The Paradox of Women's Education
I’ve recently spent quite a bit of time bemoaning the fact that no post-high school pre-university institutions of higher Judaic learning for women seem to take the studies of their students that seriously. Unfortunately, everyone seems to misconstrue my criticism either purposefully or unwittingly – they think that I am lamenting the lack of scholarly women. They give me lists of such women and tell me that one day I might be one of them. Clearly I do not doubt for a moment that these schools are CAPABLE of turning out talmidot chachamot of the highest caliber only that they have no intention of doing it.
At the end of my shana aleph one of my teachers, albeit one with a more yeshivesh bent, gave us a shmeusse. He told us that it’s nice that we’ve gotten a taste of some good Torah, but once we’re in college we’re lucky if we can muster a few chavrutot and when we’re married with kids we can basically forget about learning seriously again. I was so angry and for some reason everyone thought that the way to console me was to explain to me that I needed to face that reality. No one seemed to understand that I found it frustrating that the same is true for the majority of guys and yet their rebbeim tell them at the end of their year that if they’re not “kove'a ittim” they’re bums. Why didn’t any of my teachers think that they can hold me to that standard? In guys’ schools it’s also only the yechidim who are really going anywhere with their learning, but their teachers teach to them; while in girls’ schools they are teaching to the norm.
The best answer I got was from one of my rebbeim who simply validated me and told me that it was up to me to change it. But honestly, how can I change it if no one will educate me?
posted by tmeishar: @ 2/05/2007 01:52:00 AM
2 comments
2 Comments:
Two ideas that contradict:
I think I told you the story of my Madricha from Michlalah who commented that my mother should not have been going out to shiurim rather my father should. (They both did). I replied "your just jelous that my mother knows how to learn."
However I have found that in terms of my own learning I am lucky that it is my profession. When you have young children it is hard to be a "koveiah itim" unless you have it built in to your life- kids get sick, life happens and chavrutah or shiurim are missed, however a lot of learning can happen in the home. Either learning on your own or learning with your husband and continuing to be a learning role model for your children (specifically daughters) until they get old enough that you can leave for the shiur etc.
sorry for the ramble but I think you get the idea
adderebbetzin--the problem that tmeishar is addressing here is not that of what happens once one is married and does not necessarily have time for learning anymore and cannot be "koveiah ittim". Understandably, life happens, marriage and kids happen, and learning is often pushed to the side because of other responsibilities, but why is it that all learning before this must be predicated on the fact that one day in the future, I won't have time to learn? Why is it that because I have a future that differs from that of a boy, my learning now must be on a seemingly lower and less serious intellectual level? Shouldn't I be granted the same opportunities as a boy of the same age in a top Yeshiva? But that is just not the way it is for intelligent young women right now, and that is what tmeishar and others like her are lamenting.
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