What the Jews have to say By Limor Livnat (July 6) - The reintroduction of basic Jewish studies in the high-school curriculum has irked some of Israel's "enlightened" figures. I cannot think of any other country where teaching children about their history and identity is considered an act of bigotry and religious coercion. Even in France's highly secularist educational system, children are taught the basics of Christian history and faith for a simple reason: you cannot understand the writings of Rabelais, Racine or Pascal without some basic knowledge of the Bible. In secular France, learning the Bible is considered a prerequisite for general knowledge. In Israel, it is an act of religious coercion. The Israeli Left often uses Rousseau as its spiritual reference. But Rousseau was a fierce advocate of teaching patriotic values in order to ensure continuity of the nation: "Do we wish the common people to be virtuous? Then let us begin by making them love their country!" How will our children love their country without learning about the treasure of Jewish wisdom, culture and tradition? And where are they to learn about this treasure? In the poems of Mahmoud Darwish? The teaching of basic Jewish history and religion in the Israeli educational system is one of the requirements of the State Education Law of 1953, which calls for teachers to inculcate "the values of Jewish culture," "love of motherland," and "loyalty to the Jewish people." David Ben-Gurion saw in the State Education Law and the Law of Return "the highest laws of the State of Israel... which point the direction in which our state wishes and must go if it is to exist and fulfill its historic purpose." To teach does not mean to coerce. Not to teach our heritage is a form of theft; it is to deprive our youth of their ability and of their right to choose. Not to teach our heritage would be to rob our children of their very being. Possessing A heritage is the only advantage of man over the other creatures of the world. Heritage is knowledge and heritage is values. The Israeli student must know both the how and the why of Israel's establishment and how it affects his life. The Israeli student also should be taught those unique values that express the specific nature of his people and the special contribution that it makes to the grand mosaic of man's essence. The "historic purpose" of the State of Israel is to ensure the physical and spiritual renaissance of the Jewish people. Rousseau saw in Jewish statehood a prerequisite for the propagation of Jewish culture and knowledge: "I never understood the reason why Jews don't have a free state with schools and universities for them to speak and debate freely. For only then shall we know what exactly they have to say." Now that Jews have a free state with schools and universities, it seems that the world is still waiting to find out what the Jews have to say. Or is it? In fact, the world is told by some Israeli historians that the State of Israel was born in sin. It is told by a few Israeli artists that Jews are foreign to the Middle East. It is told by some Israeli writers about the Arabs' authentic attachment to Palestine. It is told by a number of Israeli screenwriters and dramatists that Zionism is a medusa, Judaism is a threat to freedom, and the IDF a barbarian predator. If this is what the Jews have to say, Rousseau might have asked, why do they need a state? A people that produced the Bible and the Talmud has a lot more to say to the world. Between Pessah and Shavuot, Jews traditionally study the Ethics of the Fathers (Pirkei Avot) on Shabbat. In Chapter One of the Ethics, Rabbi Hillel asks: "If I am not for myself, who will be for me? And if I am for myself, what am I? And if not now, when?" Now that Jews have their state, schools and universities, they should be for themselves and for the world, here and now. (The writer is minister of education.)