The yeshiva day schools of the U.S. should be emulated by American educators as models of academic excellence and character molding, Secretary of Education Terrel Bell said yesterday.
Addressing 1,800 people at the 61st Anniversary Dinner of Agudath Israel of America at the New York Hilton, Bell said, “The way to strengthen America is by setting a good example; perhaps if American educators paid more attention to the academic excellence and ethical training in your Jewish day schools, our public schools would not be in the conditions they are today.” The audience included hundreds of rabbis and yeshiva deans.
Agudath Israel president Rabbi Moshe Sherer presented Bell with the organization’s Humanitarian Award for having demonstrated his concern for all American children and for his leading role in the battle to remove discriminatory barriers against parents who choose non-public school education for their children.
Citing the Talmud and Jewish history, Bell noted the traditional Jewish love of learning and attributed the yeshivas’ success to their unashamedly stressing the importance of inculcating moral and ethical values along with academic achievement.
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