Shmuel Silberman asks a number of interesting questions about how and why to teach aliya. Many of his questions could be applied to much of halacha as taught in day schools today. If we replace the word "aliya" with alternative mitzvot, we will be faced with similar quandaries
Thus:
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1. Why do students make aliya [go to minyan/ wash netilat yadayim/ refrain from contact with members of the opposite sex/ etc.]? Is it because of identification with Israel [community/ritual purity/laws of kiruv basar, etc.], the quest for kedusha, or because they are told they halachically should? Which should be emphasized?
2. Judging by results, is aliya [minyan/netilat yadayim/negiah, etc.] commitment an area of strength or weakness in Jewish education and Jewish life? Which should we emphasize-areas of strength or of weakness? Is aliya [minyan/netilat yadayim/negiah, etc.] best promoted when we focus on that particular mitzvah or when we try to instill commitment to mitzvah observance in general?
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So while I believe that his questions are important, I believe that they are the questions that teachers should be asking about all of the mitzvot that we teach. And if that is true, Dov Lipman's question returns to the fore - why do day schools choose to ignore the mitzvah of aliya when it recognizes the need to actively teach and encourage minyan/netilat yadayim/negiah, etc.
(Rabbi) Yitzchak Jacobs
