Weekly Moment With the Rebbe

Knowledge & Conduct

How should parents educate their children today? When the obsession with SATs and Ivy Leagues dominates the classroom more than daily prayer or Bible study, has religious instruction simply become out of date? The Avner Institute presents a rare document, written in the 1940s when the Rebbe was appointed by his father-in-law to head the educational arm of Chabad-Lubavitch, which seems strangely modern today. Lamenting the breakdown of societal structures, the Rebbe stresses character development over scholastic, as well as the need to restore during formative years the awareness of a “Master and Creator.” This document has been given by Nissan Mindel Publications, under the direction of Rabbi Sholom Ber Schapiro.

Some Basic Problems of Education
By Menachem M. Schneerson
President Merkos L’Inyonei Chinuch, Inc.
Educational arm of the Chabad Lubavitch Movement

Education, in general, has two primary objectives: (a) the acquisition of knowledge, including the application of the acquired knowledge, and (b) education in a stricter sense, namely, the cultivation of a proper code of ethics and morality, and the development of a concept as to his purpose and mission in life, which will be reflected in the daily conduct of the boys and girls when they grow up and take their places in society.

The foundation of the said educational structure, especially in the area which comes under (b) above, is laid during the early period of the child’s education, i.e. the period when the child receives his (or her) elementary education. My discussion is concerned with this school-age in particular. More precisely, I wish to discuss here some elementary problems in elementary education.

The school is not the only source of education. Long before the boy or girl begins to attend school, they learn from their parents, grandparents and immediate family. This source of education stays with them also during and after the school period. Concurrently, the external environment, namely, the society at large, and the day-to-day life within it, provides a further source of “schooling,” one which exercises a strong influence on the individual at all age levels.

Let us, for a moment, examine the role and relative importance of these three major sources of education – the home, school and society – in our day, and compared to previous generations. This will help us not only to discover what changes, if any, have taken place, but also to project into the future any corrective measures that may be deemed advisable, or necessary.

Moral Advancement

Generally speaking, the emphasis in the past was on molding moral character (in the wider sense of the term) and on behavior rather than on imparting knowledge. In line with this attitude, it used to be the home and the church which exercised the essential influence on the ethical and moral education of the child. As for the school, it likewise contributed towards this objective, regarding it as an integral part of its function, on par with (and perhaps even more than) its role in the dissemination of knowledge. To a lesser but nonetheless significant degree, the society itself complemented the work of the home and church by placing a greater value on conduct than on erudition per se.

In our generation the situation has basically changed. The pressures, social, economic, etc., are directed towards a formal education. There are various effective ways and means of stimulating the child’s interest in, and ambition for, scientific advancement. These have created in the contemporary child a drive towards the acquisition of knowledge.

On the other hand, insofar as moral conduct is concerned, the influence of the home, church, and society in general, has been on the wane, for reasons into which we need not enter here. As a result, the moral and ethical standards of our society have not kept pace with the advancement of knowledge. On the contrary, they have deteriorated, so that the influence of the contemporary environment in the area of moral advancement has become negligible, and often more negative than positive.

It is becoming increasingly evident that the school must now largely supplant the home and church in this vital part of the child’s education, namely, the inculcation of moral values. Moreover, vital though this part of the child’s education is, it is not as “obvious” to the average parent (himself a product of a largely materialistic society) as the need of knowledge. This means two things: firstly, that the initiative to correct the situation will have to come from the educators and school authorities; and, secondly, that it will require considerable attention and effort – extraordinary effort in some instances, to overcome the indifference, or even opposition, of certain parental circles.

In speaking here of morality and ethics, I am well aware that there are various concepts as to what constitutes true ethical and moral values, and whether or not these concepts are subject to change and revision to follow the times, and whether there is any need for such definitive norms altogether. The position enunciated here is based on the premise that ethics and morality are obligatory disciplines, and indispensable to the very existence of human society. Furthermore, I am speaking here of ethical and moral concepts as they were defined by our ancestors (with relatively minor modifications which do not affect our discussion).

So much for my general thesis. We may now examine its validity in the light of prevailing conditions and tendencies.

Character Quotient

The emphasis on scholarship and scholastic achievement is very much in evidence everywhere: at home and in the schools. It is geared to a society where scholastic achievement is a deciding factor in many job applications, promotions, careers, etc. Curricula are steadily being expanded and intensified, and there is a constant endeavor to accelerate the rate of scholastic advancement. The contemporary child hears a great deal about intelligence tests and aptitude tests; I.Q. and A.Q. have become familiar symbols to children. But what about C.Q. (character quotient)? Is it not as important to test and measure the child’s progress in character building and moral advancement as his progress in amassing facts and figures? A great discrepancy obviously exists between the degree of emphasis placed on scholastic achievement and that which is placed on “moral conduct.”

