r' breitowitz response to dov lipman

7/28/2019 R' Breitowitz response to Dov Lipman

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Truth in Advertising: What is the Yesh Atid Agenda for Educational Reform?

Rabbi Eliezer Breitowitz

The recent visit of Chaver Knesset Rabbi Dov Lipman to Toronto raised a myriad of questions.

To many, however, all of these can be reduced to a single question: The positions of Yesh Atid

seem so reasonable and so progressive; why is the Chareidi community so blind to its own self-

interest? The Chareidi community, rather than vilifying party leader Yair Lapid, should instead

embrace him as the leader who will bring the Chareidim to enlightenment, prosperity, and full

participation in Israeli society.

This question presumes that the Yesh Atid platform has been correctly presented and that Chaver

Knesset Lipmans statements accurately represent the Yesh Atid platform. But is this the case?

Let us examine one small but extremely important aspect of the Yesh Atid agenda:educational reform.

In a recorded interview with Rabbi Daniel Korobkin1

(posted on KosherTube.com on June 28,2013) Chaver Knesset Lipman was asked about the governments plan to introduce secularstudies into the Chareidi schools. In his response he affirmed that the government is only

interested in introducing basic math and English, nothing more. When asked whether schools

which refuse to comply will be forced to close, he replied, Weve never said any Yeshiva has to

close; theyll be funded instead of 55%, theyll be funded at 35%. Chaver Knesset Lipman goes

on to say that the publication of reports to the contrary in the Chareidi press illustrates the

erosion of commitment to the Torah ideal of Emes in the Chareidi community.

What are the facts?

The Hebrew Yesh Atid website2, which presumably represents the party position accurately,

declares, The party will work toward the abolition, or at least the reduction, of private and

recognized but not official educational institutions. The Israeli taxpayer must only support the

public schools that are open to all and educate in accordance with the fundamental principles of

the State of Israel.3

The designation recognized but not official refers to Chareidi education in which, according tothe Ministry of Education website4, over 395,000 students are educated in 5774 kindergartens,

1

http://koshertube.com/videos/index.php?option=com_seyret&Itemid=4&task=videodirectlink&id=15

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2

http://yeshatid.org.il/hinuch-plan/

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4

http://cms.education.gov.il/EducationCMS/Units/ChinuchMukar/Minhal/Odot/


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724 primary schools, 381 secondary schools, and 78 special-education institutions. The abolition

of this system is Yesh Atids declared objective. This may not be the immediate goal of theMinistry of Education under Yesh Atid Minister of Education Shai Piron; in politics and

governance there is always a gap between ultimate goals and achievable policies. But the claimthat Yesh Atid has never said any Yeshiva has to close is just patently false.

This is the platform on which Chaver Knesset Lipman ran for office. He may deny ever having

said this see below but, given the proportional representation system of the State of Israel in

which voters vote for parties and not for individual candidates, this is certainly the platform he

was elected to implement.

The claim that schools that refuse to introduce secular studies will retain 35% funding is alsocontrary to the Yesh Atid platform. As the Yesh Atid website states, It is the responsibility of

the State of Israel to define the basic core curriculum ( " ) as that

which will comprise a portion of the educational basket to be provided for everychildSchools in which the core curriculum ( " ) is not studied will not receive anyappropriation from the State.

5(Emphasis mine.)

Chaver Knesset Lipman has affirmed this position and defended it.In an Open Letter to the Baltimore Jewish Community (posted on the Baltimore Jewish Life

website, May 8, 2013)6, Chaver Knesset Lipman writes,

I was quoted as saying that all yeshiva ketanos in Israel should be closed and then

for all intents and purposes I was called a rasha and equated with Amalek and Haman.

The following is what I actually have said and what my political party Yesh Atid isworking for:

The Israeli government should not fund institutions which don't teach basic math and

English. Yeshivos which don't do so will not be closed downbut they won't receivegovernment funding. It should be pointed out that there are numerous yeshivos which

already take zero government money and continue to flourish... I believe it is a sound

decision for a government to make and look forward to seeing the Yeshiva Ketanos

flourish and continue producing Gedolei Torah while teaching basic math and

English.

In addition, Chaver Knesset Lipmans repeated references to basic math and English both inthe recorded interview and in the Open Letter are quite disingenuous.

5 ,.

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6

http://baltimorejewishlife.com/news/news-detail.php?SECTION_ID=1&ARTICLE_ID=37755


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The Ministry of Education core curriculum " is a State mandated program. It includes

civics as a central component in order to promote the States ideal of good citizenship. Needlessto say, from the Chareidi perspective, the promotion of the State not the Ribbono Shel Olam

and not the Torah as the primary object of a citizens devotion is far more objectionable thanbasic math and English.

Minister of Education Piron has repeatedly stated that appropriations will be linked to

implementing the civics curriculum7; the State cannot be expected to provide funding contrary to

its own interests. While the ultimate Ministry of Education policy has not yet been finalized, any

compromises will be undoubtedly rooted in considerations of feasibility and political opposition,

not goodwill and open-mindedness to Chareidi concerns.

Chaver Knesset Lipmans criticism of the Chareidi community for its lack of commitment to the

ideal of Emes in suggesting that Yesh Atids policies are anti-Charedi has already been noted.

Before making such rash accusations, I would suggest that he examine his own publicproclamations.

7http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4367242,00.html

r' breitowitz response to dov lipman

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