Education Minister Limor Livnat has instituted a new educational program to combat what Ministry officials call "the students' ignorance." The program is called, "The 100 Concepts: Heritage, Zionism, and Democracy for Junior High Schools."
"The pupils' knowledge in these areas is truly embarrassing," said Dr. Yaakov Katz, head of the Education Ministry's Pedagogical Council, who headed the team that came up with the 100 concepts to be taught. "We decided that we could no longer remain passive when children in Israel don't the words to the national anthem, who was Herzl, or the most basic concepts in our tradition and in democracy. We therefore created a very basic information bank that will be taught in a flexible and hands-on manner." He told Arutz-7 today that minority religious groupings - Moslems, Christians, and Druze - will be taught concepts that are relevant to them - although they will also learn Zionist concepts of the country in which they live.
Among the 35 concepts in Jewish tradition, 33 in Zionism, and 26 in Israeli Democracy - the missing six will be added later - are the following:
* Jewish tradition:
The Jewish calendar and how it works; Sabbath; Jewish holidays, fast days, and commemorative days; the marriage ceremony; mourning; acts of kindness; honor for parents and teachers; prayers; various traditional books; the Oral Torah; Beit Hillel and Beit Shammai; the Exodus and other Biblical events; the Holy Temples; the Golden Age in Spain and the Expulsion; Rashi, Maimonides, Baal Shem Tov, Vilna Gaon, Rabbi Shalom Shabazi, Mendelssohn, and Bialik; and more.
* Zionism:
Herzl, Weizman, Rothschild, Ben-Yehuda, Jabotinsky, Ben-Gurion, Senesh, Begin, Rabin, Rabbis Kook and Uziel; the various Aliyot, including from Europe, Ethiopia, and in the times of Ezra and Nechemiah; pre-State organizations; the wars of Israel; forms of settlement; the Jewish Agency, WZO, and JNF; Yad Vashem; Balfour Declaration; Eichmann trial; and more.
* Israeli Democracy:
A Jewish-democratic state; Declaration of Independence; Law of Return; Children's Rights Charter; National Insurance; National Health Law; National Education Law; Supreme Court; State Controller and Complaints Commissioner; Flag; Anthem; President; Knesset Members; Elections; the three branches of government and separation of powers; coalition government; and more.
Orot Educational Institute director Yonah Goodman, who has a weekly Education Corner on Arutz-7, commented this morning that the program does not deal with the main problem:
"It's values and belonging that have to be imparted, not only knowledge... I'll give you an example. When Limor Har-Melekh, who lost her husband in a terrorist attack a few days ago, applied to be a student in Orot, she told me that she tries not to take notes during Torah-studies classes. She explained that she doesn't want to use up her energies towards absorbing the dry facts in her notebook, but rather towards internalizing the lesson in her heart. Whoever sees her behavior in the past few days can see how she has truly built herself in this manner..."
Dr. Katz, however, defended his position and the new program:
"I agree that without the proper spirit, it will be very hard to succeed - but at the same time, it's impossible without teaching the basic knowledge. For 55 years we have been talking about spirit, and we have not succeeded... We have ignored the cognitive aspects for too long. We must make great efforts to integrate both aspects. Knowledge of these concepts is a vital asset that we must impart to our students."
"The pupils' knowledge in these areas is truly embarrassing," said Dr. Yaakov Katz, head of the Education Ministry's Pedagogical Council, who headed the team that came up with the 100 concepts to be taught. "We decided that we could no longer remain passive when children in Israel don't the words to the national anthem, who was Herzl, or the most basic concepts in our tradition and in democracy. We therefore created a very basic information bank that will be taught in a flexible and hands-on manner." He told Arutz-7 today that minority religious groupings - Moslems, Christians, and Druze - will be taught concepts that are relevant to them - although they will also learn Zionist concepts of the country in which they live.
Among the 35 concepts in Jewish tradition, 33 in Zionism, and 26 in Israeli Democracy - the missing six will be added later - are the following:
* Jewish tradition:
The Jewish calendar and how it works; Sabbath; Jewish holidays, fast days, and commemorative days; the marriage ceremony; mourning; acts of kindness; honor for parents and teachers; prayers; various traditional books; the Oral Torah; Beit Hillel and Beit Shammai; the Exodus and other Biblical events; the Holy Temples; the Golden Age in Spain and the Expulsion; Rashi, Maimonides, Baal Shem Tov, Vilna Gaon, Rabbi Shalom Shabazi, Mendelssohn, and Bialik; and more.
* Zionism:
Herzl, Weizman, Rothschild, Ben-Yehuda, Jabotinsky, Ben-Gurion, Senesh, Begin, Rabin, Rabbis Kook and Uziel; the various Aliyot, including from Europe, Ethiopia, and in the times of Ezra and Nechemiah; pre-State organizations; the wars of Israel; forms of settlement; the Jewish Agency, WZO, and JNF; Yad Vashem; Balfour Declaration; Eichmann trial; and more.
* Israeli Democracy:
A Jewish-democratic state; Declaration of Independence; Law of Return; Children's Rights Charter; National Insurance; National Health Law; National Education Law; Supreme Court; State Controller and Complaints Commissioner; Flag; Anthem; President; Knesset Members; Elections; the three branches of government and separation of powers; coalition government; and more.
Orot Educational Institute director Yonah Goodman, who has a weekly Education Corner on Arutz-7, commented this morning that the program does not deal with the main problem:
"It's values and belonging that have to be imparted, not only knowledge... I'll give you an example. When Limor Har-Melekh, who lost her husband in a terrorist attack a few days ago, applied to be a student in Orot, she told me that she tries not to take notes during Torah-studies classes. She explained that she doesn't want to use up her energies towards absorbing the dry facts in her notebook, but rather towards internalizing the lesson in her heart. Whoever sees her behavior in the past few days can see how she has truly built herself in this manner..."
Dr. Katz, however, defended his position and the new program:
"I agree that without the proper spirit, it will be very hard to succeed - but at the same time, it's impossible without teaching the basic knowledge. For 55 years we have been talking about spirit, and we have not succeeded... We have ignored the cognitive aspects for too long. We must make great efforts to integrate both aspects. Knowledge of these concepts is a vital asset that we must impart to our students."