My 9-year-old son hates school. I explain to him that “hate” is a strong word used only in rare instances, and that school — as awful as it may seem to him — is essential to pursuing a career as an adult. I explain to him that education is power, that I would have given the world to be a child again and experience the joys of a “real” education. He loves to take me on a guilt-trip several mornings a week — a trip that begins with him saying “I hate school” and ends with me saying, “You’re going anyway,” and then follows with a post-school, “You know, mom, I don’t learn anything in school because I already know everything.”
The other night, while chowing down on leftovers from previous night’s dinner and scrolling through my Facebook feed, I came upon this video of young boys in the ultra-Hasidic (there is a new pejorative for you, Rabbi Shafran) sect, Lev Tahor, who can barely answer even the most basic English questions about where they live or what they study. I watched it with amusement, spitting bits of breaded chicken breast while letting out huge roaring laughs. My husband, who was sitting on the other computer going through his Facebook feed (we’re that kind of couple), scooted up to have a peek at the comedy on my screen. We both agreed that the video was a tragicomedy and that my laughter was not inhumane; we also agreed that, at the age of 13, my husband would have needed assistance answering similar questions. Educational neglect is just as rampant in Kiryas Joel, the insular epicenter for Satmar Hasidim where we grew up.
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