Does the State of Israel Try to Force Secular Education in Charedi Schools?

Last updated on 16 Aug 2025

The answer is unequivocally yes. Over the past two decades, the Israeli government—often through the Ministry of Education and the Supreme Court—has repeatedly attempted to regulate, monitor, and mandate secular studies in Charedi schools, especially those receiving any state funding. While these attempts are often framed as “universal standards” or “concern for Charedi children’s future,” in practice they are part of a larger cultural battle: Who defines Jewish education in the modern State of Israel?

A Pattern of Pressure and Legislation

Core Curriculum Law Attempts: In 2013, the Israeli Knesset passed a law requiring Charedi schools to implement a “core curriculum” (libat ha-limudim) consisting of math, English, science, and civics. The law targeted yeshivos ketanos (yeshiva high schools) and Talmudei Torah, which historically avoid secular studies. That law was eventually struck down in 2014 after heavy opposition and threats to cut funding.
Conditional Funding: The government has repeatedly tied funding for Charedi institutions to compliance with core curriculum standards, especially under education ministers such as Yossi Sarid, Yuli Tamir, and more recently Yifat Shasha-Biton. In 2022, the Ministry of Education threatened to withhold or reduce budgets to Charedi schools that did not comply with secular standards, despite the fact that these schools serve hundreds of thousands of children.
Supreme Court Rulings: In several rulings (notably 2008 and 2018), the Israeli High Court upheld the government’s “right” to condition support on secular studies and even to intervene in curriculum content. In doing so, the court asserted the state's authority over “national educational standards,” disregarding parental and communal autonomy in religious education.
Surveillance and Oversight: The state has introduced increased inspections, demanding data, attendance records, and proof of secular subjects in the Charedi system. These attempts are often experienced as intrusive and culturally tone-deaf, as they ignore the deep-seated religious reasons for rejecting these subjects.

Why Do Charedim Resist the State’s Secular Curriculum?

The issue is not just about time spent on math or science—it’s about hashkafa, values, and worldview. Many elements in the secular curriculum are not only irrelevant to Torah life but are antithetical to it. Below are specific examples of content and tone that concern Charedi rabbanim and parents:

1. Civics Curriculum – Rewriting Jewish Identity

The state civics program promotes a universalist, democratic, and pluralistic view of Judaism, equating all forms of Jewish expression—from Reform to secular humanism—with authentic Torah Judaism.

Torah View: “Eilu v’eilu divrei Elokim Chayim” does not mean that Torah is compatible with every ideology. Educating children that “all Jewish paths are equal” is misleading and spiritually dangerous.
State View: The curriculum promotes “shared values” such as liberalism, feminism, LGBTQ+ acceptance, and secular Zionism—often ignoring or dismissing halachic boundaries.

2. History Curriculum – Minimizing Torah Perspective

Israeli history textbooks downplay the role of Torah and Emunah in Jewish survival, instead emphasizing military victories, political figures, and Enlightenment thinkers like Herzl and Ahad Ha’am.

Yeshivos have always taught that our history is Divine Providence, not just wars and dates. Teaching the Holocaust without mentioning Emunah, or the founding of the state without Rav Chaim Ozer, the Chazon Ish, or the Brisker Rav, is not neutral—it’s distortion.

3. Literature and Language – Cultural Influence

The literature curriculum includes novels and stories that reflect secular values, casual relationships, immodesty, and rebellious characters. Even when not explicit, the tone of these works normalizes a non-Torah lifestyle.

Rav Aharon Kotler zt”l and Rav Shach zt”l strongly opposed literature that “desensitizes the soul” or weakens yiras Shamayim.

4. Science – Taught Without Yiras Shamayim

Science textbooks present evolution as fact, dismiss creationism, and promote environmental ethics and biology through a purely materialist lens. There is no mention of Hashem, Torah, or halachic context.

Charedim are not “anti-science.” But science must be taught within a Torah framework, not as an independent, godless system of thought.

Charedi educators have raised alarm about classroom discussions on Israeli pop culture, media, television shows, dating culture, army service, and “life in modern Israel”, which assume a secular lifestyle as normative and ideal.

Exposure to these themes erodes the boundaries between Torah life and chiloni (secular) culture.

Charedi Gedolim Speak Out

Many Gedolim across the generations have stood firmly against the imposition of secular studies in Torah institutions:

Rav Elazar Menachem Man Shach zt”l: “The purpose of Charedi education is not to produce citizens of the state, but servants of Hashem. We must educate our children in purity, away from the defilements of foreign values.”¹
The Chazon Ish zt”l: “Any mixing of kodesh and chol in the education of children is a betrayal of our mesorah. Such compromises may destroy more than they build.”²
Rav Aharon Leib Shteinman zt”l: “Better we remain poor and holy than be educated and spiritually broken.”³
Chacham Ovadia Yosef zt”l: “We are not against knowledge. We are against handing over the minds of our children to systems that have no yiras Shamayim.”⁴

The Larger Issue: Who Has the Chinuch of Klal Yisrael?

Ultimately, this is not about school hours. It’s about control of the Jewish soul. If the state is allowed to dictate how Charedim educate their children, the result is spiritual assimilation under Jewish names and flags.

Charedim do not reject knowledge. They reject state attempts to dilute Torah under the banner of modernization or civic responsibility. Torah education must remain under the guidance of Torah leaders—not politicians or bureaucrats.

Sources and Footnotes

Rav Elazar Menachem Shach, Michtavim u’Maamarim, vol. 1
Chazon Ish, Letters, Vol. 1, Letter 18
Rav Aharon Leib Shteinman, Ayeles HaShachar, Parshas Yisro
Chacham Ovadia Yosef, Yechaveh Daas 5:58
“Core Curriculum Controversy,” Knesset Proceedings, 2013
Israel Supreme Court Rulings on Education Funding (2008, 2018)
“Secular Studies in Charedi Education,” Jerusalem Post, July 2022
Civics Curriculum Report, Ministry of Education 2021
“The War Over Curriculum,” Makor Rishon, 2020