Religion and Education: Two Separate Topics

            Not all Israeli Jews are religious and not all of them want public schooling for their children to promote Judaism. Haaretz correspondent and Education Analyst Or Kashti, who has written many articles on topics such as education funding and curriculum in Israeli schools, presents information regarding a recent study of 80 public school books. His article, “Jews' advantages to non-Jews’: Religious indoctrination seeping into Israeli textbooks,” highlights the findings of this study which clearly portray the discouragement of secular parents of students in Israel.

Naftali Bennett

            Kashti’s article mentions Israel’s Education Minister Naftali Bennett (right) who implemented the “Israeli Jewish Culture” program curriculum into state schools just last year. The intent behind this was to teach students about Jewish culture, allowing them to practice it outside of school.

            According to the education section on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs website, there are four divisions within the school system: state religious schools, Arab schools, Druze schools, and private schools. Additionally, as students progress, their levels of education change. Formal education consists of grades one through six, intermediate school consists of grades seven through nine, and secondary school consists of grades ten through twelve.

            In order to better understand why more religious content is getting into schools, Haaretz correspondent Yarden Skop writes an article entitled, “New School Program Will Bring Young Israelis Closer to Judaism.” As previously stated, Naftali Bennett implemented this program in April of last year. Skop’s article goes on to discuss the program in further detail, stating that each grade level will be learning a different topic or topics relating to Judaism. Topics range anywhere from biblical figures to life-cycle events.

            Parents involved in the Secular Forum agree that the public school system in Israel is trying to push more religion into state schools. Their discouragement supports the claim that not all Israeli Jews want public schooling for their children to promote Judaism.

            According to Pew Research, 96% of Jews in Israel believe that it is important for their child to receive a good general or secular education. It is important to point out that the majority of Israeli Jews in religious, ethnic and cultural groups across Israel all agree this statement.

            According to Pew Research, only 30% of Israeli Jews said that religion played a very important role in their lives. Pew Research also found that 33% or one-third of Israeli Jews say they never attend synagogue. This is an important statistic in that it supports the initial claim that not all Israeli Jews are religious.

            In Rosenthal’s book “The Israelis”, she presents several anecdotes of the lives of both secular and religious Jews living in Israel. In chapter nine, we learn about a Haredi boy named “Josh” who left the Haredi community to become secular. He grew up in a very observant household in which he obeyed Haredi laws and customs. Josh serves as a good example of an Israeli Jew who, although raised religious, is not religious today (Rosenthal 193-194).

            Another supportive piece of evidence found in Rosenthal’s book is in chapter ten which talks about Orthodox Jews. Adi Rosenfeld is a member of an Orthodox American Israeli family who, in contrast to her fiancé Moti’s family, does not live based on that label. Instead, she engages in more secular activities such as visiting museums (Rosenthal 213).

            While it is easy to just assume that all Israeli Jews are religious because they live in a state that is deeply connected to Jewish history, research shows that this is not necessarily the case.  “The Israelis” author Donna Rosenthal and Pew Research provide information that support the statement claiming not all Israeli Jews are religious. In addition to those sources, Haaretz correspondents Or Kashti and Yarden Skop provide further insight into the world of secular education in Israel. Their articles support the claim that not all Israeli Jews want public schooling for their children to promote Judaism.