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A Better Chance in Life

- The Ten Advantages of a Jewish Education

 

by Matatia Chetrit, M.B.A.

(The Jewish Education Network, http://www.torahkids.org, Updated January 9, 2001)

 

 

            When a child is born, hope too is born. We hope that the child will have a safe and happy life. We hope that the child will grow into a person of valor.  Our children's schools were a gateway to this world of hope. Until recently . . .

 

Summarizing the state of schools today, a 1998 government report of Violence and Discipline Problems in U.S. Public Schools, quoted a principal saying "With drugs, gangs, and guns on the rise in many communities the threat of violence "weighs heavily on most principals' minds these days . . . Anyone who thinks they are not vulnerable is really naive."(1)

 

            Every day our school children encounter risks of crime, violence, sexual harassment, drug abuse, alcoholism and trauma - explaining why seventeen percent of public school students want to change schools. (2) We hope these problems will not involve our children. Unfortunately, the fact that our communities are already affected proves that even good children from the best of homes are not immune.

 

            To prevent these problems from harming the children we love, the Jewish Education Network has teamed up with the Jewish Education Program (JEP). They are offering concerned parents a potent solution: The possibility of sending children to a school that is safe today – a Traditional Jewish Day School.

 

Now, any Jewish child can receive an education they deserve - a Jewish education. A Jewish Education Hotline has been set up to help concerned parents to enroll their child in a Jewish school and to resolve any relevant concerns they may have. The phone number is 718-941-2600 - to reach Rabbi Motty Katz, Educational Director of JEP. Via Internet e-mail the Jewish Education Hotline is at [email protected].

 

The following are ten advantages of enrolling a Jewish child in a Jewish school:

 

1. Safe Environment

 

            Orthodox Jewish Day Schools provide a much safer environment for children than other schools. Students feel and learn better there because their feeling of security allows them to concentrate on studies rather than on the local bully or drug abusers. Aside from feeling safer, children are actually safer, for Orthodox Jewish Day schools have many less incidences of violence, crime and drug abuse than in other schools – public or private.

 

Judging from what teachers consider as top disciplinary problems in the schools gives us a powerful message that prudence is surely in order when sending a child to a public school. In 1990 public school teachers rated the top disciplinary problems in their schools. Below is a table of the results as compared those collected in the year 1940.


 

 

Table 1: Top Disciplinary Problems in Public Schools Rated by Teachers (3)

Year: 1940

Year: 1990

1  Talking out of turn

1  Drug abuse

2  Chewing gum

2  Alcohol abuse

3  Making noise

3  Pregnancy

4  Running in the hall

4  Suicide

5  Cutting in line

5  Rape

6  Dress code violations

6  Robbery

7  Littering

7  Assault

 

The following statistics also give us a picture of the risks children are exposed to in public school:

 

Living with violence in school traumatizes children. About 25% of children worry that they will become a victim of violence. (4a) One out of every ten children fear the entire day at school. They feel insecure in school and their concentration, learning potential and grades suffer as a result. 7 percent of children revert to cutting classes or entire days of school to avoid because of intimidation or fear of bodily harm. (4b) Some students have persistent health problems because they are afraid to use restrooms. It is understandable why seventeen percent of children want to change schools (4c)

 

            Children already abused suffer from wounds far greater than the physical harm done. They are haunted by post-traumatic stress. (5) To them the word "school" may be a synonym of "terror", because they fear aggressive classmates. Violence and sexual harassment pose a far greater risk in secular schools, as compared to Jewish schools. Studies estimate that as many as one out of every three of girls are sexually victimized by the time they finish high school. (6) Girls attending public schools are much more likely to be promiscuous and to become pregnant before marriage than those in Orthodox Jewish Day Schools. Today, it is not uncommon to see a young public school girl, carrying a school bag, who is pregnant or who already had an abortion.

