Senior physicists in Israel were amazed to discover that in the last matriculation exam in physics, the chapter "Physics in Judaism" appears, which tries to bend science in favor of the Jewish tradition. After being convinced that it is not a hoax, they define the questions as nonsense, embarrassing ignorance, abuse of science and students, and giving religion a foothold in science classes
28.6.2002
By: Oriya Shavit
Prof. Moshe Moshe, a lecturer in the physics faculty at the Technion, could not believe his eyes when he looked at the chapter "Physics in Jewish sources" that appears in the matriculation exam in physics. "If I saw such a matriculation exam with the Taliban in Afghanistan, I would say that you can believe them," he says. "We think of the State of Israel as a modern country, among the best in the world in the sciences - and suddenly we come across such an embarrassing matriculation exam, which comes from the Ministry of Education. I brought the exam to the cafeteria of the Technion, showed it to my friends, and they said it couldn't be. In correspondence on the Internet, people were sure that it was a hoax."
Prof. Moshe was not the only one who revolted at the sight of his eyes. Quite a few physicists in the scientific community were upset this week following the publication in the "Haaretz" supplement about the religious chapter in the matriculation exam in physics (five units). Some of the senior physicists and astrophysicists who reviewed the exam found in it "shameful and humiliating" factual errors, improper mixing of religion and science, and echoes of Christian fundamentalist views.
"What the Ministry of Education did in this exam is shameful, it is spiritual abuse of children," says Prof. Elia Leibovich from Tel Aviv University. "The Council for the Peace of the Child should be involved in the matter. There is complete nonsense in the exam. The trend of the exam is to show that there is no contradiction between religion and science, and this led to the presentation of questions that have nothing to do with physics."
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Mr. Oriya
And why didn't you add the response of the Ministry of Education, an example of the factual errors that the scientists are talking about, or at least an explanation of why you could not provide this information?