Here’s a question you may have never considered; why do you educate your children the way you do? Have you ever considered that? As you look around at the traditions that we have, especially those regarding educating our children, you have to wonder, where did it all come from? Why do we educate our children this way? Well, just like many other “traditions”, this one too has been influenced by many different factors. But I would say; there is no other single factor that has had greater influence on our modern educational system than that of historic Judaism. Judaism you ask? That’s right, we as Christians can thank or despise, our Jewish brothers for many, if not most, of our religious and educational traditions. As Paul said in Romans; they, referring to the Jews, were the ones that God originally entrusted with His Word! So to begin with, we can thank our Jewish brothers for passing on the Holy Scripture as it was given to them by God, because it is in the Holy Scripture where they found their model for educating children. And it is in those same scriptures, where many of our traditions for educating our own children can also found. Scriptures like those in Genesis chapter 18, Exodus chapter 12, and Deuteronomy chapters 4, 6 and 11. These scriptures were foundational to the Jewish concept of education and were the primary principles that the Jewish people used to create their own educational systems. Like everything else that is Jewish, the Torah, or Holy Scripture, laid the ground work for everything that they did. It explained why they were to educate their children, who was responsible for carrying it out, and even how it was to be accomplished.
Now as for the “why” of Jewish education; it was primarily religious in nature. The primary text book was the Torah, or Old Testament scriptures, and the goal was for the child to gain an understanding of the laws and statutes of God, and then to learn what it meant to be one of God’s chosen people. They were taught these laws and statutes from a very early age. Even before they could read, Jewish children were exposed to the Holy Scriptures through many different instructional means. One such means that is still incorporated in many Jewish homes today is through the use of a small scroll known as the “Mesusah” or “Mezuzah.” The Reverend Dr. Edersheim, in his book, Sketches of Jewish Social Life, says “The Mesusah was a kind of phylactery for the house, serving a purpose kindred to that of the phylactery for the person, both being derived from a misunderstanding and misapplication of the Divine direction, taking in the letter what was meant for the spirit.”1 But even if this practice was derived from a misunderstanding and misapplication as Dr. Edersheim suggests, it was still used to teach children. It was a constant reminder of God's presence throughout the home and also of the parent’s duty to fulfill God's commandments to train their children. The Mezuzah was a small scroll that contained two Torah portions, the Shema (Deuteronomy 6:4-9) and the Vehaya (Deuteronomy 11:13-21). These were two of the most important scriptures for the Jews concerning God and the way He expected them to educate their children. These small scrolls were placed in protective cases and then hung from the door post of each room in the home except the bathroom of course, which would have been considered unclean. The Mezuzah was not only displayed in the literal obedience of God’s command which said: “And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house”, but it was displayed for the purpose of teaching every questioning child even before they could read. Each time a little one would pass through the doorway, the parent would have an opportunity to teach them about God.
Now for the “who”, in Jewish education, that would be the parents. They were the one’s who carried the primary responsibility for seeing that their children were properly educated. Although this was a joint effort, it was ultimately the responsibility of the father.2 He was to see that his children could read and understand the Holy Scriptures. The Bible says in Genesis 18:19 - “For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and judgment; that the LORD may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him.”
But even though the father was ultimately responsible, the mother was still very much involved in the educational process. From birth to about 5 years old, the mother was the primary care giver and the primary educator. A good picture of this can be found in 1st Samuel, with Hannah. As Samuel’s mother, she nurtured him and gave him his primary training until he was ready to attend to Eli the High priest and to his duties in the tabernacle. In his Explanatory notes, John Wesley points out that the child Samuel would have been “Weaned - Not only from the breast, but also from the mother's knee and care, and from childish food; 'till the child be something grown up, and fit to do some service in the tabernacle.”3 So the mother was the one that nurtured and fed the children, both physically and psychologically. She was also the one that started the child’s primary education, helping him establish sound communication skills. So both mother and father were heavily involved in the child training process, and the majority of this training was carried out in the home.
That brings us to the “how” of Jewish education. How was the process carried out? It was the famed Jewish historian, Flavius Josephus, which noted: “from the earliest infancy”4 they were taught the Laws of God. This process of teaching started early for Jewish children, and it was centered in the home. Early Jewish parents would have never sent their children away for their primary education. It simply wasn’t done. Although there were some schools or companies of prophets mentioned in the Bible during the days of Samuel, Elijah and Elisha, and also possibly later in the New Testament with Paul in Acts, these were more like colleges or seminaries for the training of the “professional” clergy, or older students, and not children. The education of Jewish children was something that was done at home. The Bible tells us in Deuteronomy 6:6-9 - “And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates.” This was the basic formula for Jewish education! It started in the home with the mothers and fathers depending on the specific needs and abilities of the child, and it continued during the day as they went along their way, and concluded at night when everyone went to bed. Then it started all over again the very next morning. It was a continual cycle that did not end until the children left home to start a family of their own. Learning was simply part of the Jewish lifestyle.
