Former Ultra Orthodox Students Sue In Israel Over Lack Of Basic Education

We have previously discussed the investigation of Orthodox Jewish schools in the United States after former students were shown to be barely able to do basic English and math after being schooled primarily on religious texts. Now there is a lawsuit in Israel in which Avihay Marciano and 50 other former Orthodox students suing over their lack of basic education from an ultra-Orthodox school. What is most interesting about the lawsuit is that he is suing the government, which financially supports these schools.

Israel maintains a separate educations system — funded by public money — for the ultra-Orthodox. Critics say that the schools do little but read religious texts and that the lack of real educations is draining the country of both money and potential additions to the workplace and military. Indeed, male students only receive minimal secular studies through the seventh grade. Girls are afforded slightly more secular subjects but not enough to make them fully functional or employable in society.

These ultra Orthodox communities have also been criticized for their high procreation rates and high welfare support for men who refuse to work and simply spend their days in religious study. There has also been protection from military service.

These communities make up about 10 percent of Israel’s 8 million citizens and are expected to represent more than a quarter of the population by 2059 due to their high birth rates. That gives them tremendous political power, particularly in the Israeli system where small religious parties often control the coalition governments. Both the insularity and extreme political positions of the ultra orthodox communities are already clashing with the sizable secular population in Israel — clashes which are likely to increase in the future.

These schools crank out uneducated citizens who only know ultra Orthodox dogma and values. Now Marciano, 26, and other former students are demanding compensation so that they can be educated on basic subjects to function in society. Ultra-Orthodox leaders however have blocked every effort to reform the schools. They have even blocked a modest proposal to facilitate ultra Orthodox men serving in the military in the same way as other Israelis.

While I would prefer no public funding for religious schools, it seems like a basic and reasonable demand that any school receiving state funding should meet all of the criteria on educational standards set by the government. I would think that people who can do math can still follow ultra Orthodox beliefs. The two are not mutually exclusive skills. However, the problem is not logical but political. The lawsuit could help focus the public debate on the expectations or conditions for public funding.

Source: Yahoo

31 thoughts on “Former Ultra Orthodox Students Sue In Israel Over Lack Of Basic Education”

  1. I think this also answers the question of socialism. If you get paid the same whether you work hard, dial it in, or not work at all, there will be plenty of able-bodied people who do not work and live on public assistance. That is why the work requirement is so vital to Welfare programs, to weed out the able bodied but unwilling from the down on their luck or disabled.

    1. Karen, we are waiting for you to address all the falsities …sorry untruthful things? you spouted on the other thread, which we responded to , dismantled and returned to sender…you!
      Honest people usually would either acknowledge their error or prove their point…waiting for one or the other…unless your aim was to do just that, the Trump thing…say untruthful things knowing that you can get away with it?

  2. Female readers take note, especially goyim. Orthodox Judaic males say this prayer daily: “Thank you _od you did not make me a slave, a goyim, nor a woman.”

  3. I can understand expressing your opinion on this blog believing your perspective has value. I can understand providing links and information to support your particular opinion. But misquoting other people, making supposedly factual statements which are obviously wrong, and making accusations and criticisms of other commenters here — and assuming everyone will recognize this as sarcasm, not lies — leads to a very uninviting atmosphere. I normally would not bother to express my views when I see certain individuals obfuscating the facts and turning this usually interesting site into a chaotic collection of meaningless drivel, but I know there are other, reasonable, regular contributors here who will agree with my sentiments. Let’s all ask for a more respectful, higher quality dialog that actually resembles a coherent discussion here.

  4. The video was asinine and showed nothing -nothing- on which to base any decision supporting his conclusions at the end, nor the title of the video.

    SJWs always lie.

