My brother, a great teacher, wrote the following about non co-ed Modern Orthodox schools: "there is little discernible difference between their limudei kodesh curriculum and that of a more "yeshivish" variety. In general, I do not think that the limudei kodesh curriculum is the area to look at for what differentiates a Modern Orthodox education from the more "yeshivish" approach. It is the areas beyond Talmud Torah that begin to distinguish the two types of education."
I can think of many differences within the world of limmudei kodesh. 1) How broad is the curriculum? Is it almost exclusively Gemara or does it have significant amounts of Tanakh and/or Jewish Thought. 2) Do the Tanakh teachers distinguish between peshat and derash? 3) Do we assume that the Avot are flawless, that they have human emotions, or that they kept every jot of rabbinic law? 4) Do we interpret every aggada literally? 5) Do we assume that Hazal's science is accurate? 6) Do girls have opportunities to study Torah she'be'al peh. 7) To what degree does the education for girls focus on zeniut and motherhood? 8) Are we open to questions such as "Why do we not have to return lost objects to gentiles?" or "does Kiddushin imply that a husband owns his wife?" 9) Do we teach Jewish Thought as monolithic or as incorporating real debate? 10) Do we encourage the students to have their own opinion regarding such debates?
There are yeshiva high schools with Modern Orthodox students whose Judaic studies faculty are charedi or YU yeshivish so perhaps my brother refers to that phenomenon. In separate Modern Orthodox schools with Modern Orthodox teachers, the issues I raised will play out differently than in a charedi yeshiva.
Yitzchak Blau
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/27/2016 10:10AM by mlb.
