The Golden Calf instead of Derech Eretz: Why does the Ministry of Education prefer real estate over values? | Adv. Ehud Peleg

Not long after the murder of Imanu Binyamin Zalka by a group of teenagers in Petah Tikva, and in a state of increasing violence in Israeli society and a rift among the people, a new subject was born to be taught in schools starting from the upcoming school year: financial education.

I asked myself, is it possible that this is the appropriate educational response that the Ministry of Education has decided upon at this time? Is what the youth lack today an understanding of how to invest in the stock market? Is this what will prevent the next murder? I remembered the statement by the Irish writer Oscar Wilde: "A cynic knows the price of everything, but the value of nothing."

Minister of Education Yoav Kisch said that "the education system must provide knowledge and skills that will allow young people to successfully cope with life's challenges." Up to this point, I sign off on every word. I just wouldn't have thought that the world of real estate and investments is the first priority when talking about imparting knowledge, skills, and life competencies. I believe that Imanu Binyamin Zalka would have agreed with me on this as well.

Have the students already learned about respecting others? Have the values of decency – respect, honesty, and consideration – already been internalized? Have tolerance for other opinions and conducting a respectful dialogue already become their bread and butter? The Israeli reality points to the exact opposite.

Students' familiarity with the real estate market will not create a better society for us, not without first imparting the basic values of social behavior. "Education without values is the time bomb of tomorrow's society," said American President Theodore Roosevelt. A small correction: no longer a "time bomb," but a "cluster bomb." And no longer "of tomorrow's society," but "of Israeli society today."

I am not, God forbid, disparaging the importance of financial education (although I would have preferred to call it "education for wise consumer conduct," and Dr. Avshalom Kor would surely have backed me up). Full disclosure: about 18 years ago, the Consumer Council, which I headed at the time, proposed an educational program to the Ministry of Education that dealt with this. The Ministry of Education dragged its feet ("we are focusing on studies for matriculation exams"), until the State of Israel was accepted into the OECD – the international organization for economic cooperation and development – which included among its recommendations the introduction of financial education studies. The Israeli government was forced to fall in line, but did so reluctantly – partially, voluntarily, and split between the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Education.

The result on the ground was accordingly, and the subject ultimately did not take root, even though positive feedback was received from the schools where the program was taught. It seems that the subject announced these days reflects more serious preparation, but time will tell.

The Golden Calf

The importance of consumer literacy that will foster wise consumption is not in doubt. The criticism is about the order of priorities, certainly when it is expanded beyond the chapters relevant to teenagers, to the fields of real estate and capital and foreign exchange markets – topics that it is doubtful the youth encounter, or need, until they finish their studies. In contrast, social behavior, decency, consideration, respecting others, and conducting a listening and respectful dialogue – especially on issues that divide the public – are burning needs and are much higher in the state's order of priorities.

The constant excuse for the system's lack of availability regarding these topics – studying for matriculation exams – ignores not only the state's needs but also the provisions of the State Education Law, which determine the first goals of the education system. Section 2(a) explains that these are the goals of state education:

1. To educate a person to be a lover of humanity, a lover of their people, and a lover of their country, a loyal citizen of the State of Israel, who respects their parents and family, their heritage, their cultural identity, and their language.

2. To instill the principles set forth in the Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel and the values of the State of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state, and to develop an attitude of respect for human rights, basic freedoms, democratic values, the rule of law, and the culture and views of others, as well as to educate for the pursuit of peace and tolerance in relations between people and between nations.

These goals appear long before goal 6, which can also relate to financial education: to establish the knowledge of the child in the various fields of knowledge and science, in human creation in its various forms and throughout the generations, and in the basic skills that will be required of them in their lives as mature people in a free society, and to encourage physical activity and leisure culture.

The Ministry of Education has been ignoring this order of priorities for years, and the result, as in Theodore Roosevelt's vision, is bombs, both social and real, exploding across the country. It is a pity that the ministry did not focus more on the vision of another Theodore, Herzl, who said: "In Zionism, as I understand it, is included not only the aspiration for a legally promised piece of land for our miserable people, but also the aspiration for moral and spiritual perfection."

The Center for the Promotion of Decency in Israel is developing a curriculum for a new subject that will be called "Value-based Judgment" and will deal with the skill that is important and so necessary today for creating the society we all want to live in: how to integrate the humanistic values appearing in the Declaration of Independence – the values of decency – into decision-making processes that precede the formation of an opinion, and especially the choice of a way of behavior.

If "Derech Eretz (culture/decency) precedes the Torah," it certainly precedes financial education. Let us not sin again by worshipping the golden calf, even if this time it is a calf of money.