Education and literacy are Jewish tradition’s most important goals for individuals and the community as a whole. Consequently, tradition affirms that the community is obligated to educate its children not as a privilege but as a right, and that its teachers are the most respected of all professions and trades. Jewish tradition regards a community’s failure to educate its young as being unworthy to exist and doomed to failure as a civilized society. 

The Biden-Harris ticket affirms that community support for education from early childhood to senior adulthood is the key to an informed and cultured citizenry and the promotion of a pluralistic democracy in which the population takes decisions that are in its best interests, the best interests of every individual, and the best interests of a secure and humane national and international order.

The following are Jewish texts focused on education: 

“Hear, O Israel! Adonai is our God, Adonai alone. You shall love Adonai your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. Take to heart these instructions with which I charge you this day. Impress them upon your children….” –Deuteronomy 6:4-9 – Israel, 7th century B.C.E. 

“Train youth[s] in the way they ought to go; they will not swerve from it even in old age.” –Proverbs 22:6 – Ancient Near East, 1st millennium B.C.E. 

“When the Sages saw that not everyone was capable of teaching their children and Torah study was declining, they instituted an ordinance that teachers of children should be established in each and every province and in each and every town …” –Babylonian Talmud, Bava Batra 21a – Babylon, 6th century C.E. 

“It is mandatory to appoint school teachers for small children in each and every state, in each and every province, and in each and every city. Any city wherein there are no children flocking to a master’s house, the inhabitants thereof should be excommunicated until they appoint teachers for the school children, if they then make no such appointment an excommunication should be pronounced against the city itself…” –RAMBAM (Rabbi Moses ben Maimon or Maimonides), Mishne Torah, Sefer HaMadda Laws of Torah Study, 2:1 – Egypt, 11th century C.E. 

“Teachers are appointed in every city, and if any city does not have a teacher in it, a ban is pronounced upon the city until they appoint a teacher for the young. And if they do not make such an appointment, they are destroying the city, that is, they are undermining rather than sustaining the future existence of the city. For the world is sustained only by the breath of schoolchildren.” –Shulhan Arukh, Yoreh De’ah 245:7 – Israel, 16th century C.E. 

“One who teaches a child Torah is considered to have taught that child and that child’s children and grandchildren, to the end of the generations.” –Babylonian Talmud, Kiddushun 30a – Babylon, 6th century C.E.

BIDEN-HARRIS PLAN FOR EDUCATORS, STUDENTS AND OUR FUTURE 

“Joe Biden will build an education system that starts investing in our children at birth and helps every student get some education beyond a high school diploma, whether a certification, associate’s degree, or bachelor’s degree. Systemic racism is persistent across our institutions today – including in our schools – and must be addressed. President Biden will make sure that no child’s education opportunity is determined by their zip code, parents’ income, race, or disability by: 

·       Supporting our educators by giving them the pay and dignity they deserve.

·       Investing in resources for our schools so students grow into physically and emotionally healthy adults, and educators can focus on teaching.

·       Ensuring that no child’s future is determined by their zip code, parents’ income, race, or disability.

·       Providing every middle and high school student a path to a successful career.

·       Starting to invest in our children at birth.

·       Investing in community colleges and training to improve student success and grow a stronger, more prosperous, and more inclusive middle class.

·       Strengthening college as the reliable pathway to the middle class, not an investment that provides limited returns and leaves graduates with mountains of debt they can’t afford.

·       Supporting colleges and universities that play unique and vital roles in their communities, including Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Minority-Serving Institutions.” 

See the Biden-Harris detailed policy plans

For education of children here https://joebiden.com/education/

For education beyond High School here https://joebiden.com/beyondhs/ 

I ask that you distribute these blogs to anyone interested in what the vast majority of liberal American Jews believe (according to all polls) especially those living in the states identified by the Democratic presidential campaign where the closest results will likely occur: Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia, and Wisconsin. 

Especially distribute these blogs to young potential voters who historically turn out in smaller numbers relative to their percentage of the population and encourage everyone TO VOTE EARLY unless they are willing to stand in line at polling places despite the health risks. 

Past Jewish Values and the Biden-Harris Ticket Blogs include the following. You can find them on this blog at www.rabbijohnrosove.wordpress.com 

JEWISH VALUES AND THE BIDEN-HARRIS TICKET – Blog #1 

HEALTH CARE – Jewish Values and the Biden-Harris Ticket – Blog #2

ECONOMIC JUSTICE – Jewish Values and the Biden-Harris Ticket – Blog #3 

THE ENVIRONMENT AND CLIMATE CHANGE – Jewish Values and the Biden-Harris Ticket – Blog #4 

SUPPORT FOR ISRAEL AND THE JEWISH COMMUNITY – Jewish Values and the Biden-Harris Ticket – Blog#5 

IMMIGRATION AND TREATMENT OF THE STRANGER – Jewish Values and the Biden-Harris Ticket – Blog #6 

CRIMINAL JUSTICE, POLICE REFORM & RACIAL JUSTICE – Jewish Values & the Biden-Harris Ticket – Blog #7