{"id":62214,"date":"2019-08-08T04:20:41","date_gmt":"2019-08-08T09:20:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/?p=62214"},"modified":"2019-08-08T15:43:08","modified_gmt":"2019-08-08T20:43:08","slug":"our-intense-focus-on-torah-education-is-celebrated-yet-its-flawed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/inspiration\/our-intense-focus-on-torah-education-is-celebrated-yet-its-flawed\/","title":{"rendered":"Our Intense Focus on Torah Education is Celebrated, Yet it&#8217;s Flawed"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Complementing the creation of the State of Israel, the revitalization of Torah study in both Israel and the Diaspora has been pivotal to the rejuvenation of Jewry following the\u00a0unfathomable\u00a0horror of the Holocaust. In the Diaspora, formal Jewish education,\u00a0for toddler to teenager, has been the primary antidote to assimilation and intermarriage.\u00a0And, both in Israel and beyond, Jewish studies have not only taught our children of their Jewish identity, but also of its meaning and significance.<\/p>\n<p>Our community\u2019s intense focus on youth-centered Torah education is deservedly celebrated, yet it is significantly flawed. Inculcating children with both Jewish values and Torah study skills is certainly essential. We err, however, in framing Judaic studies as a formalized educational endeavor, akin to geometry and civics.\u00a0Not only do students begin to view Torah as an academic exercise rather than a way of life, but they graduate with the misimpression that schooling has provided the necessary level of religious studies they will need to enjoy a meaningful religious life. The depth and sophistication of their knowledge, however, is that of a teenager. High school level biology may be adequate for most students, but not for those who intend to go on to a career in healthcare or the sciences. Similarly, a high school level understanding of Judaism is wholly insufficient for Jews seeking a meaningful, lifelong religious experience.<\/p>\n<p>The legendary Chief Rabbi Avraham\u00a0Yitzchok\u00a0KaCohen\u00a0Kook\u00a0<em>z\u201dl<\/em>, observed that in every society, in every religion, in every country, in every era throughout history, there is a remarkable inverse correlation between a community\u2019s level of education and sophistication and the degree of its religious intensity. The more educated a community, the less vigorous its\u00a0religious commitment. Is this observation not evidence, asked\u00a0Rav\u00a0Kook, that religion generally appeals only to the most primitive minds? Doesn\u2019t this inverse correlation prove that we, as sophisticated individuals, should recognize the folly of a commitment to, and passion for, Torah Judaism?<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.israelnationalnews.com\/Articles\/Article.aspx\/24258\">Read the full story on Arutz 7<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/oupresident\/\">Have a question for OU President Mark (Moishe) Bane?  Submit it here<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Complementing the creation of the State of Israel, the revitalization of Torah study in both Israel and the Diaspora has been pivotal to the rejuvenation of Jewry following the\u00a0unfathomable\u00a0horror of the Holocaust. In the Diaspora, formal Jewish education,\u00a0for toddler to teenager, has been the primary antidote to assimilation and intermarriage.\u00a0And, both in Israel and beyond,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":133412,"featured_media":48390,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_cloudinary_featured_overwrite":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[85],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-62214","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-inspiration"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Our Intense Focus on Torah Education is Celebrated, Yet it&#039;s Flawed - OU Life<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/inspiration\/our-intense-focus-on-torah-education-is-celebrated-yet-its-flawed\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Our Intense Focus on Torah Education is Celebrated, Yet it&#039;s Flawed - OU Life\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Complementing the creation of the State of Israel, the revitalization of Torah study in both Israel and the Diaspora has been pivotal to the rejuvenation of Jewry following the\u00a0unfathomable\u00a0horror of the Holocaust. 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