The United States Congress and the President honor yeshiva education today on Education and Sharing Day. For some yeshiva grads, who were denied a basic education as children, the celebration is a cruel irony.
By Ben Tocker, Communications and Development Manager, YAFFED
On April 19, 2024, the United States Congress and the President will celebrate Education and Sharing Day, an annual day of recognition celebrating the essential role that education plays in the advancement of American society. Yeshiva education in particular is at the heart of this special day: the holiday is observed on the 11th Day of Nisan in the Hebrew calendar, the birthday of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the Lubavitcher Rebbe (most commonly known as “the Rebbe”), in honor of his commitment to spreading justice and promoting human rights through education. While the Lubavitcher Rebbe advocated for the importance of education, some of his yeshivas have left thousands of students woefully underprepared for life in modern society by denying them a basic education. A celebration of education in the name of the institutions taking part in this harmful practice has left graduates of these yeshivas with unanswered questions.
The holiday began in 1978, when the U.S. Congress and Senate issued a joint resolution requesting President Jimmy Carter to “set aside on the calendar a day devoted to the importance of education to the lives of its citizens and to the general well-being of the Nation”. Every year on the 11th day of Nisan, the President issues a proclamation in celebration of the day, extolling the virtue of education and praising the Rebbe’s commitment to spreading the importance of education amongst his followers in Chabad. On the Inaugural Education and Sharing Day in 1978, the Rebbe said: “As long as there is still one child that does not receive an adequate education, we can neither be satisfied nor slacken our efforts.”
Today, however, one need look no further than two Chabad yeshivas in New York City, home of Chabad headquarters, to find yeshivas whose efforts have slackened: Yeshiva Oholei Torah and Yeshiva Ohr Menachem were both named by the NYC Department of Education in their investigation into educational neglect in yeshivas for failing to provide an adequate education to their students.
The Rebbe’s dedication to spreading the value of education has resulted in the formation of thousands of yeshivas throughout the world, which have served millions of children admirably. Many of these yeshivas offer a dual-curriculum setting where they receive instruction in Math, English, Science, and History coursework alongside their religious education, their students receiving the adequate education that the Rebbe advocated for. Though the Rebbe was involved in the formation of Oholei Torah during his lifetime, and was behind their decision to forego the instruction of basic curricula other than religious instruction, changes in the enforcement of education law since their formation raises the obvious question: how would he handle the responsibility of these yeshivas to meet their legal requirement of providing a substantially equivalent education today?
Rabbi Schneerson was outspoken in his belief in the principle of dina d’malchusa (“Law of the Government”) which means that the law of local Government becomes part of the Halacha (Jewish Law). While the education law in New York dating back to 1895 requires nonpublic schools students to be provided with an education substantially equivalent to their peers in local public schools, enforcement of that law proved to be non-existent for over 125 years. Oholei Torah’s decision to ignore the law was not a secret: a New York Times article published nearly a century after the law was written detailed their policy of not providing a substantially equivalent education: “Within this universe, Oholei Torah, housed in a rundown three-story brick building on Troy Avenue in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn, maintains a singular identity…and it spurns all secular studies for its 340 young men, ages 13 to 20. While girls do learn traditional high school subjects..at their separate Beth Rivka Yeshiva, boys are expected to learn any science, mathematics or history on their own.”
The education values of Chabad and the Lubavitcher Rebbe being celebrated at the highest levels of American public office were most certainly not those unilaterally rejecting secular studies. President Bill Clinton’s proclamation in 1995 made this very clear: “Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the Lubavitcher Rebbe, well understood the importance of nurturing the heart along with the mind. Throughout his long and rich life, he believed that the education of our young people would only be successful if it sought to build character as well as intellect, if it taught the lessons of honesty, tolerance, and good citizenship, as well as language, math, and science.”
President Clinton’s proclamation in 2000 further underscored his belief in the importance of secular education as a key part of the Rebbe’s vision: “To succeed in the global community of the 21st century, we must provide all our citizens with a world-class, well rounded education…Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the Lubavitcher Rebbe, recognized early the importance of such comprehensive learning. In addition to being one of the world’s highly respected religious leaders, he was also an accomplished scholar in mathematics and science. Understanding that both secular education and spiritual training contribute enormously to human development, he sought to provide young people with fresh opportunities for academic, social, and moral enrichment..”
President George Bush picked up where his predecessor left off with his first Education and Sharing Day proclamation in 2001: “America’s youth face a world of nearly unlimited possibilities. New advances in technology, medicine, and science offer the potential for great progress. We must ensure that every child has the technical skills needed to pursue success in their respective fields.”
To alumni of Oholei Torah like Chaim Levin, who grew up with a complete lack of education in subjects like English, Math, History, and Science, the idea of a National holiday celebrating the excellence in education of Chabad is confounding, bordering on insulting. He writes: “As I attempt to make up for a lack of education in anything other than the Bible and a language not relevant to the workplace, I have more and more questions about how such a harmfully unbalanced educational system still exists.”
Thanks to the work of advocates like Levin, and their support of YAFFED’s movement to ensure a sound basic education for all yeshiva students, systemic changes are underway in efforts to turn around the yeshiva sector. Beginning with the passage in 2022 of new regulations on nonpublic schools and guidance for bringing yeshivas into compliance with substantial equivalency regulations, education authorities are beginning to hold failing schools accountable for providing all of their students with the sound basic education that is their right. As it stands right now, however, students in yeshivas like Oholei Torah are woefully behind their peers academically, and graduates are no better prepared for social and financial independence than they have been for the past seven decades.
President Biden’s proclamation for this year’s Education and Sharing Day underscores the right of every person to a quality education. Thousands of young people enrolled in, or recently graduated from, Hasidic and Haredi yeshivas may struggle to read it. From the White House to Gracie Mansion, from the halls of Congress to the halls of our schools, our elected officials and those in charge of our educational institutions have a responsibility to do more than pay lip service to the importance of education – they must uphold the educational rights of every child and ensure that schools are providing a sound basic education to all.