Archive for category Education and Parenting
1984 and the Language of Confusion
Posted by Yonason Goldson in Culture, Education and Parenting, Philosophy, Politics on June 17, 2009
Sixty years after Orwell’s masterpiece, his message is more prophetic than ever.
And my apologies for the typo in the fifth from the last paragraph. Essays on language should be pristine.
Blowing my own Horn Dept.
Posted by Yonason Goldson in Education and Parenting on June 9, 2009
I’m pleased and humbled to report that I have been honored by the St. Louis Central Agency for Jewish Education with this year’s Stuart I. Raskas Outstanding Teacher Award, and also with the national Grinspoon-Steinhardt Award for Excellence in Jewish Education.
To whatever degree I am deserving of these distinctions, without the guidance and support of my principal, Rabbi Gavriel Munk, as well as the camaraderie of the dedicated rabbis and secular teachers that make Block Yeshiva High School such an extraordinary institution of Jewish learning, I could never have developed as a teacher to the extent that I have.
Talking to the Wall Dept.
Posted by Yonason Goldson in Culture, Education and Parenting, Jewish Unity on May 11, 2009
My efforts to engage an ideologue in civil discourse. Draw your own conclusions.
Invest in the Future of the Jewish People
Posted by Yonason Goldson in Education and Parenting on March 7, 2009
Block Yeshiva High School in St. Louis, for which I teach, and which my children attend, is one of the few Jewish schools left that has a full dual curriculum, with half day Torah studies and half day secular subjects. Over 90% of our graduates spend at least a year studying Torah in Israel , and nearly 100% attend college. Our SAT, ACT, and AP scores are consistently among the highest in the city, and frequently in the country. We have a full sports program for both boys and girls, and most our graduates go on to profession careers balanced with strong commitment to Jewish tradition and the Jewish community, while some remain in full-time Torah learning, teaching, and outreach. One of our faculty members is a published writer of modest reputation.
We are currently having a fundraising raffle with a $100,000 first prize. Tickets are $100 each, 2/$190, 3/$280, 6/$540, or 12/$1000. The drawing will take place March 26th. Thanks to those who have already participated.
If you’d like more information, the school website is linked on the sidebar. We will be most appreciative if you become a partner with us in our pursuit of excellence in Jewish education.
Checks can be mailed to:
Block Yeshiva High School (BYHS)
1146 N. Warson Rd
St. Louis, MO 63132
Or call (314) 872-8701
Email: byhs2[at]juno.com
Respectfully,
R’ Yonason Goldson
Apostrophe Catastrophe
Posted by Yonason Goldson in Culture, Education and Parenting on February 9, 2009
Someone once said that if the English language is going to die, at least it will die laughing. But this kind of story makes me want to cry.
Please read it, since you may not believe me without seeing it yourself. In fact, I still can’t really believe it.
England has decided to remove aspostraphes from its street signs. King’s Heath will now become Kings Heath. What’s the reason? Apostraphes are too confusing.
According to Councilor Martin Mullaney, who heads the city’s transport scrutiny committee, “Apostrophes denote possessions that are no longer accurate, and are not needed,” he said. “More importantly, they confuse people. If I want to go to a restaurant, I don’t want to have an A-level (high school diploma) in English to find it.”
Maybe this is why Tom Daschle didn’t pay his taxes — he found them too complicated. And perhaps that’s why Rod Blagojevich crashed and burned — he found bribery and corruption laws too confusing. And no doubt this is why the auto industry continued manufacturing substandard gas-guzzlers, why the banking industry collapsed, and why congress is throwing a trillion dollars good dollars after a trillion bad — because responsible business practices and real solutions to difficult problems are just too hard to understand.
But don’t imagine that it can’t get any worse. It will. The closing of the American mind was probably never limited to North America, but it’s spreading like cancer.
It’s more important now to remember Aristophanes: Youth ages, immaturity is outgrown, ignorance can be educated, drunkenness sobered, but stupid lasts forever.
Terror is the New Communism
Posted by Yonason Goldson in Culture, Education and Parenting, Politics on January 27, 2009
Hey, I got a social disease!
Remember that line from West Side Story? It seems that the street gangs of half a century ago may have had more on the ball than college students today. Especially in light of the deeply disturbing conversation on a plane recounted here by Dennis Prager.
Apparently, from the lofty view of the ivory tower, terrorism is merely a foil for the political right to wield in its pernicious agenda to trample our civil rights — just like Communism was only a threat in mind of Joseph McCarthy.
With apologies to Ann Coulter, McCarthy was one of the great criminals of American history. With apologies to academe, Communism was much worse.
