Ignorance at the top

The Zionist movement began in order to return the Jewish people to the land of its dreams, the land in which it was consolidated and became a nation, in which the prophets, the People of the Book and of ethics were active, in which the kingdoms of Israel and Judea rose and fell, and a heritage was shaped that was never forgotten and never abandoned even when the nation went into exile.

The Zionist movement arose out of enthusiasm and dedication, driven by the belief that we have the ability to establish a sovereign state in the land the yearnings of the Jewish people were directed to for thousands of years. And it was extremely successful. The State of Israel was established, and opened its gates to every Jew in the world, revived the Hebrew language and along with it the teaching of our people's culture throughout the generations. A sovereign, modern state was established with a proper system of government and law, a state among states, and we are entitled to boast about the achievement, in effect the revolution, that was brought about by leaders who had vision and a message, and by young Jews from all over the world.

And thus the Jewish nation is once again alive and well, active and building itself in its homeland, which is connected to its past with bonds of love; a country committed to the welfare and needs of its citizens, who in turn are committed to the welfare of their country and to obeying its laws.

It's true that the state is young, many people in it are not yet well versed in its language and its system of government and law, because after all, we absorbed waves of immigration from over 100 countries, cultures and languages. But everyone here is Israeli, and their language is Hebrew and their citizenship is "Israeli," and their connection to the country and its laws is total, as befits a well run country that is concerned with the welfare and security of its citizens.

And now, all of a sudden, jumps out the ignorance of an employee of the Education Ministry, the chairman of the Pedagogic Secretariat that deals with curricula, who decided to cut back on study hours in civics in favor of the study of Judaism. I don't know exactly to which Judaism he was referring, to that of the man who curses in public, Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, or that of the ultra-Orthodox who maintain their customs from the Hungarian and Polish Diaspora and excel in demonstrations of racism toward Sephardi girls.

It is true that in the wake of the decision's publication and the public protest it aroused the Education Ministry quickly changed its mind and restored part of the cutback. But it's still surprising: How is it possible that in a law-abiding country that presumes to be democratic, a country in which the system of government and law is familiar to the public, in which the rights and obligations of citizens are enshrined in law, someone sitting in the government-run Education Ministry decided to deal a mortal blow to civics lessons.

Apparently, dealing with the study of the system of government and law and the nature of the mutual relations between citizen and country is too complicated for this man. He prefers "gefilte fish" Judaism, where there will also be kugel (a baked potato pudding ) and ptcha (calves' foot jelly ), and maybe even chopped liver. And of course, another series of curses by Ashkenazi rabbis, who teach their students how to murder Arab children.

To this day, and even more so from here on, it's not clear to me why Zvi Zameret is sitting at the pinnacle ["zameret" in Hebrew]. It seems to me that nothing in his professional record in the field of education justifies giving him such an exalted status and the right to exercise judgment whose consequences for education toward citizenship - with all that implies - are so important.

There is no question that this contribution to Judaism by Zameret, and perhaps by Education Minister Gideon Sa'ar as well, accords well with the fascist aspirations of the Im Tirtzu movement. The Fascist movement also demanded recognition of the overiding rights of the state, and its sons were required to sacrifice themselves for the sake of the renascent homeland without knowing exactly why and for what.

	How is it that in a country that presumes to be democratic, someone sitting in the Education Ministry has decided to replace civics lessons with the study of Judaism?
	Photo by: Archive: Ancho Gosh / Jini