<HTML>Aviva Wasser's question regarding goals in the curriculum deserves
significant attention, although I don't believe that the question can be
answered universally. The specific goals will have to change based on the
school population and the amount of time available for gemara instruction.
Let me offer, however, some general thoughts on the matter.
1-Students should emerge from high school with a general sense of how
Torah She-be-al Peh works -- where it comes from, its relationship to
Torah She-bikhtav, how halakha develops
2-Students should emerge from high school with a healthy respect for the
processes described in #1.
Regardless of the skill level of the students, if we fail on the two items
mentioned then we fail as Jewish educators, whose primary responsibility
is to ensure the continuity of Jewish life as a whole and the personal
religious growth of our students as individuals. If we succeed on those
two then we pave the way for a lifetime of Jewish commitment and learning.</HTML>
