{"id":52522,"date":"2019-03-30T21:33:57","date_gmt":"2019-03-30T18:33:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=52522"},"modified":"2022-10-22T15:03:11","modified_gmt":"2022-10-22T12:03:11","slug":"education-is-the-highest-form-of-dignity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/education-is-the-highest-form-of-dignity\/","title":{"rendered":"Education Is The Highest Form Of Dignity"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[399,363,354],"acf":{"old_id":"52522","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":33923,"related_cahpter":"186","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"The revolution of universal education, ancient and modern","content":"

Commenting on a key verse in the Torah, a Midrash tells a pointed story:<\/span><\/p>\n

Once Rabbi Yannai was walking along the way when he met a man who was elegantly dressed. He said to him, \u201cWill the master be my guest?\u201d He replied, \u201cAs you please.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Rabbi Yannai then took him home and questioned him on Bible, but he knew nothing; on Talmud, but he knew nothing; on Aggadah, but he knew nothing. Finally, he asked him to say grace. The man, however, replied, \u201cLet Yannai say grace in his house.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Rabbi Yannai then said to him, \u201cCan you repeat what I tell you?\u201d The man answered, \u201cYes.\u201d Rabbi Yannai then said: \u201cSay a dog has eaten Yannai\u2019s bread.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The guest then rose up and seized Rabbi Yannai demanding, \u201cWhere is my inheritance that you have and are keeping from me?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat inheritance of yours do I have?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

He replied, \u201cThe children recite, \u2018Moses commanded us the Torah, an inheritance of the congregation of Jacob\u2019 (Deuteronomy 33:4). It is not written, \u2018congregation of Yannai,\u2019 but \u2018congregation of Jacob.\u2019\u201d \u00a0(Vayikra Rabbah 9)<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s a powerful story. Rabbi Yannai sees an elegantly dressed stranger and assumes that he must be well educated. He takes him home and discovers the man has had no Jewish education whatsoever. He knows nothing of the rabbinic literature. He can\u2019t even say grace after meals.<\/span><\/p>\n

Rabbi Yannai, a Torah scholar, looks down at the guest with contempt. But the stranger, with great dignity, says to him in effect: \u201cThe Torah is my inheritance as well as yours. Since you have much, and I have none, share a little of what you have with me. Instead of dismissing me, teach me.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Few ideas in the history of Judaism have greater power than this: the idea that Torah knowledge belongs to everyone; that everyone should have the chance to learn; that education should be universal; that everyone should be, if possible, literate in the laws, the history and the faith of Judaism; that education is the highest form of dignity and it should be accessible to all.<\/span><\/p>\n

Not until relatively modern times did this idea of universal education spread beyond Judaism. It did not exist even in England, then the premier world power, until the Education Act of 1870. It has taken the Internet revolution \u2013 Google and the rest \u2013 to make it a reality throughout the world. Even today, some 70 million children are still deprived of education, in countries like Somalia, Eritrea, Haiti, Comoros and Ethiopia.<\/span><\/p>\n

That education is the key to human dignity and should be equally available to all is one of the most profound ideas in all of history, and it was born in those powerful words, immediately following this chapter: \u201cMoses commanded us the Torah, an inheritance of the congregation of Jacob.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

From:<\/span>The inheritance that belongs to everyone (Covenant & Conversation, Ha\u2019azinu 5771)<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":52523,"id":52523,"title":"dt33-education","filename":"dt33-education.png","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt33-education.png","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/education-is-the-highest-form-of-dignity\/dt33-education\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"dt33-education","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":52522,"date":"2019-03-30 18:33:41","modified":"2019-03-30 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