Hebrew illiteracy epidemic among yeshiva grads
I recommend this noteworthy guest post on the Hirhurim blog.
Hebrew illiteracy is a problem not only among Orthodox yeshiva and day-school graduates. I have observed that some kids with 8-12 years of Conservative day-school education under their belts also have some problems in reading, speaking, and/or understanding Hebrew.
I posted previously about Hebrew and politics, which, in the opinion of some, may also have a bearing on the decline in Hebrew literacy.
Here's my wild theory: Is it possible that the decline in Hebrew literacy among non-Orthodox and left-wing Orthodox day-school graduates might be due, at least in part, to a desire to "make Judaism exciting," (as suggested in the post on Hirhurim), while the decline in Hebrew literacy among yeshivish (moderately-right-wing Orthodox) and chareidi (extremely-right-wing Orthodox) yeshivah graduates might be due, at least in part, to a desire to avoid appearing too Zionist?
Hebrew illiteracy is a problem not only among Orthodox yeshiva and day-school graduates. I have observed that some kids with 8-12 years of Conservative day-school education under their belts also have some problems in reading, speaking, and/or understanding Hebrew.
I posted previously about Hebrew and politics, which, in the opinion of some, may also have a bearing on the decline in Hebrew literacy.
Here's my wild theory: Is it possible that the decline in Hebrew literacy among non-Orthodox and left-wing Orthodox day-school graduates might be due, at least in part, to a desire to "make Judaism exciting," (as suggested in the post on Hirhurim), while the decline in Hebrew literacy among yeshivish (moderately-right-wing Orthodox) and chareidi (extremely-right-wing Orthodox) yeshivah graduates might be due, at least in part, to a desire to avoid appearing too Zionist?
posted by Shira Salamone at 12:29 AM
10 Comments:
I think that it is FAR more likely a matter of low expectations, poor educational practices, and a total lack of standards. I realize that you think that every Yeshiva graduate is an expert on the entire Talmud, but most don't understand things that you would expect them to know by their Bar Mitzvah.
You hire unqualified teachers, set your standards low, and here you are.
A neighbor said that her ideal Day School would teach the children so that they could open a Gemara and learn just as easily as they could open a physics book and learn... I told her that I think that they did that. She said that she was certain that most of the graduates couldn't open a Gemara and learn, I told her that I was pretty sure that they couldn't open a physics text and make sense out of it either.
If the kid graduated from the school with massive deficiencies on the Hebrew side, he probably can't read English beyond an 8th grade level, certainly couldn't read actual literature and gain insights, and it's doubtful that they actually really understand algebra or geometry.
Bad schools don't teach. If you mastered Euclidean geometry, you can learn Gemara, language issues aside. There is not a "holy" learning method... there is logic and reasoning, and if those aren't taught, the kid will fail on the secular and the holy.
The schools promote their culture, not education.
Getting back to the original question, I've always felt that Biblical/Mishnaic Hebrew and modern Israeli Hebrew are two very different things, about as far apart as the English of Canterbury Tales and modern colloquial American speech. I use this analogy all the time at work when I get asked whether I am fluent in Hebrew (short answer: "not really!").
So even if Yeshivas are doing a good job at teaching students to daven, read the Torah, and even the Gemara, by no means does this mean they are giving them the ability to converse with Israelis.
Check out this article written by a professor of mine at YU: http://media.www.yucommentator.com/media/storage/paper652/news/2009/02/06/Opinion/The-Illiteracy.Epidemic.Is.There.A.Scandal.Of.Orthodox.Indifference-3615875.shtml
He also sees that Tanach illiteracy is quite rampant among our rabbeim in the making.
I (as a student there) personally was quite shocked that many people did not know how to check word etymologies or use a concordance.
On another note, happy Adar, Shira!
Al, you said, "I think that it is FAR more likely a matter of low expectations, poor educational practices, and a total lack of standards." Is it really that bad?
Elie, while I'll certainly grant you that "Biblical/Mishnaic Hebrew and modern Israeli Hebrew are two very different things," and perhaps I shouldn't be surprised that yeshiva grads don't necessarily understand *Israeli* Hebrew, I can't figure out why they don't understand *Talmudic* Hebrew.
RivkaYael, what's the saying? "Mi sheh-nichnas Adar, marbim b'simchah (?)" "With the start of [the month of] Adar, happiness is increased (?)" Enjoy, everybody!
"I (as a student there) personally was quite shocked that many people did not know how to check word etymologies or use a concordance." I read that article, and find it quite startling that so much Jewish education should result in so little Jewish literacy.
If the yeshiva grads can't understand what they are davening or translate a page of gemara they have been taught, then indeed their education is sorely lacking.
The schools promote their culture, not education.
I think that's right to a certain extent. But that alone is not the problem in eductation today. I wrote a post on my blog today that deals with this issue.
I copied this comment from the post on the Hirhurim blog:
" . . . when I went to UCSD my professor told the entire freshman class that most high school graduates don't know how write a proper english paper. By the time I was a senior, I heard professors saying that they don't even bother checking grammar anymore because if they did most of thier students would fail.
I think it is obviously a larger cultural problem. The "3 Rs" just arn't that important in modern education I don' think.
Daganev | 02.20.09 - 12:11 pm | #
I wonder whether Daganev has a point. A number of my contemporaries share my complaint that our own children didn't receive as good an education in English grammar as we did, and this first generation raised on Spell-Check is not always known for their spelling skills. I think that this cultural/educational problem could very well carry over into Hebrew-literacy education.
Elie, you said, "If the yeshiva grads can't understand what they are davening or translate a page of gemara they have been taught, then indeed their education is sorely lacking." I certainly agree. What's the point in paying a fortune in tuition to send a child to a yeshiva or Jewish day school if they don't graduate literate in basic Jewish texts? At the very least, a yeshiva or day school grad should be able to understand tefillah/prayer.
Harry, I read your post, and agree that modern technology offers many distractions. That's where the parents come in--part of our role is to set limits. ("No TV until your homework is done.") But I don't think that the widespread enjoyment of video games gets educators off the hook.
Interesting post as for me. It would be great to read a bit more concerning that matter.
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