<HTML>I would like to thank the Lookstein Center for posting the article on
Ivrit BeIvrit, one that I read many years ago, but was pleased to read and
think about again. I read with interest Joel Wolowelsky's piece on Ivrit
BeIvrit that you posted on your website, as well as the thought-provoking
response by Dr. Bernstein.
Dr. Wolowelsky's argument that Hebrew language study is tied up with
Zionist leanings seems almost prophetic as we note where Jewish education
is at in a post-Zionist world. In the twenty years following the Six-day
War, Israel was at the forefront of American Day School curricula. Even in
the "right wing" school where I taught in those years there was an element
of recognition of the centrality of Medinat Yisrael to American Jewry. (I
recall a conversation where one of the most vociferous anti-Zionists - the
fellow who recommended that his Talmidim read Perfidy - admitted that
creation of the State of Israel had done more to raise the consciousness
of American Jewry than any other event.) Today Israel simply does not seem
to be on the agenda in the Day Schools that I walk into, nor is its
centrality apparent in conversations that I have with graduates of those
schools. My assumption is that this development explains a lot about the
lack of interest in teaching Ivrit beIvrit, or, for that matter, Hebrew
language generally.
Perhaps I am wrong about Day Schools' current agendas, and they are all
teaching their students (subliminally) about the miracle of the rebirth of
the State. If so, I'd appreciate it if someone let me in on the secret.
Yitz</HTML>
