In his letter “What is a Jewish Education?” (May 14, 2020) Yigal Gross makes a suggestion, but frankly does not provide details. Is he suggesting that yeshivot/Jewish day schools only teach limudei kodesh subjects and students would go to public school for secular subjects?

One of the reasons secular subjects are part of a Jewish education is because in public schools, our children would be subject to/influenced by things like Halloween, Valentine’s Day, proms and sporting events on Shabbos, to name a few. I believe Jewish day schools teach such subjects as Jewish history and Holocaust studies as part of secular studies curriculum. Students would not be taught that in public school. When fellow students would socialize (including texting, phone calls etc.) on Shabbat, it is certainly a challenge to maintain one’s Orthodox upbringing.

One fact that Mr. Gross is overlooking, or is unaware of, is the efforts of TeachNJ (www.teachcoalition.org/nj). Their goal is “to secure parity in funding for all non-public school students who comprise 10% of the population and receive less than 1% of state education funding.” I am aware of one yeshiva that will be hiring a public school teacher to teach secular studies, and the funds are coming from the State of New Jersey. It’s a win-win.

Finally, if all families who currently send their children to yeshivot would send them to public schools, the public schools would not have the space for that many students.