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 ...
22
Try Pesachim 109a-b where the Gemara (and more elaborately in Rashi and Tosfot) tries to work out the volume of a Reviit in Etzba^3 based on its knowledge of the volume of a Mikva in Amah^3 (ie lots of basic algebra and unit conversion).
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 ...
14
Teach the difference from the very beginning.
Even if they don't really understand the difference between saying that a story is written in the Torah, or is from a Midrash/Gemara/Rashi but doesn't appear in the Torah, you wont damage them by inserting a little comment right before/after a story giving its source. Kids are smart - they will hear what you ...
13
I remember doing the gemara on Sukkah 8a in high school while I was also in a geometry class in the afternoons. It's pretty basic high-school geometry stuff. Squares and circles. It's the Tosfos there, though, that go all out.
It's particularly ingenious how Tosfos (bottom of the page) demonstrates that the ratio of the diagonal of a square to its side (...
13
When teaching Kodesh at Yeshivas Toras Emes (High School) in Johannesburg almost 30 years ago, the Menahel HaRav Gedalia Sternstein שליט"א told me that the Rov - Rabbi Salzer זצ"ל - told him that it's best if the students learn about these things from the Gemora - BiKedusha uVeTaharo.
As relevant topics came up, we were to explain them is as much detail as ...
12
" my 4-year-old has offhandedly pointed out that "God's not real," or "not a real person.""
In response to this exact line of conversation I would suggest the following.
Admit to the child that based on how they understand "real", or how you have taught "real" to them in the past, they are correct.
Explain to the child that some things are real even if ...
11
In Hakirah vol. 14, they published an article called "'Learning' Mathematics" which includes examples of different mathematical applications in classical Jewish literature.
11
You might want to show him Rambam Hil. Kiddush HaChodesh and the diagrams in the back, as well as Chazon Ish on Kiddush HaChodesh and the attendant illustrations. At the very end the Chazon Ish even includes a handy sine table! In R' Chaim Kanievsky's Shekel HaKodesh there is an appendix that explains the trigonometric underpinnings of the numbers given by ...
10
Sefer Sheeris HaNachala mentions in the name of the Sefer HaItim that Rav Hai Gaon said that it is permitted to teach children Arabic and mathematics in order to assist them in learning Torah.
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" (this is ...
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/...
8
One of my Rebeyim told me that you want to look at the 8th grade class and see how they are behaving as this is going to be the finished product of the school.
8
According to this site:
Magen Shalome, built by Shalome Solomon Umerdekar and his son Gershone
Solomon, Karachi’s last synagogue, was demolished in the 1980s to make
way for a shopping plaza. Most of the Karachi Jews now live in Ramle,
Israel, and built a synagogue they named Magen Shalome. Some Jewish
families do remain, but they prefer to pass ...
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
Yes. Here is a page from Eichlers full of Jewish comic books
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
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
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
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
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/
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