A Positive Change

Some Charedi schools decide to give helpful education

For several years it’s been obvious that the charedi world needs to change its approach to general education, for everyone’s sake. Even (former?) charedi spokesman Jonathan Rosenblum wrote, in Mishpacha magazine no less, that unless the charedi education system starts giving a general education and enabling its students to get professional careers, the economy will crash and it will be impossible to fund the IDF.

Unfortunately, accomplishing this change has been elusive. The rabbinic and political leadership in the charedi world is staunchly opposed to it. Various governments have been all too happy to keep the gravy train for charedim going, in order to receive their political support. (And American philanthropists make things worse by giving charedi institutions money and encouraging them to believe that they can continue in a path of dependency.)

Last year, some change nearly started happening. The previous government offered to give the charedi schools additional funding in exchange for teaching the basics of the core curriculum that would enable charedim to have a shot at earning a living. This became known as the “Belz arrangement,” because Belzer chassidus agreed to it. It would have been absolutely revolutionary in helping charedim out of the poverty cycle and towards contributing to the national economy instead of draining it.

Unfortunately, Bibi, in his relentless drive for political power, ruined it. The Belz arrangement risked fracturing the chassidim and the Litvaks into two political parties, which might have totalled one less seat for Bibi. So he shamelessly offered the entire charedi community the same money - totalling over one billion dollars - without any need to teach the core curriculum. Accordingly, Belz promptly dropped the idea of educational reform.

However, there are now indications that some significant positive change could be happening. Against opposition from Deri and other powerful figures, a number of schools currently under the Shas network are breaking out of it and moving into the Mamlachti-Charedi system, which involves teaching the core curriculum. And apparently some chassidic schools are also interested in such a move.

Why is this happening? Presumably because it’s becoming apparent to some people that the gravy train might be running out of steam. The chareidi practice of extracting as much money from the rest of the country as possible while refusing to serve in the IDF and help build up the economy is becoming politically toxic; their power and even place in future government coalitions will be severely compromised. And Israel as a whole is likely to face a period of great economic difficulty. Consequently, it’s necessary to teach general studies both in order to receive more government funding as well as to give students a chance of earning a living in a more difficult world.

It’s not signed and sealed, and it’s not the huge revolution that the country needs, but it’s a start. And hopefully it will grow and have an effect. Meanwhile, the lesson for the rest of us is that creating pressure is vital for producing change.