It would be unfair to say that the public schools have completely ignored the moral issue, or the need of character building. There is no denying that much of the material that goes into the so-called Social Studies in the public schools, to mention one instance, has been conceived with a view to emphasizing the ideals of democracy, tolerance, social justice, respect for the law, and the like. Why, then, have these efforts not been effective in curbing juvenile delinquency and spreading juvenile decency?

I venture to suggest and emphasize here one reason, in addition to the many others one often hears in a discussion of these issues:

An essential factor in the deterioration of the moral standards of the children and adolescents of our contemporary society is the fact that vast numbers of children in the public schools are brought up on a strictly and exclusively secular morality and ethics.

The exclusion from the public schools of any activity that would mention and inspire some thought about a Supreme Being is to vast numbers of school children tantamount to almost a denial of His existence. In our society, where morality and ethics can hardly be said to be at a premium, where the most prevalent criterion of what is right and proper is the claim that “everybody does it,” there is no real deterrent for a child against giving free rein to his natural drives and propensities. The authority of the police officer or juvenile court has not proven an adequate deterrent, especially when the truant juvenile bag the ever-present hope that he can “get away with it,” or that he can outsmart the policeman and the judge and the probation officer.

Creator & Master

There is only one factor which can induce children to curb their desires and cultivate decent and moral conduct. That is – the knowledge that the world in which we live is not a cosmic accident, but that it has a Creator and a Master, Who takes a “personal interest” in all its affairs and in every individual in particular. Imbued with this idea, the child will grow up with the realization that his actions come under Divine scrutiny; that nothing can be concealed from Him, and no one can outsmart Him. It will not be fear of Divine retribution alone that will deter him, but as he grows more mature it will be the feeling of awe, coupled with love, for the Divine Majesty that will be “a lamp unto his feet” in his daily conduct.

Those who will be responsible for the education of our youngsters in the days ahead, on the national, state, and community levels, and especially those who determine educational policy In the public schools (the system with which this discussion is particularly concerned), will have to reevaluate the foundations on which our present educational system rests. It will be necessary – if we are to preserve at least minimum standards of morality – to place in the center of all educational activity, whether at home or in the school, the emphasis on a Divinely based morality and ethics, and to bring into closer harmony the ideals of knowledge and conduct.

Our youth is growing (though not necessarily growing up) and it cannot wait until the adults will work out some “nice” formula, within the existing educational order, for their spiritual survival. The situation demands a thorough re-examination of basic approaches of education, unhampered by preconceptions. There can surely be no validity to the argument that anything that has to do with morality founded on the acknowledgment of Supreme Being should be held in abeyance until the boy or girl has reached maturity and decided for himself, or herself, what kind of a morality, secular or Divine, he or she wished to adhere to. This indeed is the dictated policy in certain countries and we know the results of such a policy.

It is a tragic delusion to think that the natural proclivities and appetites are something which the child will “outgrow” in time; just leave it to him. You cannot expect this any more than you can expect a person to lift himself up by pulling at his hair. There must be an outside power upon which to lean for support if any effort to elevate oneself physically, and even more so spiritually. In our generation we have, to our dismay, seen how little the school boy and school girl have been influenced by their teachers, or older brothers, in the way of moral standards. We have, moreover, seen a breakdown in parental control and the ineffectiveness of the policeman on the beat. The alarming growth of juvenile delinquency leaves no doubt as to the inadequacies of the existing means and methods.

As for the hope that advanced human “civilization” will itself somehow correct those ills, we do not have far to go to convince ourselves what a “broken rod” human culture is upon which to lean for moral elevation. The country that was the most “cultured” and “civilized,” whose preponderance not only in the realms of science but also in philosophy and ethics was well known, was precisely that country which has outraged every moral principle and produced the most depraved and vicious animals in human form.

Concerted Effort

To some extent the discrepancy between knowledge and conduct can be narrowed by a concerted effort on the part of parents, spiritual leaders, youth workers, and similar groups, to inculcate into the children the idea of the existence of a Creator, Who holds everyone accountable for one’s actions. It would be folly, however, to shift the entire responsibility on the parents and ministers of religion, while the children are compelled to spend five days of the week in the school, where their character and ideas are actually molded to a much greater extent than at home, or in the house of worship which they visit only occasionally.

It is inconceivable that while many educators have been bold enough to come out with all sorts of experiments in educational policy, some of them dubious or even perilous, there should be such an obviously misplaced “embarrassment” to voice the vital need of impressing upon all children of public schools and private schools that there is a Supreme Being, Who not only created the world at a given time in the past, but Who watches it continuously, and from Whom no action, word or even thought can be hidden.

In an era when old-established scientific theories are frequently toppled and cast by the waysides, it is to be hoped that educational concepts and practices will not escape the scrutiny of a fresh reappraisal in the light of experience. After all, what is at stake here is not just another technological improvement, but the youth of our generation, the very future of mankind.

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