Jewish Education Today: Is it like Deja Vu, all over again?
By Rabbi Shimon Raichik
As I was learning the Rebbe’s Sichos for this week’s parsha of Shemos I was struck by the eerie similarities between the events that occured back in Mitzrayim and the challenges and opportunities that we face today.
One of the worst decrees that Pharaoh made was the decree to throw all children into the Nile River. Since Pharaoh's advisors notified him that the savior of the Jewish people would be punished by water and he did not know if the savior was Jewish or not, he decreed that all male children get thrown into the Nile. The Rebbe explains that throwing the children into the Nile River is not just a story about a past event alone. It teaches us an eternal lesson about Exile and Redemption. Just as there was an Mitzrayim, a Pharaoh, a Nile River and a Moshe Rabbenu then, so too these things are with us today in the year 5779-2018.
A fundamental difference between Eretz Yisroel and Mitzrayim is with the need for water. Since the primary source of water in Eretz Yisroel is rain, when someone living there needs water, they look up to the heavens for rain. Looking upwards towards the heaven also symbolizes relying on Hashem and praying to Hashem for all of our needs both physical and spiritual. Since the primary source for water in Mitzrayim comes from the Nile river, when people there need water they look downward to the Nile that it should rise and irrigate all the rivulets and agricultural trenches. Looking downward toward the Nile symbolizes looking solely for physical and natural causes alone to fulfill our needs, which is spiritually why they worshipped the Nile as an idol.
This denial of Hashem and a higher authority represents looking at the world strictly superficially and physically. When one looks coldly only at what is required for sustenance, without a regard for the source of all blessing which comes from beyond the physical, then one is worshipping the Nile. This is a secular mindset. It’s standards are focused exclusively on creating a livelihood. Public schools today deny a Creator when they disallow to teach about a Creator even as a possibility. This omission is tantamount to denial. By focusing solely on the secular development, only skills that will help children provide a physical sustenance, defacto they create an amoral word; we have seen the tragic results. According to the secularist mentality, the vast majority the time needs to be spent solely on secular studies even in religious institutions! A couple of hours here and there in an afternoon Talmud Torah to remind children about their heritage is okay as long as it doesn't get in the way of a secular education.
Pharaoh’s response to Moshe Rabbenu’s message that Hashem said to free the Jews was: “I do not know Hashem.” Pharaoh only knew about the laws of nature. He rejected a higher authority.
The Rebbe, the Moshe Rabbenu of our generation, tells us that to live with a secular mindset is the same as giving oneself over to Pharaoh the King of Mitzrayim. The Rebbe said that it's necessary, for the survival of a Jewish child, to constantly be in a Jewish environment filled with Jewish values. This will sustain the child to be a Jew, live like a Jew and marry another Jew. Today we see the end result of secular Judaism; 70% intermarriage may Hashem protect us.
To combat this mindset the Rebbe wants the institution of a moment of silence in the public school system, to remind the children that there is a Creator. Pharaoh, the King of Mitzrayim of today, the secularists, don't allow this. Today, after the third generation living without a moment of silence, we see that the tragedy which is unfolding in front of us. The Rebbe saw it coming and the Rebbe warned us.
This problem doesn't only affect the world at large it also has come to affect the Jewish Community as well. The Rebbe said in a Sicha that ultimately it would impact the Jewish community. Today there's a new decree in New York against the Yeshivos. New New York State Education Department guidelines say that private schools that don't provide instruction "substantially equivalent" to New York state's public schools will be threatened with loss of funding for textbooks, transportation, and other services under new state Education Department rules.These guidelines will require secular studies 6 hours a day in all schools, including Yeshivos. The guidelines also mandate that only teachers approved by the public school system are permitted to do the teaching. This is a modern-day manifestation of the ancient decree of Pharaoh the King of Mitzrayim to throw the children into the Nile, into a secular education.
Once we jump into the river, denying Hashem and living a life of denial, we do not know where it will end. It will only depend on whatever a person thinks is right in the moment. This is very similar to the Rebbe Rashab’s fight against the Czarist Russian Government forced changes in Jewish education in his time. The Rebbe Rashab said that only our bodies went into galus, not our souls. So too with us today, our calling is to tell the world in no uncertain terms “Do not touch our anointed ones”, our Jewish children and our Jewish Education.
From the Rebbe’s Sichos we learn what is at stake today. Our job is to continue the work began by Moshe Rabbenu. Today it's a decree in New York, tomorrow it's the rest of America as we have seen with other issues such as marriage and the like, G-d forbid.
What should we do? We should resist these decrees with everything that we have. Those that have influence in communal affairs should use their influence to their utmost. Everyone else should say Tehillim, give tzedaka and strengthen education in our homes and in our schools. Those in the work world should explain the seven mitzvos of Bnei Noah to others.
By preparing ourselves, others and the world at large, we will bring about a good world, a world filled with the goodness and kindness that Hashem wants with the revelation of Moshiach now.
A Good Shabbos