34
I graduated from public school. My comments are not a result of the caliber of the education or even the environment - my school won national competitions in academic competitions, and was a very clean and safe environment. But I would never think of sending my child to the best public school.
1) - My school (which ended a bit earlier than the schools ...
23
I write as an Orthodox Jew, a parent and a teacher. The answer is both simple and complex.
First, the money. Yes, public school is cheaper. Can't get around that.
Next however is the contention that Jewish schools lack "technology and extra curriculars" -- this is not true for a huge chunk of Jewish schools out there. From teams to clubs and from iPads and ...
21
This is from the Babylonian Talmud. Shabbat 135b says that we don't break Shabbas to save the life of a baby born in its eighth month of gestation. The idea was that there are 7-month babies and 9-month babies, and an 8-month baby was either an early 9-monther or a late 7-monther and if it were an early 9-monther, it probably wasn't going to make it.
...
16
First, you should remember how bad infant mortality was in those days. So what it says about how some infants were considered not viable (and thus could not be touched on Shabbos), no longer applies today when infant mortality is much lower. You should talk about the change in infant mortality with your students.
The way you phrased your question implies ...
16
The child attending public school knows that his attendance is
compulsory, because his parents and the government consider his
education of the utmost importance. Together with this comes the
recognition that what is really important and essential to his
education is taken care of in the school. The child’s instinctive
feeling and inference from ...
10
Even if there's a decoration that completely covers the schach, if it's placed there merely for decoration, than it isn't a problem, provided that the decorations are within 4 tefachim of the schach (Gemara Sukka 10a, Shulchan Aruch O.C. 627:4)
However, this is assuming that they have been placed there for the purpose of decorations, otherwise, even a small ...
10
My father, who grew up orthodox in Brooklyn during the depression era, went to public school for High School. He told me that although there were a few Yeshivas, and most of the children went to Public School in that period. He had a Hebrew tutor in the afternoon, yet he told me that many did not. Although there were some Yeshivos (Chaim Berlin, Torah ...
9
Although America is a much more religious country than other developed Western democracies, the typical social atmosphere among young Americans is extremely secular and often anti-religious. Most of American popular culture is devoid of religion and consistently promotes a social liberalism (indeed, often libertinism) that is at odds with the teachings of ...
9
"What is the best way to explain the concept of tzniut to a very young (say first grade) girl without explaining sexuality?"
The same way you would explain the concept to anybody else: without explaining sexuality.
To quote the esteemed R' Alex:
This would have to begin with Micah 6:8: והצנע לכת עם א-להיך, "be tzanua in walking with your G-d&...
9
Yes. Here is a page from Eichlers full of Jewish comic books
9
In Yeshivat Chachmei Lublin by Dovid Avraham Mandelbaum p. 322 we are given the daily schedule of the yeshiva, from which we can see what texts were studied:
My English rendering:
6:00 AM – Wakeup
7:30 AM – Morning Prayer
8:45 AM – Lecture on the Rif in order
9:15 AM – Breakfast/break
10:00 AM – Review of the lectures
11:45 AM – Lecture in Mikvaot on Sun/...
9
You may want to check this reference to vol 3, p.263 on regard chanuka:
Teach the jewish chanuka, don't feed the child with fairy tales. It
does not beguile childhood and youth with the notions of a world that
does not exist, it does not seek to win their hearts and minds for a
life which reality will never afford them.
8
I once heard a rabbi speak about this (but, sadly, I don't remember who), and he talked about contrasting Halloween with Purim. Both involve dressing up in costumes and socializing -- but on Purim we go around and give gifts, while Halloween is about taking. He made this a teaching moment with his kids about mussar (right behavior), and tied it in with the ...
8
Rav Shlome Wolbe in his sefer זריעה ובניין בחינוך pg. 24 writes, that we do not hit anymore, because of lifnei iver the son might hit back, even at a young age and it also can ruin a relationship.
There is an Igros Moshe YD 1:140 which his son Rav Dovid asked. There is also an Igros Moshe YD 4:30:4 which discusses what a rebbi and what a father may do . A ...
8
This is indeed a serious issue and has been discussed by many rabbonim. There have been a number of articles on this. Here are a few.
Jerusalem - R’ Ovadia Yosef: It Is Forbidden To Expel Children From Yeshiva
Rav Ovadiah Yosef explains how he was able to actually turn a boy around before he was expelled.
Parshat Vayetzei Vol.10 No.12 Expelling Students ...
