Lapid Admits His Mistake

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Before the current Knesset break began, the amendment to the Core Curriculum Law was approved several weeks ago at 2:00 in the morning. The coalition chairman stood on the side of the room and watched carefully as the Knesset members voted for or against the amendment. Many of the lawmakers were dozing off in various places, some of them even outside the building, and he had to make sure that there would be a majority in favor of the amendment. Meir Porush, as the deputy minister of education, spoke at the Knesset podium to conclude the long and emotionally charged debate. When he was finished, MK Dovid Bittan motioned to him to continue speaking, as the requisite majority was still missing from the plenum. To his credit, Porush managed the task very well. Despite the late hour, he was alert and lively.

The deputy education minister used the time available to him to teach a lesson to the Yesh Atid party. When Porush first presented the bill, he quoted a highly insulting propaganda video that Yair Lapid had produced, which claimed that the chareidi education system would cause one million children to remain ignorant and unlettered, incapable of integrating into society, and that the chilonim would have to bear the burden of supporting them. At the time, Porush derided Lapid for his exaggerated figures, pointing out that there are only 40,000 students in the chareidi system altogether. He also pointed out that the new law does not stipulate that secular studies will not be taught; it simply removes the element of coercion. These statements elicited a shout from Mickey Levi of Yesh Atid, who is known for his vociferous protests. This time, he shouted angrily that Porush is a liar.

To be fair, Lapid himself lied as well: His video claims that the government has decided to abolish the core curriculum for schools. In truth, the core curriculum still stands; the government merely decided not to make it compulsory. That is a very big difference. All in all, this is another case in which we have not been able to explain ourselves properly, and our enemies have used that against us. But let us return to the discussion in the Knesset.

In his address that night, Porush said, “I must say something. I have been called a liar at this very podium, and I would like to quote the video released by Yesh Atid: ‘The government of Israel has decided to abolish the core curriculum. This means that close to one million citizens will not learn mathematics or English. They will not be able to support themselves, and they will live lives of poverty. Do you know who will have to support them? Do you know who will carry these people on their shoulders throughout their lives?’ The person who called me a liar was himself uttering a falsehood. And I expect you to amend your words.” Porush then addressed Lapid directly. “You said that the government has decided to cancel the core curriculum. Now you must admit the truth; admit that you made a mistake. I have quoted your video word for word, MK Lapid. Isn’t that true?”

Yair Lapid replied, “You didn’t lie. There was a mistake.”

“It was my mistake?” Porush pressed.

“No, it was our mistake,” Lapid admitted. “You didn’t lie.”

“I already knew that you were mistaken,” Porush said.

“Porush, you didn’t lie,” Lapid repeated.

“I knew that this afternoon,” Porush said again. “But why did Mickey say that I lied?”

“Porush, listen to me,” said Lapid. “Mickey didn’t see it.”

“He called me a liar!”

“Meir, when a person confesses and repents, you should show mercy,” Minister Uri Ariel interjected.

A tally of the votes revealed that it was a good thing that Porush had spoken at length. The amendment passed by a narrow margin of 37 to 34. It was also a good thing that Porush managed to induce Lapid to admit to his error, as the Yesh Atid rhetoric in this case had already passed all the bounds of decency. The video’s dire predictions of one million citizens of Israel becoming a drain on society were not only insolent, but pure incitement. In total, there are only 40,000 students in the chareidi school system. Then there was the endless mantra of “Who will support them?” It was the usual Yesh Atid propaganda.

{Matzav.com Israel News Bureau}


4 COMMENTS

  1. Yudi:
    Just try to put forward a law that requires learning abut Yiddishkeit and I’m sure you’ll hear all the answers to your question.

    • But you don’t need to know Yiddishkeit to be a successful person in this society. You DO need to have a good education to be able to be מעורב בין הבריות. The Rishonim weren’t agains having a good secular education, so why are you? Why should Lapid (or anyone else for that matter) need to legislate having a good education for Jewish children so they can grow up to be productive in society? Do you enjoy seeing all the Israeli collectors here on a daily basis?
      הרמב״ם פוסק בהלכות תלמוד תורה (ג, י): “כל המשים על לבו שיעסוק בתורה ולא יעשה מלאכה ויתפרנס מן הצדקה – הרי זה חילל את השם וביזה את התורה וכיבה מאור הדת וגרם רעה לעצמו ונטל חייו מן העולם הבא, לפי שאסור ליהנות מדברי תורה בעולם הזה. אמרו חכמים: כל הנהנה מדברי תורה נטל חייו מן העולם. ועוד ציוו ואמרו: אל תעשם עטרה להתגדל בהן ולא קרדום לחפור בהן. ועוד ציוו ואמרו: אהוב את המלאכה ושנא את הרבנות, וכל תורה שאין עמה מלאכה סופה בטילה וגוררת עוון, וסוף אדם זה שיהא מלסטם את הבריות”.

      And although having a good education is no guarantee to having a successful career, it’s undeniable that your chances are a lot better.

  2. Every Jewish child should be required to learn Torah( and not superficially!),Jewish history ,Jewish law and some musar.These are the basics of a Jewish life , to serving H’ and is much more important that learning secular subjects.I took graduate level Mathematics, do I use any of it?-no,not since I learned it.There are plenty of jobs in Israel that don’t need high level math,science or English

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