 

The closer a child is to drug use, the more likely he or she will become a victim of violence and/or a drug abuser (7). According to Howard Safir, the Chief-of-Police of New York City, those on drugs and alcohol essentially commit violence. (8)

 

According to a survey of American schools, administered by the U.S. Government, Department of Education, illegal drug use is practically zero in Orthodox Jewish Day Schools. The survey reported that Orthodox Jewish Day Schools had significantly lower rates of violence and drug use than public and private schools. 20 times as many teachers reported moderate to serious drug problems in public schools than in Torah-Umesorah (National Society for Hebrew Day Schools) Hebrew day schools.  This drug rate is 16 times higher in private schools. (9) In 1996, nearly 17 percent of eighth-grade girls used marijuana and 21 percent reported smoking. (10) These rates are higher for boys.

 

Experts cite various reasons for the increase of school violence in recent years. They agree that causes include drugs, hate-motivated behavior, bad influences, domestic and society violence, breakdown of families, gang presence and activity, lack of values, lack of meaning in life, desire to be recognized, materialism and advertising, violent imagery from TV and movies, poverty, competitiveness and high parent expectations. (10a) They also contend that simple solution does not exist. At Orthodox Jewish Day Schools not only is violence virtually inexistent, but many of the causes of violence are not present.

           

President Clinton recently stated, "Protecting our children from school violence is more than a matter of law or policy; at heart, it is a matter of basic values, of conscience and community. We must teach our children to respect others. We must instill in them a deep, abiding sense of right and wrong." (11) - Sustaining that until America's children learn right and wrong, children at our nations schools remain at risk.

 

            As compared to the public schools of today, Top Disciplinary Problems in a typical Orthodox Jewish Day School resembles more those of the year 1940. A mother has more peace of mind that her child is safe. A father feels more assured that their child is guarded from many negative influences. Concerned parents can be more at ease now by sending children to a Jewish Day School.

 

            In Jewish schools, children are safe today.  Jewish Day Schools have significantly lower problem rates than the national average of private schools in - violence, drugs, alcohol and crime. (11a) In Jewish schools promiscuity, teenage pregnancy, and sexually transmitted diseases are basically non-existent. Children there don't suffer the trauma and fear of violence. Social pressures are less and anti-Semitic abuse is not a risk.

 

Your child deserves to learn in a safe school.

With a Jewish education, children are in good hands!

 

2. Intermarriage Prevention

 

            A bar or bat mitzvah enters a child to 3,300 years of our family's Jewish heritage. It links them to a chain that extends to the time of the Exodus of Egypt. A child that intermarries breaks that chain.

 

            The lack of proper Jewish education is the number one cause of intermarriage in America today: 70 out of 100 Jews who have no Jewish education intermarry. (Please see Chart 1) While 2 out of 100 children attending a Torah Jewish day school until grade 12 intermarried. (12)

 

            Realistically, the children we love associate with youth of all denominations - at school, at play, in sports, at work, at parties, at bars, and even at home - by watching TV, yet we surely expect them to marry Jewish. Unfortunately, too many children are not given enough of a Jewish upbringing not to assimilate. To compensate, a child needs a solid Jewish education.

 

            How many times have children, who on the verge of intermarrying, blamed their parents «Why only now do you care about my Jewishness? You taught me to be "Jewish in the heart", but you never gave me a proper Jewish education. You should have given me a proper Jewish education before, and I wouldn't be intermarrying today!" Are our kids able to blame us for the same thing?

 

            Our children are the next link in 3,300 years of our family's beautiful Jewish tradition. Should the chain be broken so easily? An ounce of prevention today, is better than a pound of cure tomorrow.

 

            A Jewish school teaches children to understand the profound beauty of Judaism and the Jewish people. Sending them there transmits an important message to them - "We care about your Jewishness." This is why they are unlikely to intermarry if they attend a Jewish school.

Your child deserves to marry within our faith.

With a Jewish education, our family's future is safe.

 

 

3. Secular Education

 

            Children receive the best of both worlds in a Jewish school - they learn all the subjects taught at a public school in an environment conducive to learning, while receiving a proper Jewish education. In other schools 3 out of 4 students said they had trouble with disruptive classmates. 81% of teachers said undisciplined students were taking up most of their time. (13) In Jewish schools students can concentrate tranquilly on learning and teachers can concentrate on teaching.

