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Peeves about your HS
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Clarissa




 
 
    
 

Post Fri, Dec 21 2007, 1:30 pm
Ruchel wrote:
Clarissa wrote:
I had no idea how good I had it until I met my husband, and found out about all of the courses he didn't get to take because they just weren't offered at his small yeshiva. There are so many books that I consider classics that he didn't read, and that's the tip of the iceberg. Otoh, his Jewish education is so much more comprehensive than mine, so I guess there are pros and cons to everyone's situation.


soooo true.
My husband went to what is the norm for Jewish schools around here: a mix of chol and kodesh (only hardcore charedi schools offer only kodesh, and less and less people are sending to them because of the difficulty to make a living without even the bac). But for all that to fit, you have to remove "cool" classes like art, music... and they didn't really push on general culture either, like literature... oy oy. I'll have to make sure my dd is encouraged to read at home lol
But as you said, my dh's Jewish education is WOW. So yeah...

In the older generation (40+) of French rabbanim, most had a great culture level. I don't know how they did it. Some went to non Jewish school, so that's why, but others?? were schools better? or did they read on side? I wonder...


The sad thing is that my husband loves art. He spent his single years wandering galleries and museums, and many of our dates were to museums. He would have loved some of the offerings at my school. Also, he had very limited phys ed, while we had gymnastics, lacrosse, track, etc. I think he would have enjoyed that.

His biggest complaint about his school days were the long days and the six day weeks. He never had free time to rest and relax and do what he wanted to do.

As far as how people handled it in past, my father said that, when he came to America, he used to spend all of his free time reading books he took out from the public library, which weren't offered at his yeshiva. He said sometimes he would just spend the day riding the subway and reading. He was the most well-read person I've ever met in my life, he knew about everything and everything, so I guess he did manage to do it all on his own.

The fact is, we still have these problems today. I'd change a lot of things about my kid's school, and I don't just mean the outrageous tuition.
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Ruchel




 
 
    
 

Post Fri, Dec 21 2007, 1:36 pm
6 days?? oh the horror lol. I don't think it exists here.

You're right about the public library, that must have been the solution they used. My dad also told me of constantly reading, and granddad too...
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MrsLeo




 
 
    
 

Post Fri, Dec 21 2007, 1:43 pm
My husband went to the satmar yeshiva and the boys there dont even learn english! let along math and science and history and all the others.
I would never send my kids to satmar!
I can never understand why the boys (and men) dont know english! I'm sure when they lived in Europe they knew the language of their country! Isnt that how Yiddish came about? A mix of German, Polish, Russian, Hungarian and Hebrew??

My husband had to learn math and physics on his own for his business (he does 3d animation and its all about math and geometry and rules of gravity, friction and all that stuff)
I think the boys can at least understand where rain and snow comes from and why its cold in the winter and hot in the summer and how their body works. Its Hashem's world so why cant they learn about it??
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louche




 
 
    
 

Post Fri, Dec 21 2007, 2:08 pm
MrsLeo wrote:
I'm sure when they lived in Europe they knew the language of their country! Isnt that how Yiddish came about? A mix of German, Polish, Russian, Hungarian and Hebrew??



unless the men were in business in which they had to interact with gentiles, they most often did NOT know the language of the country in which they lived. If anyone was going to, it was more likely to be the women, who usually had more interaction with gentiles. domestic help was often a nonjewish maid. But even women did not necessarily know the language of the country. My grandparents were born in Europe and they spoke Yiddish, period. My great-great-grandmother was considered an unusually educated woman because, besides being able to read and write Yiddish, she spoke the language of the country.

Yiddish is basically a german-hebrew dialect to which words are added from the language of the country in which people live. Russian Jews would add Russian words, hungarians would add Hungarian words. the Yiddish spoken in Willy is not the same Yiddish that was spoken in Europe, and I don't mean just names of things that didn't exist in Europe, like microwave or subway. In europe, Mama was not "gegangen shopping", as I heard one kid say not long ago!
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louche




 
 
    
 

Post Fri, Dec 21 2007, 2:15 pm
Clarification: Observant Jewish men rarely spoke the language of the country in which they lived. Frei Yidden and maskilim of course spoke, studied and wrote these languages.
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Ruchel




 
 
    
 

Post Fri, Dec 21 2007, 2:20 pm
lol!!
Louche, not at all! It really, really depended on the country and the community. In France, Italy, Netherlands, Greece, Spain, Switzerland, Belgium... it would have been hard to find a Jew not speaking the language of the country. It was less rare in Eastern Europe in the few last centuries, but still the stereotype in Europe was "Jews know all languages, if you need a translator, find a Jew". Gedolim like the Maharal of Prague, lubavitcher rebbe.... were also known for their perfect knowledge of many languages.
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Chani




 
 
    
 

Post Fri, Dec 21 2007, 2:35 pm
I have mixed feelings about my school.

Academically it was a top-notch school, one of the very best prep schools in the country with about 40% of the grads going on to Ivies. Every single girl in my class was bright. In fact, the girl who graduated dead last in my class still got into Duke.

The school also did a pretty good job of sheltering us. It was all girls, which of course helped. I never saw drugs on or off campus. There was one cheating scandal as a result of which all offenders, including a daughter of a board member, were summarily expelled. Poor behavior was not tolerated.

The downside is that who one's family is and how much money they have mattered a lot. The competition was cut-throat and at times nasty - in academics, sports, for boys... There was little appreciation of non-conformists. The wrong brand of loafer could destroy a girl's social life for the semester.

Fortunately I found two other free spirits, and the three of us had a nice warm friendship that insulated us from a lot of the social nastiness.

I'm grateful for the education and for the fact that I was protected to such an extent that I had no real opportunity to get into any trouble, but even if I weren't frum I would never send my own daughter there.
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Clarissa




 
 
    
 

Post Fri, Dec 21 2007, 2:43 pm
louche wrote:
Clarification: Observant Jewish men rarely spoke the language of the country in which they lived. Frei Yidden and maskilim of course spoke, studied and wrote these languages.


I believe that my father's family, frum and living in a small town in Eastern Europe, did speak the local language, as well as Yiddish.
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Zus




 
 
    
 

Post Sat, Dec 22 2007, 1:46 pm
Clarissa wrote:
louche wrote:
Clarification: Observant Jewish men rarely spoke the language of the country in which they lived. Frei Yidden and maskilim of course spoke, studied and wrote these languages.


I believe that my father's family, frum and living in a small town in Eastern Europe, did speak the local language, as well as Yiddish.


Yep, so did mine.
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sarahd




 
 
    
 

Post Sat, Dec 22 2007, 3:21 pm
My grandparents both spoke Hungarian, the local language, but I think I remember my mother telling me that her mother's parents spoke Yiddish at home and possibly exclusively.
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