  5. po
    1, December 24, 2015 at 8:55 am
    I would wait to hear what Bambam or KCFleming have to say about this before passing judgement.
    Perhaps they have an insight into that we might be missing.
    I suspect the Muslims are behind this.
    ——————————————
    KCFleming
    1, December 24, 2015 at 10:25 am
    1. Reasonable. But it’s a modest problem at best.
    Contrast this to Muslim education and you’ll see why.

    ———————————————-
    bam bam
    1, December 24, 2015 at 12:33 pm
    Now, boys and girls, let’s make this any, ANY, other country in the Middle East,

    Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, so predictable, so predictable…those damned Muslims…they killed Jesus, they committed the Holocaust, they constitute the priesthood in Israel which deems anyone not a specific type of orthodox Jew a lesser being. Yep, they hold Israel hostage and would rather blow it up than give it back.

  6. Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t this an article about a lawsuit being brought in ISRAEL, by a student attending a school in ISRAEL, against the government of ISRAEL, regarding a purported lack of basic education in some religiously-run schools and non-secular schools located in ISRAEL? The comments on here appear as if the readers lack the most basic of reading comprehension skills. How does this story impact anyone not living in Israel or attending one of these ultra-Orthodox schools? The mere fact that such a lawsuit even exists in Israel, where those disgruntled with their level of education are permitted, allowed and, dare I say, encouraged, to bring such a lawsuit, in an area of the world where any and all forms of protest, dissent and disobedience are routinely met with stonings, beheadings and rapes, is the most telling part of this whole article. By all means, these students, living in Israel, have the right to demand that their religiously-run schools meet certain basic standards. No question about it. Again, the gist of the story isn’t about the complaints and demands of these students, it’s about the fact that an individual, or a group of individuals, within Israel, can freely, safely and brazenly challenge the status quo without fear of retribution or harm. It’s called FREEDOM, folks–something that we in the West take for granted. FREEDOM. The freedom to file a lawsuit, complain, b@tch, moan, whatever, and still live to see another day. The petitioners, named in this suit are not in prison or six feet under–this article only further emphasizes and brings to light the daily freedoms and powers enjoyed by those in that society.

    Now, boys and girls, let’s make this any, ANY, other country in the Middle East, where individuals want to protest their government-funded religious schools. The results would be vastly different. The petitioners, first of all, wouldn’t even exist, and neither would such a lawsuit, because those societies are so lacking in the most basic of freedoms that individuals within those communities wouldn’t dare to attempt such a stunt. Not unless, of course, they had a death wish of some sort, where they enjoyed being summarily rounded up, tortured, maimed and imprisoned. That’s missing from this story. Often what you DON’T say, JT, is far, far more important than what you do say.

    There is no opportunity to compare and contrast this story with that which occurs in the multitude of Muslim madrassas throughout the Muslim world, where students sit for hours and hours doing nothing more than memorizing and reading the Koran out loud. They are not given any basic education, whatsoever, and plenty of US funding goes to support those various governments as well, JT. What? Because you don’t read about any lawsuits in those hellholes is now an accurate indication that no problem exists in the level of education in those schools? Right. Choking on my eggnog over that one.

    The bottom line is that Israel leads the world in medical advancements and technology. Period. These ultra-Orthodox schools, within Israel, are very much an internal issue for that government. By all accounts, if one does the research, Israel leads the pack in medical breakthroughs and technological advancements. The land of Christ–how apropos. Wake me up when any Muslim nation, anywhere on earth, can hold a candle to the freedoms, opportunities, advancements, not to mention the literacy rate, of that found in Israel. At the same time, wake me up when students at their government-sponsored and funded madrassas file a single lawsuit, anywhere in the Muslim world, protesting their lack of basic education. I won’t hold my breath.

    Merry Christmas. Thank you, JT, for the heartwarming Christmas story, which only proves that freedom, as evidenced by this lawsuit, is something to treasure.

  7. The Fundamentalist Church of Global Warming, and the Evangelical Church of Social Justice are 2 sects in the Secular Humanism Religion.

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