These were just a few of the Jewish educational traditions that were founded in scripture. But at some point in Jewish history, things began to change. The Jews, like many other cultures, allowed outside influences, and even their own stubbornness, to change their way of doing things. They began to depart from a God centered way, and move to a man centered way. They began to develop new methods and new models for educating their children. There is a passage in the Mishnah where Rabbi Judah ben Tema gives a general outline of the normal educational process in the life of a Jewish boy, he says: “At five years old one is fit for the Scripture, at ten years for the Mishnah, at thirteen for the fulfilling of the commandments, at fifteen for the Talmud, at eighteen for the bride-chamber, at twenty for pursuing a calling, at thirty for authority, at forty for discernment, at fifty for counsel, at sixty for special strength, at ninety for bowed back, and at a hundred a man is as one that has already died and passed away and ceased from the world.”5
So where exactly did things begin to go wrong? At what point did they leave God’s plan and start to develop their own? Well, if there is one single point in biblical history where we can see a change in the way education was done, it would have to be during the Babylonian captivity. It was during this time when a transition was made from the home to a new establishment called the synagogue. Although the origin of the synagogue has been the subject of much debate, it most likely came into existence or at least into wide spread use during this time. Since the Jews had been relocated away from their temple, they had to come up with a new or alternate place of corporate worship. This is why the synagogue came into existence. The synagogue was “a congregation or assembly of Jews [that] met for the purpose of worship or the performance of religious rites.”6 It was here that many Jewish parents started to bring their children to listen and to learn from the Word of God through the teaching of the synagogue attendant. A surrogate or substitute teacher if you will that was used to help or supplement the education that Jewish children received at home. This was the case, for the most part, up until the Maccabeen or intertestamental era of Jewish history. It was during this period that Jewish fathers became so remiss in their duties of training their children, that the Rabbis of the day started to implement compulsory education laws similar to those of the heathen nations around them. Now whether these were actual remissions on the part of fathers, or simply perceived remissions on the part of pious rabbis, we may never know. But never the less, educational responsibility was taken from parents, and given to someone else. Many of these laws can be traced back to the Apocryphal book of Sirach also known as Ecclesiasticus. This book was said to have been written by one Rabbi Yeshua ben Eleazar ben Sira7 who encouraged the unlearned to come and learn from him. He said “Draw near unto me, ye unlearned, and dwell in the house of learning.”8 It was around 180 BC that these first Jewish “Houses of Learning” came into existence. It was under Jason the high priest, the second son of Simon II and brother of Onias III that the first gymnasium was built in Jerusalem.9 Jason had purchased the high-priesthood by bribing Antiochus Epiphanes; the Syrian King who had conquered the Jewish nation and favored the Hellenistic form of education that the gymnasium modeled. But this was only the beginning of the downfall of God centered education. It was less than a hundred years later that Rabbi Shimon ben Shetah introduced the first compulsory education law for all Jewish boys. Then ten, to fifteen years after that, Rabbi Joshua ben Gamala ordered that every town should have a school for the training of all boys starting at age six. These schools were usually attached to or organized through the local synagogue, and were run by a head teacher known as the hazzan; the attendant in charge of the scrolls. The schools were supported with tuition that was paid in tithes and offerings through the synagogue. It was at this point that the quality and quantity of education for the vast majority of Jewish children started to decline. Since most fathers could not afford more that an elementary education, the entire process stopped for most children at around age twelve. And since most parents had begun to rely solely on the “established” educational system, rather than teaching their children at home themselves, they too ended their educational process prematurely. When their children stopped learning, so did the parents. So in reality, the implementation of compulsory education laws had an opposite effect. It didn’t improve education, but caused an overall decline in learning for all those involved, students and teachers alike. But it didn’t stop there; since the vast majority of the first Christian converts were Jews it also carried over into the newly forming Christian community as well.
Next time, we’ll look at the early church and see how they improved upon or continued to declined in the area of educating their children.
1 Rev. Dr. Alfred Edersheim, Sketches of Jewish Social Life (Hodder & Stoughton, 1904), 106.
2 Exodus 12:26-27, Deuteronomy 4:9 & 6:7
3 John Wesley, John Wesley’s Explainatory Notes of the whole Bible on 1st Samuel 1:22.
4 Flavius Josephus, The Life and Works of Flavius Josephus, The Learned and Authentic Jewish Historian And Celebrated Warrior. Translated by William, A.M. Whiston (The John C. Winston Company), 891
5 Mishnah, Aboth: Sayings of the Fathers, 5:21
6 Noah Webster, Webster’s 1828 American Dictionary of the English Language (e-Sword, electronic edition, V 7.1.0, 2004).
7 The Apocrypha, King James Version (World Publishing), Ecclesiasticus 50:27
8 The Apocrypha, Ecclesiasticus 51:23
9 The Apocrypha, 1st Maccabees 1:14, 2nd Maccabees 4:9
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