EXOD557 The Rabbis were keenly aware, however, that the curriculum of teaching Judaism should not consist of text knowledge and skills alone; it must crucially engage in character education as well. That obviously includes teaching children values such as respect for people and property, honesty, responsibility, and the like. It also includes negative demands, such as avoiding assault and battery, stealing, and so on. One graphic example of moral education affects parents and children. Since striking a parent or even cursing a parent are, according to the Torah, capital offenses (Exodus 23 (sic 21):15, 17), the Rabbis instructed parents not to strike their grown children lest their children curse them or strike them back, making their parents, in turn, liable for leading the children to sin (“placing a [moral and legal] stumbling block before the blind”). Along these lines, a nineteenth-century moralist applied this to both children and parents. “If a man cannot honor his parents as they should be honored, then... it is best that he no longer share his father's board, provided his father agrees to this. It is also best that a man [who gets angry]--if he can-- send his children from his table, lest he be guilty of placing a stumbling block before them [by provoking them to speak dishonorably to him and thus violating Leviticus 19:14] … and thus there shall be peace in your home (Rabbi Eliezer Pappo, Pele Yo’etz, Part 1, Kaph, pp. 170-172).” Because parents were often not very well educated themselves, the Rabbis were concerned that parents or grandparents might not be able to teach their children, even if they wanted to do so. That would mean that they would not only fail to fulfill a commandment of the Torah, but also deprive their children of their heritage. Therefore, although the duty to educate one's children in Judaism falls primarily on their parents, they may delegate it to a Jewish school. In fact, Jews were among the first to establish schools, dating from the second century.
SHOW FULL EXCERPT