8
I have asked this question to R Moishe Bane, the president of the OU, and he responded
Thanks for the interest. I came across Rav Kook’s thought in an essay
of his that I read in a rabbi’s home library in 1979. I have spent
hours searching for the journal and have yet to track it down. I
recall it was published in the second half of the 1920’s.
In ...
7
My preferred method - tried when teaching both my sons their Bar Mitzva Parsha - is as follows.
When the child makes an error, make them go back 2 - 3 words and restart correctly from there.
This will help them correct the flow; otherwise they get used to saying the wrong thing - correcting it (or hearing you correct it) - and continuing.
We learn this ...
7
Women's Torah education in Judaism has been the subject of debate from Mishnaic times right down to the present day.
As the Mishnaic and Talmudic literature are primarily legal texts, they are more concerned with what the law is regarding women's education than discussing history.
There are a couple of primary sources that discuss the laws of women's ...
7
The gemara (Y'vamos 82b) discusses iteratively replacing mikva water with fruit juice.1 The case involves adding one se'ah of fruit juice to a 40 se'ah mikva, and then removing one se'ah of the solution. R' Yochanan rules that this iterative process may be repeated so long as more than 50 percent (or at least 50 percent) of the solution remains water.
Rashi ...
7
My suggestions are:
Planting & Building in Education: Raising a Jewish Child Hardcover
by Shlomo Wolbe
extract from the Amazon blurb,
“The author is one of the foremost spiritual leaders of our time. This
book presents basic guidelines for parenting and education. The wisdom
fills a great need for our generation and Rabbi Wolbe's vital
...
7
Rav Yaakov Weinberg, speaking about חושך שבטו שונא בנו (one who spares the rod hates his child), said that this needs to be understood with the caveat that the "rod" means whatever will be effective in disciplining the child, and that if a stern look would suffice then giving a "patch" is being cruel, and if positive reinforcement would work then a stern ...
7
HaRav Eliyahu Mansour just touched on this topic in his derashah on Parashat Noahh 5775 (link):
The Hazon Ish (Rav Avraham Yeshaya Karelitz, 1878-1953) cautioned that in our times, the decision to expel a student from Yeshiva requires a 23-member Bet Din. According to Halacha, life-and-death cases cannot be brought before a standard, three-member court; ...
7
I just saw your question and wanted to let you know there is an online safrut course starting on November 15th. All the information can be found here:
http://mastery.webyeshiva.org/safrut-certification/
7
Generally, the Classic Lithuanian Yeshiva is focused on those tractates that provide ample area for "Lomdus"/"Iyun" - "Analyses: (Shabbos), Sukka, Psachim, Yevamos, Kesubos, Nedarim, Gittin, Kiddushin, the 3 Babas, Sanhedrin. Maakos. They learn these with the commentary's of Rashi, the different Tosfos, Rashba, Ritva, Rif, Rosh, Ran, Ramban, and other ...
7
The Rambam knew the pasuk in Yirmeyahu. Just because one has a question based on a plain-text interpretation of a verse, that doesn't mean that people should stop teaching the Rambam. There are many Biblical verses, and many Mishnayot that are interpreted in ways other than what the plain-text meaning seems to be.
Rambam designed his framework based on ...
7
Welcome and thanks for the question. I would suggest you quote the Psak Halachah from HoRav Hershel Schachter shlit”a.
The mitzvah to safeguard and preserve life overrides all mitzvos
haTorah. It is not a midas chassidus to ignore saconas nefoshos. On
the contrary, it is expressly and strictly forbidden. In the words of
the Ba’alei ha Tosfos “...
7
I checked the index in volume 9 and found a few places where Rabbi Hirsch denigrated fairytales.
All are found in volume 7.
Pages 113-114, 329, 376, 383-384.
None of the objections, as far as I can tell, are for the reason mentioned in the question, paralleling them to medrashim.
He only mentioned Cinderella by name, never the brothers Grimm, but did ...
6
A couple examples from Eruvin come to mind:
Eruvin 14a brings proof that for halachic matters, pi = 3, and then continues to explain the dimensions of Solomon's pool. This contains some prealgebra and simple geometry.
Eruvin 23b discusses the difference between 7.666 and sqrt(5000), with Rashi (s.v. "אלא אמרה תורה טול חמשים") giving an interesting way of ...
6
So long as you aren't erasing the text, recording content-related notes in a text's margins is a very traditional Jewish practice. Consider this page from a very old Tanakh:
6
Maybe what you're looking for is a way to communicate the idea in Deut 18:9-15... that the Israelites should be different from the other nations and stay away from magical/idolatrous obsessions or attempts at power that bypass God. In the spiritual realm Jews have only one, very special, relationship. Even so, God would give a better replacement for those ...
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