 

            Students in Jewish schools play sports, learn music and participate in extracurricular activities. Many of them go on to becoming doctors, lawyers, scientists, managers, CPAs, and other professionals.

 

            Recently, Bruce Alberts, president of the National Academy of Sciences, said about the state of American public schools "our students will be ill-prepared for decision-making in a largely scientific and technological world." (14)

 

            A Jewish education teaches students to think and to be analytical - to ask questions and to seek answers. Students who learned the Talmud in school were able to learn to write computer programs two to four times faster than the average. (15) Jewish school students score higher than the national average in secular subjects and fewer students drop out.

 

Your child deserves to be equipped for the future.

With a Jewish education, children are better equipped to enter society at all levels.

 

4. Family Life

 

            Peace, consideration and love are the foundations of the Jewish home. The Shabbat and Holidays allow family members to enjoy a closer relationship with one another. Their quality time together allows them to diminish family problems. Open communication is encouraged and families are much less likely to separate - the divorce rate Torah observant Jews is negligible compared to the over 52% in the secular society. (16)

 

            Today, we hear of divorce, broken homes, lack of communication, disrespectful children, and generation gaps. out of marriage births . . .  leaving families in dispair. Family separation causes much suffering and solitude - for children and parents alike. Now, we understand why Jews and non-Jews alike have admired Jewish family life throughout history.

 

Your child deserves to have a happy home.

With a Jewish education, kids bring home happiness.

 

5. Meaningful Life

 

            A Torah education transmits that each new day is a new blessing. It provides rays of hope in every situation. Its positive outlook on life allows our child to understand and overcome life’s daily challenges and prevents problems in life.

 

            Psychologists repeat over and over, the main reason for problems with adolescents - like drug addiction, alcoholism, suicide, juvenile delinquency, and violence - is because they lack a sense on meaning in life and values. (17) "Today, many youth are tormented  ... by a society that lacks a sense of bearings; because they lack meaning in their lives, they resort to dangerous conduct." report psychologists Alain Vernet and Michel Hénin. (18) Living life with meaning, one prevents these problems.

 

            The Torah teaches: that there is a greater, spiritual dimension to life; that each of our actions serve a higher purpose; that all positive efforts are appreciated from Above; and that each of us is an essential part of Am Yisrael - the people of Israel.

Your child deserves to live a meaningful life.

With a Jewish education, our child lives a meaningful life.

 

6. Happiness in Life

 

            Why is it that children receive so much, yet remain unsatisfied? All their material wants are fulfilled yet they find reason to complain and to rebel.

 

            To achieve profound happiness in life, a person must satisfy four psychological needs. These are the need for meaning, pleasure, understanding, and self-actualization. (18a) A Jewish education enables a child to meet all these needs. It build's a child's self-esteem. It enables a person to continually improve and reach his or her potential. It allows a person to attain lasting spiritual and emotional satisfaction.

 

Your child deserves to be happy.

 With a Jewish education, our child lives a happier life.

 

7. Noble Values

 

            By sending kids to a public school, society's values and problems find a way to enter our home.  In a secular school, each child brings their home and street values to school.  A child learns from friends what is right and what is wrong.  If a child isn't instilled with positive life values with mentors, they may fill the void with any values that seem popular. If friends do drugs - taking drugs may become a positive value in their eyes.  If friends steal - stealing may become a value they adopt. If friends are promiscuous - ones sons and daughters may follow.

 

            A four-year old child in a Jewish school happily sings about the importance of helping out parents at home. Jewish schools teach children noble and lasting values, including - respect for others, honesty, responsibility, generosity, commitment to family, community and the Jewish people. It teaches children to be appreciated for their interior valor and not for their external appearance.  Torah values. The school is a friendly partner and associate of parents in educating the children - helping them to give children solid foundations that will remain with them their entire lives.

 

            Not only does a Jewish school teach values, but it applies them as well. Staff there treats children as if they are their own. Frequently, their mentors are living examples of the noble values they teach. Children learn by observation and association with them.

 

            How satisfying it is when our children speak with respect, do kindness, and love their fellow man. What peace of mind we have when they behave properly.

 

Your child deserves to live with noble values.

