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Friday, January 05, 2007

Education Controversy

With all the great posts on the subject already, it's hard to imagine that an even better one could be written, but I think that Tobie sums up perfectly some of the reasons why so many of us are so upset over it. Here's an excerpt, but be sure to read the whole thing:
Here's the thing. It's not the sexism or close-mindedness of this decision that offends me. ...

No, what makes me most angry about this decision is not what they are doing to their women, but what they are doing to my religion. See, my religion is a beautiful one. It loves and respects knowledge, idolizes truth, and considers women equally valuable human beings. It is full of strong, educated women and plenty of people who explore all areas of knowledge without getting hysterical or paranoid that they might ever hear a drop of a philosophy that does not perfectly match their own. And what these people are doing is not simply to themselves but to my religion. My religion has been hijacked by their close-mindedness and taken to strange and ugly countries that I and most of the other passengers had not interest in visiting.

6 comments:

  1. I believe that the issue has nothing to do with sexism. I think that the issue is foreign influences, and the delay of marriage. This could apply to boys as well, theoretically.

    The issue is framed in terms of a B.A. degree, not for sexist purposes(as Mina Teicher understood in her article), but rather because potential teachers do not get an education merely for the thrill of it, without an economic gain.

    BTW, I posted on a larger issue; feel free to stop by.

    http://mishmar.blogspot.com/2007/01/chareidi-insularity-and-blogger.html

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  2. Tobie said it wonderfully. Thanks for pointing me to her blog. Shabbat Shalom!

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  3. You Modern Orthodox folks had better take your religion back from the nuts before it's too late or you're really not going to like it in 25 years.

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  4. SaraK - My pleasure :)

    BH - I disagree, but no time to write about that now...

    JA - It's funny, because I'm not Modern Orthodox (I think). But I agree. :)

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  5. The last thing that Rebbetzin Wein (ZL) said to me was that our religion is so liveable, why do people make it so unliveable?

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