From the Anash.org Inbox: With the celebration of the Seforim on Hey Teves – “Didan d’haseforim notzach” – one mother can’t help but wonder why her own daughter in a Lubavitcher moisad is being taught non-Jewish novels when there is no compelling reason for it.
By A Lubavitcher Mother
Gut yom tov! It’s Hey Teves, Victory of the Seforim, and I literally couldn’t fall asleep because I was thinking about books. Unfortunately, it’s not the holy books keeping me up – l’havdil elef havdalos, I’m tormented by the goyishe books that have infiltrated our girls’ elementary schools.
Many frum moisdos are teaching secular novels to girls in the afternoons. But I ask why?
I invite you to ponder these oft given reasons for including goyishe books in the curriculum and see how they sit with you:
1) They are mandated by the government.
Is that the case in your state? Is it the specific titles that must be taught or the skills that are gleaned from them?
2 ) We read them when I was a kid.
Does that mean we shouldn’t give our daughters better? What were the reasons back then? Have the times changed? Approach with curiosity and compassion.
3) Rabbi So-and-So approved them for Bais Plonis.
What was he approving? That they didn’t have romance or foul language? Was his approval as a l’chatchila curriculum tool or as a b’dieved? Are the circumstances of your daughter’s school the same as those of the school for which they were approved? (Was the original approval for a Lubavitch school or a Chabad House day school?)
4) Frum literature is poor quality.
Righteous or snobbish? Today there are many professional quality elementary level books covering fiction and non-fiction, short stories and novels.
5) There are pre-prepared curriculum materials available for the non-Jewish titles.
Does that make them worth it? Could the available materials be adapted to frum books? Could generic worksheets be used instead? Is the one-time investment of time/money into new curriculum materials worth it for years of Jewish content instead of non-Jewish?
You may have more thoughts, or you may challenge the fact that I take issue in these secular books at all.
We would best off keeping goyishkeit and its books for the goyim.
Yes 100%! I was thinking this when I learned the sicha in Chelek Aleph last week (Vaiyigash) which spoke about the importance of Mesirus nefesh of parents to ensure that their children’s chinuch and moisad is Al Taharas Hakodesh for both sons and daughters!
When I asked the principal about this I was told “Our Moisad is not Al Taharas Hakodesh”… So sad.
Is that every single Jewish child should learn in a Jewish school, and not to suffice with that, and grow to a school al taharas hakodesh
This is it! Everyone start a petition to take down the secular books. When there’s enough push back, it’ll happen!
Couldn’t agree more with every word.
It is time for this to finally change.
We invest so much in our children’s chinuch, and then have them read goyishe literature? What for?
There are so many Jewish books available nowadays, let’s use them instead and protect our children’s pure neshamos !
Thank you for saying the truth!!
As a student it would drive me crazy when principals would give me excuses like this for the fact that we were reading goyishe books in school. Sometimes, they would do the great favor of allowing some of us to read something else instead, which we appreciated. One thing I noticed, though, is that many Lubavitcher staff have come to be convinced that these books are necessary, that a student requesting to read a Yiddishe book instead should be convinced of the great benefits and lessons to be derived from the said goyishe book.
I hope this article can cause real change. If not for funding, I don’t see any obstacles towards a group of mechanchos creating a ELA curriculum using only Yiddishe books with valuable lessons.
A few years ago there was a contest for someone to win $10,000 towards a chinch idea. It was a project of Beis Rivka. A person one that was going to develop a junior high reading curriculum that is fully Jewish. What happened to that? It was already a few years ago… I would love an update… I also think it’s wrong that Jewish girls are learning this when it’s not necessary… And if people think it’s necessary then it’s time to go deeper and learn how important it is not to read these things….
My children were ostracized and made fun of by staff when we (their parents) censored some school textbooks, claiming that all summer the books were scrutinized etc. This is not an issue of gov’t funding where we lived.
Thank you for saying the obvious truth, and very sad that it still needs to be said.
MOSHIACH NOW
There has been some excellent work done for English curriculum including some to be be found on http://www.koshercurriculum.org
As a teacher I couldn’t agree more and wish there was a way to teach from Jewish books! I was even given a book to read aloud that I was told to “just skip” the part where they are holding hands. Jewish, chassidishe books teach much more than just the literary value and that is what’s important in the long run!
The high school seniors should be practicing writing essays for seminary applications not writing about the Shikergoy’s plays as the Rebbe shlita called him