A Jewish education teaches a child to be a better person.

 

8. Jewish Identity

 

            Lack of real Jewish education is causing 700 to 800 Jews to convert weekly to other religions. Most members of today's cults are Jewish. Each year, over 600 different missionary groups spend over $200 million worldwide toward converting Jews. It is estimated that in the past 25 years, more than 500,000 Jews have succumbed to their efforts. (19) If children are unaware of the beauty of Torah, they are susceptible to dangerous cults and missionaries.

 

Your child deserves to know about their Jewish Identity.

A Jewish education protects a child's body and soul.

 

9. Jewish Survival

 

            Within four generations there will be almost no trace of those who are currently being raised in homes where Judaism is not practiced or have no Jewish education. (Please see Chart 2) The current intermarriage rate among non-observant Jews is 72 out of 100, among reform 53, conservative 37, compared to 3 out of 100 for Torah observant Jews. (20) From the time of World War II till today we lost over 6 million Jews to assimilation and intermarriage. More Jews than we lost to the Holocaust. Enrolling children in a Jewish school is the best one can do to stop this crisis.

 

Your child deserves to help the continuity of the Jewish people.

 With a Jewish education, our people survive.

 

 

10. Our Heritage

 

            Our children learn to live and love their Jewish heritage in a Jewish school. They form an eternal connection with their family's beautiful Jewish traditions. They learn the importance of celebrating Jewish holidays and of participating in synagogue services. They taste the sweetness of learning Torah. Jewish subjects are taught in a manner to allow students to adapt at their own pace.

 

Your child deserves to live with our great Jewish heritage.

 With a Jewish education, a child develops pride in being Jewish.

 

 

            A Jewish education is accessible to every Jewish family. Scholarships are available, making it affordable for any budget. It is an investment in a child's well being and growth. It's an investment in the family's future.

 

            Asking questions can help parents decide whether to send their child to a Jewish school or to leave him or her in a secular school. Please ask yourself now: How important is it to me that my children learn in a safe, warm and caring environment? that they become well-balanced individuals? that they associate with friends with similar values? that children get a solid secular education? that they are respectful? that they not get involved with drugs, promiscuity, alcoholism or violence? that they learn positive life values? that they preserve and transmit their Jewish heritage? that the Jewish people survive? that my grandchildren be Jewish? that they are close to us when we get older? that they lead a peaceful, meaningful, happy life?

 

            Every day, three times a day, Jews throughout the centuries recited in our most important prayer, the Shema, that it is incumbent upon parents to give their children a Jewish education. Isn't it time we hear the message?

 

            Today, it becomes clearer and clearer, the question now isn't  "Why should I give my child a Jewish education?" - It is "How can I not give my child a Jewish education?"

 

Enroll your child in a school that is safe today - a Jewish School.

 

 

Our children also deserve a Jewish education.

 

 

What can you do now?

 

            Regardless of your child's age now - from preschool to adulthood - JEP can help them benefit from a proper Jewish education. We will try to help your child in any way possible. We can help you:

                        1. To learn more about Jewish education,

                        2. To select a good school,

                        3. To have a child accepted

                        4. To work with schools to meet financial needs and

                        5. For those over 18, to find the right 6-week learning and touring program in Israel that offers scholarships.

 

If you have children or grand-children that are currently not attending a Jewish school and you would like to them to benefit from the advantages of a Jewish school, please contact Rabbi Motty Katz, Educational Director of JEP, today, at 718-941-2600 or e-mail the Jewish Education Network at [email protected].

 

Or you can contact the schools directly. If you encounter any difficulties, please contact us and we can help you to resolve them.

 

            If you have friends or family whose children don't attend a Jewish school, you can speak with them about the importance of a Jewish education and give them a copy of this booklet. This booklet may be reproduced provided it is not altered, it is not sold and the source is mentioned. We retain all copyrights.

 

            If you know of anyone who may be able to benefit from a Jewish education, you can send us their name, address and or phone number and we can send them a booklet.

 

Looking forward to hearing from you.

