Labels: humor, Talmud, Yeshiva
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 1:21 PM
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Among other points, the books, used by 55,000 children in the eighth, ninth and 10th grades as part of a required “national education” course of study in government schools, do not recognize modern Israel, or even mention the Oslo Peace Accords the country signed with the Palestine Liberation Organization in the 1990s.
Textbooks have long been a point of contention in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, in which dueling historical narratives and cultural clashes underpin a territorial fight. And they are central examples of what Israeli leaders call Palestinian “incitement” against Jews, held up as an obstacle to peace talks newly resumed under American pressure.
Beyond their take on Israel, the new texts are also a salvo in the war for influence between the rival Palestinian factions: Gaza-based Hamas and Fatah, which dominates the Palestinian Authority and the West Bank. They reflect a growing gulf between the 1.7 million Palestinians living in the densely populated Gaza Strip and the 2.5 million spread among the West Bank’s cities and villages.
“Textbooks are always and everywhere a very important means of representing a national ethos,” said Daniel Bar-Tal, a Tel Aviv University professor who helped lead a comprehensive recent study of Israeli and Palestinian textbooks.
“When a leader says something, not everyone is listening. But when we talk about textbooks, all the children, all of a particular peer group, will be exposed to a particular material,” he added. “This is the strongest card.”
What Gaza teenagers are reading in their 50-page hardcover texts this fall includes references to the Jewish Torah and Talmud as “fabricated,” and a description of Zionism as a racist movement whose goals include driving Arabs out of all of the area between the Nile in Africa and the Euphrates in Iraq, Syria and Turkey.
“Palestine,” in turn, is defined as a state for Muslims stretching from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea. A list of Palestinian cities includes Haifa, Beersheba and Acre — all within Israel’s 1948 borders. And the books rebut Jewish historical claims to the territory by saying, “The Jews and the Zionist movement are not related to Israel, because the sons of Israel are a nation which had been annihilated.”
For contemporary history, there is a recounting of Hamas’s battle with Israel last fall that exaggerates: The books say that rockets from Gaza sent “three million Zionists underground for eight days” (somewhat fewer Israelis were in and out of shelters sporadically), that Tel Aviv was hit (one missile landed in the sea, and another fell well short) and that an attempted strike on Israel’s Parliament building “forced the Zionists to beg for cease-fire.”
Yosef Kuperwasser, a senior Israeli official who has led the charge against the incitement, said the new texts were blunter expressions of a dangerous message spread throughout Palestinian schools and news media.
“Palestinians have developed a system of deception — to English-speaking people they sell one story, and to themselves they have a different story,” Mr. Kuperwasser said. “Textbooks are one of the tools with which they tell their children what is the truth.” He added, “If you want real peace, it has to be based on a real change in the culture of hatred.”Peace is at hand.... What could go wrong?
Labels: Fatah, Hamas, Palestinian Authority, Palestinian education to hatred, Palestinian textbooks, Talmud, Torah
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 2:48 PM
1 comments
Labels: Israeli Nobel prizes, South Korea, Talmud
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 8:38 AM
1 comments
Nearly 50 million South Koreans are now studying Talmud every day. And they don't use Artscroll. Close to 50 million people live in South Korea, and everyone learns Gemara (Talmud) in school. "We tried to understand why the Jews are geniuses, and we came to the conclusion that it is because they study Talmud," said the Korean ambassador to Israel. And this is how "Rav Papa" became a more well known scholar in Korea than in Israel.
It is doubtful if the Amoraic scholars, Abbaye and Rava imagined their discussions of Jewish law in the Beit Midrash in Babylon would be taught hundreds of years later in East Asia. Yet it turns out that the laws of an "egg born on a holiday" ("ביצה שנולדה ביום טוב") is actually very interesting to the South Koreans who have required that Talmud study be part of their compulsory school curriculum.
Almost every home in South Korea now contains a Korean-translated Talmud. But unlike in Israel, the Korean mothers teach the Talmud to their children. In a country of close to 49 million people who believe in Buddhism and Christianity, there are more people who read the Talmud - or at least own their own copy at home - more than in the Jewish state. Much more.
