Maranan verabonon the gedolei Yisroel have issued
a public statement opposing attending enrichment courses that
are not supervised by rabbinical authorities by educators of
the chareidi school systems, and especially the Bais Yaakov
systems. They say that women who do attend such courses will
not be employed in the chareidi educational systems.
Teachers and educational staff of the Bais Yaakov system have
an incentive to take various enrichment courses since they
lead to increased pay and professional advancement. Since the
provider of the increased pay is the secular Israeli Ministry
of Education, there is no requirement that the courses meet
Torah standards, only that they provide training in areas
that the Ministry feels are germane to education. In many
cases the spirit that infuses these courses as they are
offered is hostile to Torah, even though the subject matter
is not in conflict with Torah. The rabbonim are working to
ensure that acceptable alternatives are available for the
Bais Yaakov system staff.
In their letter, maranan verabonon note, "The sacred
aspirations of the gedolei Yisroel in the previous
generation -- those aspirations which guided the founder of
the Beis Yaakov movement -- was to instill yiras
Shomayim in bnos Yisroel and to train them to
observe the halochos properly. They opposed teaching
them material which is unessential to avodas haBorei.
"Therefore, beginning rosh chodesh Kislev, whoever
enrolls in courses that are not supervised by maranan
verabonon will not be employed in chareidi educational
frameworks. Not only do such courses not suit the spirit of
Beis Yaakov but, in many cases, they even convey ideas that
contradict the spirit of our sacred Torah. Only teachers who
study in enrichment courses supervised by the rabbinical
committee and who conduct themselves within our guidelines,
will be able to teach in chareidi school systems."
Rabbonim and educators have long warned against participation
in enrichment courses which are not held in the spirit of
Torah. In many cases, teachers who participate in such
courses are exposed to alien ideas. Often the nature of these
courses is not in keeping with the pure spirit of the Beis
Yaakov system. The letter of maranan verabonon sets
strict criteria on this issue in order to preserve the pure
Torah chinuch of our daughters, so that they will be
able to establish Torah homes and raise their children to
yiras Shomayim.
