It is long past time for a serious reevaluation of Israel’s broken and Judenfrei educational system

Can the daily headlines serve as a mussar sefer? Sometimes. For example:

IN mid-September, the Washington Post released a poll on the status of American Jewry. A staggering 61% believe the canard that Israel’s military regularly committed war crimes in Gaza. More specifically, 39% agree that Israel was engaged in genocide. For 30%, being Jewish means nothing to them, and 25% do not consider Judaism to be their religion. In general, well over 60% are more likely to believe the mainstream media narrative about the Gaza war, a narrative that faithfully echoes Hamas propaganda. And as I write this, CNN reports that the new mayor-elect of New York City — who supports Hamas, condemns Israel, and has a history of anti-Semitism — received an astonishing 33% of the Jewish vote.

Before I fully recovered from these appalling numbers, the Jerusalem Post on October 21 reported the following from the Knesset’s official Research and Information Center: Since 2022, there has been a remarkable decrease of 125,000 in the Israeli population Since 2022, says the Center, there has been a continuing increase of those leaving the country, with each year showing more and more Israelis choosing to emigrate — usually to the USA or Canada. It is well-known that hundreds of thousands of Israelis live in Los Angeles, New York City, and other major cities around the world. The chairman of the Center declares that, “this is not merely a wave of emigration; it is a tsunami.”

Two separate news items, two separate newspapers, but there is an obvious umbilical connection between them. That connection, if we need to spell it out, is Jewish ignorance and Jewish illiteracy.

Of course, if the poll were taken of Orthodox Jews, the results would be turned on its head. Orthodox Jews do not parrot the anti-Israel narrative of the media. They support Israel unconditionally. And it is absurd even to think that they are anything but proud and self-respecting observant Jews. As for leaving Israel, the overwhelming majority of Orthodox Jews do not abandon Israel for greener pastures. Furthermore, those Jews from abroad who come to live in Israel these days are primarily observant and have strong Jewish backgrounds.

What is the official Israeli reaction to these external and internal alarm bells? The reaction is as pathetic as it is inevitable. Rather than look reality in the face, which is the utter failure of the secular Israeli educational system, they dust off their playbooks and propose the same tired and stagnant solutions. Filled with consternation, they call for an overhaul of our information apparatus, the need for greater emphasis on Zionist history in our schools, more effective use of the various media platforms, and of course, an increase in allocations to our PR budget .

What the establishment refuses to consider is what faithful Jews have been declaring for generations: Jewish ignorance and Jewish illiteracy lead to intermarriage and assimilation, and ultimately to Jewish dropouts who are not even loyal to the last vestige of Jewish identity — the State of Israel.

How painful it is that Christian evangelicals are more supportive of Israel than American Jews. And it is not far-fetched to believe that such self-hating Jews would very likely have believed the medieval blood libels — of which accusing Israel of genocide is the modern counterpart.

The only answer to these horrific figures is an overhaul from the ground up: a frontal assault on Jewish ignorance in the form of solid Jewish classical schooling. Those whose formative years are marked by study of Chumash and Rashi and Mishnah and Gemara will not easily abandon the Torah or the Jewish people.

The heart aches for the millions of our brethren who were never exposed to authentic Yiddishkeit, and whose Jewish neshamos disintegrate from spiritual starvation. Ashamnu, bagadnu — those of us who have seen this happen are guilty of not doing enough to prevent it from coming about.

Surely Israel’s secular establishment, now panicking about these figures, realizes that were a poll taken of worldwide Orthodox Jews, there is no question that over 90% would be supportive of Israel and disinclined to go elsewhere. But so ingrained is the antipathy towards anything traditional that bare facts are pushed aside in favor of tried — and failed — solutions.

As for the hemorrhaging emigration issue, here, too, the shortsighted authorities recommend not only renewed emphasis on Zionist history and ideals in our schools, but also an increase in benefits for those returning from abroad, in order to entice them with attractive grants and privileges.

These reactions are all predictable. But it is well-known that repeating the same failed notions again and again is not a sign of mental health. Better, they claim, to throw a few more millions at the problem than to face the truth that only authentic and unadulterated Jewish learning has the power to touch Jewish souls and to bring them back to their Jewish roots. Jewish learning has not been tried and found wanting. Jewish learning has not been tried, period. It is long past time for a serious reevaluation of Israel’s broken and Judenfrei educational system.

Maybe I should stop reading the headlines, which are much too depressing, and return to the mussar seforim — which only uplift and inspire.

(Originally featured in Mishpacha, Issue 1086)