Saturday morning in my hometown. I go to synagogue like my father liked. The women gather in the courtyard at the end of the Musaf prayer, catching up, complimenting each other, exchanging impressions about children, recipes for food and experiences about children.
And here it comes: What are you studying? What do you do for a living? Have you finished your master's degree? How many papers do you have left to submit?
I recognize this madness even within the family.
My sister is a young mother with so-and-so children and a grandmother of so-and-so grandchildren. This week she had to submit a thesis for a master's degree in management systems. My daughter-in-law, a young woman in her early twenties, has already completed her bachelor's degree and it's not certain that she will stop there...
This pursuit of educational degrees, this madness that grips our entire society, the madness of academization, makes me ask myself what is happening in this generation, and whether I am in the right generation.
The truth is, I'm confused. It's clear to me that in every bad thing there is a good, but it's not clear to me whether this scourge of academia is a bad thing.
Is it bad for women to acquire education and academic degrees in general?
On the one hand, it's clear to me that if these are the Ministry of Education's requirements, there's not much that can be done, especially in light of the fact that any such degree is a matter of livelihood and government ministries help finance the degree studies.
On the other hand, what about purity? How can we maintain our spiritual nature when we have to study all kinds of materials that are not necessarily appropriate or when we have to stay in settings that do not observe Torah and mitzvot?.
In general, a mother is supposed to serve as an example for her sons and daughters. She is a role model for them. Her behavior affects their future lives.
Doesn't this – being involved in academia – hinder her ability to raise her children?
It's clear that all the degrees, honors, grants, and salary increases are not worth one child's smile. It's clear that family, home, and children should come before everything else. But is this what really happens when we dedicate ourselves to academic degrees?
I don't want to set standards. Each person needs to take stock of themselves and see if they are able to meet the requirements and whether they have enough energy to invest in both their studies and their children. Each person will make their own choice.
But I would still like to quote here a passage that Rabbi Gut wrote in an editorial for a family newspaper. "It is permissible to acquire knowledge in order to earn a living. It is permissible to study a kosher profession. But it is forbidden to turn the name of the academy, which is founded in the mountains of darkness, into a ripe fruit that falls into the hands of those who glorify it, as a counterpoint and challenge to the Beit Midrash, to the tradition of the Torah, to the leadership of the great Torah scholars.".
It seems as if the goal is to "open the eyes" of the backward Haredim on whom the light of academia has not yet shone, and to eliminate the possibility that the Haredi public will continue in the tradition of its ancestors and not be nullified in the face of "academic values"...
The Israelites stayed in Egypt for two hundred and four years but did not change their name, their dress, and especially their language.
This new language in which every "shaytel maaker" or "hairdresser's assistant" becomes a "hairstyling academy," every dance teacher runs an "academy for movement and body shaping," and every wedding planner is a "styling academy" - is definitely a change, and it's not necessarily refreshing.
65% increase in registration!
And in the same matter.
I attended an event this week by the 'Oheli Yosef Yitzhak Network'. It was a salute to the Lubavitcher Rebbe's branches in the field of education. The setting was like a news studio. There was a curious and energetic interviewer - Sivan Rahav Meir - who was interested and enthusiastic about the inspiring educational activities.
The medium and tools were all 21st century. "Long shot" and "close up", multimedia and rotating screens.
But these were the means of conveying the message – the main motto – the essence of the role of the kindergarten teachers, teachers and administrators in this educational network: they are all candles to illuminate hearts and touch souls. They are all tasked with transforming the students into candles that will further illuminate the light of the Torah and the mitzvot.
The Oheli Yosef Yitzhak network is different from other Haredi educational networks. The Rebbe's teaching was to accept every child as he is. Regardless of the spiritual state of his parents, his color, his religion, and his customs.
I listened to the story of a former student, who came from a secular home. She told the interviewer that as a child she studied with "Teacher Rachel" and today her children also study at a Chabad school, despite an argument she had with her husband about the matter. And unfortunately, she - the mother - still does not cover her head...
But we believe that ultimately the power of the Torah will prevail and 'turn the hearts of the fathers to the children' - and who knows how many Jewish families will begin to observe Torah and mitzvot thanks to those traditional teachers.
A children's choir from the network took to the stage. It was no surprise that they were a representative sample of the exile community that characterizes the Jewish people. There was one dark-skinned boy, a second boy with a large Bukharian kippah, a third with blond wigs and a rolling head of hair, and the fourth looked exactly like any average Haredi boy.
Where else will you find such a gathering of exiles in one classroom?
In Chabad schools in Jaffa, Nes Ziona, Kiryat Malachi, Kfar Saba or Upper Nazareth, you will find many such classes. And these schools were just a few examples of unconditional love for Israel, a free love that has the power to bring about redemption.
And here are the data: 65 schools. About 6,550 female students. About 6,400 male students. 11,300 kindergarten children. 120,000 calls to parents in the call system during Passover and Sukkot and... and a 65 percent increase in enrollment for the 2016 school year!
The screen shows the blessing of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who reads the blessing that the Rebbe wrote for him on the occasion of the birth of his firstborn, Yair.
The Rebbe wished that, as his name would be, he would be blessed to shine - and this is exactly the role of the teachers, kindergarten teachers and principals in Chabad schools - to be candles to illuminate and transform the next generation into a generation that will shine onward.
I admit it. Despite the journalistic cynicism that infected me, I couldn't help but be moved by the "roll" stage in which the names of the school principals were read out one by one to receive certificates of appreciation, amid the applause of the teachers in their schools and to the sounds of "Napoleon's March," which is played in Chabad before the blowing of the shofar for the closing prayer.
Jewish Ambassadors on Campus
And again. On the same matter.
Speaking of students and academia, I cannot help but highlight the enormous activity of 'Chabad on Campus' - which operates in colleges and universities.
You have no idea what kind of energy was in the hall during the formation meeting that Chabad held on campus. You could feel the electricity in the air. 800 students who receive scholarships from a Chabad foundation in exchange for their participation in Judaism classes packed the hall and did not hide the benefits that these studies brought them. Or as one of them said: "I would come to Judaism classes even if they didn't give me any scholarship.".
The head of the Minister of Youth Affairs' office, Gila Gamliel, told me later with excitement: "I saw before my eyes hundreds of boys and girls who are ambassadors of faithful Judaism on campuses.".
So you can still find something good in academia, eh?
• Part of the column is based on the talks of the Lubavitcher Rebbe | The writer is the owner of "My Choice", an event host, lecturer, and radio broadcaster. | For comments: [email protected]
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