The Jewish Education Network

--------

Jewish Education Network

 

New York:

Jewish Education Program (JEP) - Queens, NY - Contact: Rabbi Motty Katz  - 718-941-2600

Or Matatia Chetrit  - [email protected] – www.torahkids.org

 

France:

Ozar HaTorah, Paris, 01-43-38-73-40

 

Switzerland:

Directeur de l'Ecole Girsa, a 41-22-735-31-88

 

Israel

Contact Organization Lev L'Achim - 02-537-6277
Sources

 

1 - Violence and Discipline Problems in US Public Schools, 1996-1997, U.S. Department of Education

2 - Starch Roper poll, November 1994

3 - Reason Public Policy Institute (RPPI), Policy Study No. 234, January 1998, School Violence Prevention, Strategies to Keep Schools Safe (Unabridged), by Alexander Volokh with Lisa Snell

4a - Student Victimization at School: Statistics in Brief, National Center for Education Statistics, Report No. NCES-95-204, October 1995)

4b - November 1994 Starch Roper Poll

4c – ibid.

5 - "Les répercussions de la maltraitance sur le psychisme de l'enfant sont tout aussi importantes que les dommages physiques. . . Ce n'est pas tant l'intensité de la douleur qui predomine mais le fait même d'avoir été battu, d'avoir été "déshonoré": "Tuez-moi, m'sieu, mai ne me déshonorez pas!", telle est la citation qui illustre une caricature sur la violence physique (1)", Tazrout, Monique, Aider l'enfant battu à réparer ses blessures - Le Journal des Psychologues, Févriers 98, no. 154,  p. 14

6 - Lynn Phillips, "The Girls Report", the National Council for Research on Women, from International Herald Tribune, June 18, 1998, p. 2

7 - The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University, 1996

8 - Howard Safir, patron de la police new-yorkaise, qui a aider à fait chuter la délinquance de 69% en quatre ans, à dite "Car l'essentiel de la criminalité est dû à la drogue et à l'alcool" Confirmation: de 62 à 82% des délinquants interpellés sont toxicomanes", Irastorza, Pascal, La réponse américaine, Le Point, 21 février 1998, No. 1327,  p. 54

9 - U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 1993-94 Survey

10 - Lynn Phillips, "The Girls Report", the National Council for Research on Women, from International Herald Tribune, June 18, 1998, p. 2

10a - Reason Public Policy Institute (RPPI), Policy Study No. 234, January 1998, School Violence Prevention, Strategies to Keep Schools Safe (Unabridged), by Alexander Volokh with Lisa Snell

11 - Radio Address of President Bill Clinton to the Nation, Cape Town, South Africa, March 28, 1998

11a - U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 1993-94 Survey

12 - 1990 National Jewish Population Study by the Council of Jewish Federations

13 - Safer schools are "central to the mission of renewing America," Herald Tribune, July 22, '98

14 - Laurin, Teddi, Math and Science in the Public Schools, Phonetics Spectra, May 1998

15 - Rosenblum, Jonathan, Are yeshiva students dumb?, The Jerusalem Post, January 2, 1998

16 -  Keleman, Laurence, Permission to Receive, Four Rational Approaches to the Torah's Divine Origin, Targum/Feldheim, 1996

17 - Vernet, Alain et Hénin, Michel, Ados cherchent sens à la vie - Le Journal des Psychologues, Mars 98, no. 155,  p. 14

18 – Ibid.

18a - The Eye of a Needle, R. Y. Coopersmith, 1993, Feldheim Publishers

19 - 1990 National Jewish Population Study by the Council of Jewish Federations

20 – Ibid.

 

Other Sources:

 - The Metropolitan Life Survey of the American Teacher: Violence in America's Public Schools (1993), conducted for Metropolitan Life Insurance Company by Louis Harris and Associates, Inc., pp. 71-72.

 - Irastorza, Pascal, La réponse américaine, Le Point, 21 février 1998, No. 1327,  p. 55

Elen Abrecht, a Judge in Washington, DC noted "Society has become extremely violent. Kids have grown up without any of our values. They shoot others for what they call a 'lack of respect'"

 - Coste, Phillippe, Etats-Unis:l'école du crime, L'express, 23 mars 1995, p. 87

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