Category:Education (subject)

Education

Ancient Israel (before the 6th cent. BCE)

In the early period of Hebrew history, prior to the Babylonian Exile (6th cent. BCE)., the primary teachers were the tribe and the family, particularly the parents, and education was focused on the children. Training involved actual participation in the various agrarian occupations, such as farming, tent-making, child-care, sheep breeding, making of tools and clothing, cooking, hunting and fishing. Knowledge was passed through generations through stories during long evenings around the campfires, conversations around the well, or in the home doing domestic chores. Childhood ended with marriage.

Children learned from their parents and family. They could learn only what the parents knew and do what their parents were doing.

Priests and scribes required a more complex education. The story of Samuel talks about a child given by his family to a priest to be trained as a priest. However, being a priest or a scribe in ancient Israel was also a family business, from father to sons.

There were no schools.

Persian Period (5th-4th cent. BCE)

The situation did not change significantly after the Babylonian Exile. The family remained the center of Jewish education. Even more than before the Babylonian Exile, priesthood was a family business, restricted to the "sons of Levi."

There were no schools.

Israel, however, was now part of a large empire, ruled by a multiethnic administration. Some children of the Jewish upper class could be taken away from their families and educated to become members of the Persian administration. They were "lost" to their own families (as "eunuchs" they did not marry and their only loyalty was to the king's court), but they preserved their Jewish identity and some of them worked in support of their own people (see the stories of Daniel and the historical experience of Nehemiah).

Hellenistic-Roman Times (3rd cent. BCE to 2nd cent. CE)

Schooling was one of the greatest innovations of Hellenistic times. It changed the life of children forever. Many things that today we take for granted emerged as a consequence of such a revolution. By attending a school children for the first time had the opportunity to learn things that their parents did not know, and become something different from their parents, without being totally removed from their own family. School became a fundamental tool for social mobility at the center of the Hellenistic global society. The school replaced the family as the place of children's education, and the teacher replaced the parents as the major agent of children's education. As the society was more complex, education became a much more complex process that required a longer period of training, which extended the length of childhood and delayed adulthood and marriage (for boys, not for girls), creating an intermediary stage: "Youth".

There were limitations. Education was restricted to boys and only a very limited number of families (possibly, 3%-5%) could afford it for their children but at least theoretically in the Hellenistic society there were no ethnic, racial or social restrictions. For most children, nothing changed: their education remained restricted to the family.

There were additional challenges for Jews. First of all, as the only monotheistic religion, their children had to attend an environment where la majority of students were polytheist and polytheistic practices were an essential part of the teaching and of the everyday life of students. Second, the Greeks had a comprehensive view of eduction, which included both the education of the mind and the education of the body. This exposed children to physical activities and sexual practices of initiation which could be in contrast with traditional Jewish values (see Sexual Immorality).

This would cause the need for Jewish "schools" to provide a "safer" environment for children. Young Josephus provides an example of the religious education of a member of a priestly family in Jerusalem. In Jewish tradition the establishment of a Jewish school system is attributed to the High priest Joshua ben Gamaliel (1st cent. CE): "Joshua b. Gamala came and ordained that teachers of young children should be appointed in each district and each town, and that children should enter school at the age of six or seven" (Babylonian Talmud, Bava Batra 21a). He is therefore regarded as the founder of the institution of formal Jewish education. A regular schooling system, however, developed only in rabbinic times.

Education in Rabbinic Judaism (2nd. to 18th cent. CE)

Because of the imposed segregation of Jewish communities, Jews developed their own educational system of religious schools, generally attached to the synagogue. While education was mostly performed within the family, talented students could have a career as rabbis

According to Judah ben Tema, “At five years the age is reached for studying Mikra, at ten for studying the Mishnah, at thirteen for fulfilling the mitzvoth, at fifteen for studying Talmud” (Avot 5:21). Mikra refers to the written Torah, Mishnah refers to the complementary oral Torah (the concise and precise laws dictating how the written Torah's commandments are achieved) and Talmud refers to comprehension of the oral and written law's unity and contemplation of the laws.The term "Talmud" used here is a method of study and is not to be confused by the later compilations by the same name. In keeping with this tradition, Jews established their own schools or hired private tutors for their children until the end of the 18th century. Schools were housed in annexes or separate buildings close to the synagogue.

Education after the Emancipation

The Emancipation created a completely new situation. Now citizens of their own countries, Jewish children might attend public schools.

Three models of reaction.

(1) Self-segregation. Some conservative Jewish communities reacted by confining their children in their own traditional religious schools, with little contact with secular culture.

(2) Full integration. Jewish children were sent to public schools. Their religious and ethnic identity was entrusted to after-school programs, as well as sport clubs, cultural associations, summer camps, orphanages, etc. specifically designed for the Jewish youth.

(3) Partial integration. Private Jewish day schools were created that combine both religious and secular education and are recognized by the State.