to take a step back and consider what is our goal with children’s learning.

Unlike secular studies, l’havdil, learning is not primarily about developing skills. Every word of Torah is intrinsically valuable and precious – “ki heim chayeinu.” This is all the more so with children, tinokos shel beis rabbon, whose learning, the Gemara says, is greater than even that of the great amora’im Abayei and Rava since they are clean of sin (hevel she’ein bo cheit). We are told that their learning sustains the world and cannot be interrupted even for the building of the Beis Hamikdash.

Although our yeshiva system is built to leave children with the skills to go on and learn the rest of Torah, we must remember the primary value and purpose is the learning itself.

Given as such, we should ask ourselves the question: Are we shortchanging our children by not teaching them more Torah?

As noted, many children end up learning only a fraction of what they are capable of learning. Classes sometimes spend an entire year on a single parsha, drilling grammar with the noble intention of cementing skills. While skill-building is valuable, this slow pace means a drastic drop in actual learning.

But besides the loss in learning, the argument is flawed, and the “either-or” narrative is false.

The best way to develop skills, especially in young children, is by continued exposure. Quantity breeds quality, and learning pesukim (or mishnayos and Gemara) day after day is one of the best ways to build and practice those very skills.

To illustrate, imagine two people, one of whom spends five years reading books about a skill, while the other spends those five years actually practicing it. Which one will be more skilled? Of course, the one with actual practice. Languages are likewise learned best by hearing and reading more of the language, not by focusing on less.

True, the rules of learning must be taught and pointed out. Nonetheless, a talmid who sees common words, prefixes, and patterns repeatedly will have far less need for lengthy grammar lessons. A talmid who encounters the “vav hachibur” prefix (meaning “and”) dozens of times will naturally internalize its usage much faster than the child who was taught as part of abstract “klolei hachumash.”

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Another well-intended reason given for slowing the pace in cheder is to accommodate less advanced students. Yes, every class has a range of abilities, and good teachers adjust their methods to help less-advanced talmidim keep up. But this must not be used as an excuse to hold back other students from reaching their potential. Too often, the entire class is expected to cover only a fraction of what the average student can master. Granted, moving too quickly can be harmful, but going too slowly can be just as detrimental.

Moreover, a slower pace does not necessarily help those struggling. Students struggle to master material for a variety of reasons, and some struggling learners actually thrive when the learning follows a faster pace. They might grasp a concept only when they see it applied in multiple contexts.

Furthermore, the joy and satisfaction of completing an entire parsha provides a sense of accomplishment, boosts motivation, and leads to happier students. If we linger too long on one pasuk and expect them to fill out tedious worksheets, weaker learners won’t magically become strong learners. Instead, they often just grow bored or frustrated.

By expecting more, we often enable more. We should support the students who are behind with extra help and other accommodations as needed, but never deprive our talmidim of the opportunity to reach their full potential.

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Another “either-or fallacy” to justify less limud HaTorah is the claim that “middos and yiras shamayim are more important than how much learning we cover.”

No one disputes that raising a chossid and a Yerei Shamayim takes priority as the ultimate goal of chinuch. However, this truth is often misused to justify less learning.

We sometimes hear, “It’s okay that our children learn only a little; we’re focusing on middos and chasidishkeit.” But this presents a false choice, as if we cannot achieve both.

Our Rebbeim taught us that ahavas Hashem, ahavas HaTorah, and ahavas Yisroel are one and reinforce each other. True middos and yiras Shamayim are enhanced by teaching our children to treasure each opportunity to learn more Torah. For generations, mothers would put their children to sleep while singing “Torah iz di beste sechorah” and thus they raised true yerei Shamayim.

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Our community is blessed with dedicated mechanchim and parents who care deeply about our children’s chinuch. Thanks to them, we have been largely successful in chinuch in our generation. Now it’s time to maximize the quantity of limud HaTorah for our children and bring back the goals and expectations of the past. We can maintain strong skill-building while keeping up a solid pace of learning. We can nurture beautiful middos and yiras Shamayim while still expecting serious learning from every child. In truth, doing one without the other sells our children short.

When adjustments are needed for less advanced students, we should provide support for their individual needs rather than lower the bar across the board. And if someone says, “But what about chasidishkeit and Ahavas Hashem?”, we will answer: “Ahavas Hashem is only authentic if it leads to more ahavas Yisroel and ahavas HaTorah.”

Our fathers and grandfathers had the opportunity to become proficient in vast parts of the Torah. Our children deserve no less.