Joseph Mintz, who is Associate Professor in Education at University College London has done exactly that. His defense on behalf Chasidic schools that offer no secular curriculum is typical. It is the same tired argument. Which is that their community does just fine without it. That they are just as productive as any other community. And that in any case it is their right to teach heir children according to their religious tenets as a matter of religious freedom.
The twist this time is one I have heard before. It is based on a Supreme Court decision made decades ago on behalf of the Amish:
Wisconsin v Yoder, the US Supreme Court ruling in 1972 which found that Amish children could not be placed in compulsory education past the 8th grade (ages 13-14). The Amish believe that secular — as opposed to religious — education was not necessary beyond this age. Amish children typically went on to work in farming within the Amish community and thus posed no burden on the state.
One may ask why this is not the same thing? Are these Chasidic communities less deserving than the Amish? Shouldn’t ‘Wisconsin v Yoder’ be applied to them, too?
The answer is no for several reasons. First because the Amish do get a secular education through 8th grade. The Chasidic schools in question do not. Secondly Amish religious doctrine prevents entry into many jobs and professions. That leaves most of them little choice other than an agrarian one. As noted ‘Amish children typically went on to work in farming within the Amish community and thus posed no burden on the state.’ That lifestyle does not require any of the core curriculum subjects taught in schools. Nor does being a farmer require literacy.
Can the same thing be said of Chasidim? I don’t think too many of them are farmers. Furthermore their large families often require government financial assistance. Which is what ‘burden on the state ‘ means. Add to that the temptation to defraud the system which is always there. An underground economy surely exists where income is not reported. I don’t know the numbers or percentages. But that it exists at all makes the Amish argument irrelevant.
As I constantly say, the fact that they do not learn basic subjects puts many of them at a distinct disadvantage when seeking employment. Not everyone can open their own business and run it successfully. While many do, most don’t. Which means they have to settle for the low paying menial jobs of unskilled laborers. Surely being illiterate is a major obstacle preventing them from a decent job. Many of which require a basic command of the English language.
What is also ignored by these apologists is the fact that so many of them cannot write a grammatically correct sentence. Frequently misspelling common English words? Why is that OK? It makes a mockery of Jewish people as an enlightened society. The message being that a more religious a Jew is, the more ignorant and illiterate.
I often hear the argument that a lot of people who actually get involved with these Chasidim to one extent or another are impressed by the way they live. These Chasidim are admired for their strong family values, their devotion to family, their modesty, their charitable ways, and their generally happy countenance - signaling they are happy with their lot and that money isn’t everything.
I’m sure that’s all true. But that doesn’t mean that they aren’t seen as ignorant and illiterate. Which they are if they had no secular education.
I do not understand why these Chasidim are OK with being perceived this way. Is it that they don’t care? Or do they think they are not perceived that way at all? Well, if their commend of the language is so poor how can they not be perceived as illiterate?
They apparently don’t care how the ‘outside’ world perceives them. It seems to me that this is all part of their philosophy of isolation form the rest of the world as much as possible. A world they see as immoral. As if to say the more literate and educated one is the more immoral. A belief bolstered by their view the outside world is the antithesis of Judaism. Thus they must believe that becoming too literate endangers their spirituality.
I wish I could just say ‘leave them alone’. Let them live the way they choose. If they choose to be ignorant and illiterate that is a choice they are entitled to make in a free society such as ours. As log as they don’t try to impose it on the rest of us.
I can’t, however, get past the fact that they are a very large segment of our people and the fastest growing. And the fact that they set themselves up as the most pious among us makes us all look bad.
This is why I continue to advocate for a required core curriculum of secular subjects of the type that has been taught for decades in the vast majority of religious schools. Including Charedi ones. Because it isn’t just about their own welfare - which is the main concern. It is about all of us.