Rabbi Feldman’s Modest Proposal
Posted by Yonason Goldson in Culture, Education and Parenting, Jewish Unity on January 20, 2009
Rav Emanuel Feldman once again distinguishes himself by bolding suggesting what everyone else is afraid to whisper, let alone think.
In a recent essay, the eminent rabbi observes how, in the wake of the Madoff disaster, many of the venerable institutions that suffered losses of tens- or hundreds-of-millions of dollars calmed their constituents by explaining — in chorus — that these losses amounted to only a few percent of their total endowments.
Rabbi Feldman then offers the following observation:
When a Jewish institution reaches $1b. in endowment funds, would it not be a fine idea for it to allocate a mere 1% of its funds to help other similar institutions? Do the math: 10% of $1b. is $100m., 1% of $1b. is $10m. Can you imagine the impact on Jewish life if these behemoths of endowment funds were somehow to shave off 1% of their funds annually to help sister institutions in need? If by their own admission, a loss of $100m. does not affect them, then certainly giving away $10m. would be a mere pittance.
If Technion would distribute $10m. a year to the science programs of Jewish schools everywhere; if Bar-Ilan and Hebrew University would allocate $10m. a year to fund Jewish studies departments in Jewish high schools around the world; if Yeshiva University would allocate only 1% – something over $10m. a year – to struggling small yeshivot and day schools that cannot pay their teachers on time, that are housed in meager facilities and have inadequate equipment, that are living a hand-to-mouth existence, that are valiantly trying to keep their heads above water – if all this were done, it could make a major difference to the future of Jewish life. If institutions like these can survive losses of more than 8% of their endowments, certainly a gift of 1% should be easy to manage.
As one of those rebbes in one of those small yeshivos that consistently struggles to make payroll, I would like to hear the financial officers of these billion-dollar institutions respond to Rabbi Feldman’s proposal. Oh, I have no illusions that a single one of them will take his suggestion seriously, but it might prove amusing to watch them dance and squirm if put on the spot in a public forum.
And so, for those of you who might one day soon find yourself in a position to pose Rabbi Feldman’s suggestion in person and in public, please do it. And, if possible, record the reply with your cell phone and post it on YouTube. Who knows? With enough publicity, the people positioned to solve some of our most immediate problems might begin feeling motivated to do so.
You only hurt the one you love
Posted by Yonason Goldson in Culture, Education and Parenting, Science and Nature on January 11, 2009
“Man Bites Dog” would be a welcome relief from the sometimes-terminal stupidity that seems to be making its way into the news, like this report from last month.
We’ve come to expect full intellelectual shut-down here in America, where Senator John Edwards failed to anticipate that a $400 haircut might undermine his position as a man of the people, and where the CEOs of the Big Three auto makers flew to Washington, D.C., each in his own private jet, to ask congress for money to bail out their failing businesses. But there’s something astonishingly disturbing about an adult who fails to recognize the difference between a giant Panda Bear and a puppy … or a Beany Baby.
“Yang Yang was so cute and I just wanted to cuddle him. I didn’t expect he would attack,” the 20-year-old student, surnamed Liu, said in a local hospital, according to the official Xinhua News Agency.
As I’ve already written, the sages predict that the generation before the messianic era will be characterized by hesik haDa’as — the failure of reason. Perhaps the militant activism for same-sex marriage and the search for affection from a brightly-colored omnivore are symptoms of the same affliction: a profound, irrational confusion over the nature of love and intimacy.
There was a time, not so long ago, when sexual perversion may have existed but was kept securely locked in the closet. Social pressure forced abherrent sexual behavior underground. It existed, but it wasn’t fashionable. Consequently, it wasn’t terribly attractive.
As the line of acceptibility shifts, we can expect more stories like this one, and further demands from the radical fringe.
Tough Love on Trial
Posted by Yonason Goldson in Culture, Education and Parenting on December 26, 2008
Take a look at how a Texas judge is stopping teenage truants from sliding into a cycle of undisciplined failure. Needless to say, the ACLU opposes him. How is it possible that so many can so consistently be wrong about almost everything?
The Future of Education
Posted by Yonason Goldson in Education and Parenting on December 9, 2008
Frankly, I don’t remember my parents ever calling one of my teachers over a poor grade or because I complained about unfairness. Now parents routinely call to accost teachers in primary and middle school.
That might not be so bad, except for principals and teachers who are already overworked and undercompensated. But the trend has continued into college, where professors are now receiving calls from parents to question their children’s grades.
Don’t gasp in disbelief yet. Employers now report that parents are calling to complain about their children’s job reviews! Truthfully, I can’t imagine walking into work the day after my mother called my boss to argue about my performance. But if there’s any question which way things are headed, this sums it up to a tee.
Torah Ideals 
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