Should bible studies remain in Israeli public schools? Teachers' attitudes towards bible teaching as a mandatory subject

Religious Education, Spring 2003 by Idalovichi, Israel

*18.75 percent of the 64 bible teachers think that there should be maximum four hours per week (the same as at present);

*63 percent of the 64 bible teachers think that there should be more than six hours per week (more that at present); and

*18.25 percent of the 64 bible teachers think that there should be more than seven hours per week (more than at present).

The issue of expending the studying of Bible seems to be answer in a very nonconformist way: Although most of the teachers (68.75 percent) want to keep the situation as it is, the other expressed opinions that the subject should be taught either in primary or high school only because it is thought to be too many hours for lower grades (see Table 1).

All the teachers believe that Bible should be kept as a mandatory subject in Israeli schools. Four typical rationales for their attitude were expressed:

A (a public school respondent, teaching 23 years) "Bible should be taught to deepen national roots and [for] the encounter with a qualitative text."

B (a public school respondent, teaching 4 years) "It can be taught through story-telling and in an interesting way."

C (a public-religious school respondent, teaching 1 year): "It is the only way in which teenagers learn about Judaism."

D (a public school respondent, teaching 7 years): "[It] contains a extensive vocabulary and the law and rules [of grammar] are learned by it."

Respondents were asked in the sample question about their religious worldview and whether they themselves were religiously observant (mitzvoth-pra.cticing Jews). Sixty-two and one-half percent of the bible teachers came from relatively traditional backgrounds characterized by various levels of modernization; only a few came from predominantly secular backgrounds. For most, the choice to become bible teachers stemmed from a sense of self-awareness and affinity with their Jewish roots and Jewish upbringing within a traditional society. As I assumed in my first hypotheses, it was found that academic lectures at the universities and colleges have less influence on the teachers' attitudes toward bible lessons than their traditional upbringing or personal behavior in terms of religious practice.

It was found, however, that 72 percent of the teachers do not think that it is important to be a religious person in order to teach bible studies in schools. This seems to reflect that acceptance of Zionist ideology-that the Bible belongs to the people of Israel and should not be considered only as a religious book "belonging" only to the religiously observant-is very much alive among the bible teachers. Even religious teachers did not rule out nonreligious persons teaching Bible in schools.

These results correspond to a well-established consensus among teachers of all backgrounds that religious teachers may teach in non-religious schools, but not vice versa (see Table 2): It is generally held that nonreligious teachers teaching in religious schools are unacceptable. It should be noted that this is, indeed, the prevailing state of affairs for all subjects-not just Bible; the faculty at religiously-oriented, state-run public schools must subscribe to a religious lifestyle on a personal level. As far as I know, there is no legal basis for a conditional on employment, but the Israeli Supreme Court has not intervened to address or change the existing situation.