The basic split in Israel political life on the relations between secular and religious aspects of the Jewish State flared again today in a debate in Knesset about the “Jewish consciousness” curriculum in the public schools. The debate found all parties agreed on the desirability of increasing Jewish consciousness among school children but sharply divided on the content and methods.
Two women deputies of left-wing parties, Emma Talmi of Mapam, and Ruth Hetkin of Achdut Avodah, introduced a joint motion calling for a committee of inquiry into the way in which the “Jewish consciousness” policy was being implemented. Asserting that they welcomed the principle, they said that in practice, the public schools were being converted into synagogues, secular parents were being “compelled” to subject their children to religious instruction and prayers were not being taught in the context of Hebrew literature but as “a subject in themselves.”
The Socialist Mapai and the moderate General Zionists stoutly defended the new studies and stressed that these were “most essential” to preserve the Jewish heritage and tradition for the coming generations. They argued also that such courses were needed as a bridge between “the past and the present, ” between the religious and secular elements in Israel’s population and between Israel and world Jewry.
Israel Yeshayahu, a Mapai deputy, commented that Mapam and Achdut Avodah were “just as extreme” as the ultra-Orthodox Neturei Karta. Heruth deputy Esther Raziel-Naor and General Zionist deputy Shoshana Persitz also spoke against the left-wing deputies. Both argued for more Jewish awareness content to make the new studies more effective. The debate will be completed next week when Zalman Aranne, Minister of Education, sums up the issues in the arguments.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