"So we too will become geniuses"
"We were very curious about the high academic achievements of the Jews," explains Israel's ambassador to South Korea, Young Sam Mah, that was a host on the program "culture today."
"Jews have a high percentage of Nobel laureates in all fields: literature, science and economics. This is a remarkable achievement. We tried to understand what is the secret of the Jewish people? How they - more than other people - are able to reach those impressive accomplishments? Why are Jews so intelligent? The conclusion we arrived at is that one of your secrets is that you study the Talmud."
"Jews study the Talmud at a young age, and it helps them, in our opinion, to develop mental capabilities. This understanding led us to teach our children as well. We believe that if we teach our children Talmud, they will also become geniuses. This is what stands behind the rationale of introducing Talmud Study to our school curriculum."
Labels: South Korea, Talmud
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 5:19 PM
3 comments
Do you have a child in Israel this year? Is that child doing anything other than studying? Well, in one yeshiva, there are a whole bunch of guys who are running the Marathon. Upon getting settled in yeshiva, Benun began his usual workout regimen of training five days a week. And he soon found out he was not alone.Read the whole thing.
“I planned on running the marathon by myself, but when I saw a few other kids running, I realized that others might be interested as well,” Benun said.
Benun first appealed to his roommate, Ariel Rogoff.
“My initial response was ‘no way,’” Rogoff recounted. “[But] that day, we went for a run together.”
The Ironman veteran was soon joined by an additional 16 people who have since been training under his tutelage.
This is not Benun’s first time coaching, however. During his senior year of high school at Brooklyn’s Flatbush Yeshiva, he was recruited by the school organizer of Magen David Yeshiva to train a group of students for the Miami Half-Marathon to raise money for the Bikur Cholim charity.
“Coaching showed me that it’s not all about giving to your athletes. It’s really more than that. You really get back. As much as you inspire them, they inspire you,” Benun said.
Benun’s experience stretches beyond the Ironman and his onetime coaching stint: He’s been running competitively since he won a Brooklyn half marathon with a time of 1:28 at age 14.
Having prior experience made assembling the Yeshiva’s “Team Tzvi” relatively easy, and feedback among the runners has been positive thus far.
“I’ve always gotten good grades, but I’ve never accomplished any real physical feat,” said Boston’s Ben Fisher.
“Most people after three weeks of training never realized that what they could do was possible, and they were doubtful of their abilities,” Benun said. “I see my job as just getting rid of people’s doubts.”
The reservations mostly stem from the intensity of the commitment.
“I wanted to do the full marathon, but it was difficult to keep up with all the workouts,” explained Joe Hyman of Edgware, England, who is opting to compete in the half-marathon.
“I plan on running in the full marathon,” said Sam Cappell of the Upper West Side in New York City, “but just getting started is difficult.”
Despite their commitment to running, the members of Team Tzvi remain completely dedicated to their studies in the modern Orthodox yeshiva where learning Talmud, Tanach, Jewish law and Zionism can stretch for over 10 hours a day.
“Our first priority is as yeshiva students. We’re not going to start skipping class because of this marathon,” explained Zach Avigan.
The team is inspired by e-mails from Joe, daily updates to the “Team Tzvi” Facebook group, and messages scrawled on the whiteboard in the yeshiva’s exercise room.
“Mind over matter: if you don’t mind, it won’t matter,” read one.
Labels: Eretz HaTzvi, Marathon, Talmud
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 4:33 AM
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I am an Orthodox Jew - some would even call me 'ultra-Orthodox.' Born in Boston, I was a corporate and securities attorney in New York City for seven years before making aliya to Israel in 1991 (I don't look it but I really am that old :-). I have been happily married to the same woman for thirty-five years, and we have eight children (bli ayin hara) ranging in age from 13 to 33 years and nine grandchildren. Four of our children are married! Before I started blogging I was a heavy contributor on a number of email lists and ran an email list called the Matzav from 2000-2004. You can contact me at: IsraelMatzav at gmail dot com
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