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| Belz children at a Chumash party (VIN) |
According to a story in VIN, the government of Israel has agreed to 100% funding of the Belz Chasidic school system. It appears that their new curriculum satisfies the minimum government requirements to teach the core curriculum subjects of Hebrew, math and English.
The one thing you can say about the Israeli government is that they do not give money to Charedi schools lightly. There is no way they would fully fund a school that does not fulfil their requirements. (Nor should they in my view.) There is also no way that Belz can fool the Israeli educational establishment. They are not fooled easily. The conclusion must therefore be that they are indeed teaching their students those core subjects - despite their denials.
When the news first broke about Belz Chasidus agreeing to add a core secular curriculum to their religious studies curriculum, I was elated. I thought - Finally! Finally the chain of perpetual ignorance among major Chasidic sects has been broken. That Belz finally admitted that there was not anything wrong with devoting some of their students class time to Limdei Chol (secular subjects). And perhaps even tacitly admitting there might be something right about it.
Sadly, my elation was short lived. Shortly after that story broke Belz came out with a vigorous denial, saying that they agreed to no such thing. Nothing had changed. And their curriculum will continue as it always had with a full time religious studies program.
Needless to say I was disappointed. The chain of perpetual ignorance was indeed going to be perpetuated. I thought the original story was false and that nothing will ever change in the world of Charedi education in Israel. They will continue to produce people who will be at a great disadvantage to the vast majority of the Israeli population that benefits from their core curriculum education.
But... I spoke too soon. It appears there is another explanation to the Belz educational changes and their denial of it. I’m not sure I can fully explain it. But since Israel is not about to let a community known to vehemently oppose teaching their students secular subjects fool them - their approval must mean that such a program will actually be implemented.
How Belz can deny it is beyond me. I have no clue how they can both teach those subjects and yet deny they are doing it. It should be pretty easy to verify whether they are or they are or aren’t.
If I am correct about their actually teaching those subjects and yet denying that truth, it tells you just how much the Charedi culture disapproves of it. Belz must fear that they will be treated like they are the Chasidic version of ‘Open Orthodoxy’! Hence the need to deny.
If I am right, I hope that they are not doing it just for the money. I hope they also see the value of the education itself. Knowing Limudei Chol can actually enhance one’s Avodas HaShem even if only to lessen anxiety over earning a living. And that it can enhance their understanding of certain Torah subjects (Like Meseches Eruvin).
It is it’s really hard to know where the truth lies. Perhaps they can eat their cake and have it too. Maybe they somehow found a way to incorporate these core curriculum subjects into their daily Limudei Kodesh (religious studies).
But it doesn’t matter as long as they can learn those subjects well enough to satisfy state requirements and pass their tests - that is all that really matters. They will then be able to use that knowledge for their material improvement that - as noted - can lead to spiritual improvement. Either way, it is a step in the right direction. I just hope that other Charedi school systems in Israel follow suit.