This article on Arutz Sheva absolutely hits the nail on the head in describing the state of our schools. Pulling out one or two quotes is not enough -- read it in its entirety.
Although publicly the schools preached an uncompromising dual commitment to Yiddishkiet and academic excellence, no one was under the illusion that these two priorities were somehow equal. No state of the art beis medrash (study hall), inspirational lecture series or 10 day trip to Poland or even Israel could change that simple reality. Material success is what truly mattered when I was a student in yeshiva day school, and I suspect not much has changed in 17 years.
Is there a truer statement than the one below about frum society today?
There are people who are primarily focused on the material, and others who are primarily focused on the spiritual. There can only be one true priority. This dilemma of spiritual vs material priorities holds true for not only the Modern Orthodox, but for the hareidi world as well. What separates the hareidi wall street daf yomi lawyer working 70 hours a week from the Modern Orthodox one? The color and fabric of his kippah?
There are hareidi materialists and Modern Orthodox ones. There are also poor materialists and wealthy spiritualists and visa versa. What distinguishes us is not our type of kippah or the size of our bank account, but where our priorities lie.
Y'yasher kochacha to Avrahas Shusteris for such a poignant op-ed.
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