Educating Children: The battle between patriarchy and the polis

I read this article and it got me thinking about education within the context of Hebrew patriarchy. Following is the key quote from the article.

The educational complex from pre-k to graduate school is controlled to a large extent by the Deep State…The Deep State believes children belong to the state. This is an ancient idea that can be traced back to Plato.
Dietrich, John, “Coronavirus Vs. The Deep State Educational Complex”, https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2020/04/coronavirus_vs_the_deep_state_educational_complex.html, accessed 08 May 2020

The ancient Greek philosopher, Aristotle, who was Plato’s student, said that the polis (City/State) has a necessary interest in the education of the children. An internet search turned up two articles that had some fascinating insights.

But first, let’s recall what Aristotle considered the foundation of the polis: monogamy.

Plato’s student Aristotle (384-321 BCE) viewed monogamous marriage as the foundation of the polis.
Witte Jr., John, “The Western Case for Monogamy over Polygamy (Law and Christianity), Kindle version, p. 105

Felso quotes Aristotle in an illuminating post on the relationship between the polis and the education of the children. The entire post is well worth reading.

A citizen “should regard himself as belonging not to himself but to the state”, so a government that does not educate the young fails to preserve the status of the polis. In order for the citizens to share a common mindset, education must prevail. Thus the ruler of the polis ought to ensure that the upcoming citizens receive such an education.
Felso, “Aristotle’s Views On Education”, http://www.123philosophy.com/aristotles-views-on-education/, accessed 08 May 2020

An article shared to a public site lists 4 functions of the polis as stated by Aristotle. The second function interests us here.

2. Secondly, the polis provides educational conditions upon which the cultivation as well as realization of moral virtue depends. For Aristotle, education is a matter of acquiring habituated modes of behaviour through training and repetition. Education is a virtuous act that enables us to learn. It is, therefore, an important function of legislation to make men good by requiring or encouraging them to form good habits.
Unknown author, “4 Functions of the Polis as Started by Aristotle”, http://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/political-science/4-functions-of-the-polis-as-started-by-aristotle/40131, accessed 08 May 2020

In contrast with the Aristotlean philosophy above, the Hebrew nation was bound in a covenant with the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob as recorded in Exodus chapters 19-24. Each citizen did not regard himself as belonging to the state, but to his God.

Now then, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine; and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’
Exodus 19:5-6a

Nothing in the covenant mandates monogamy, and polygyny is regulated. The teachers of the nation were not secular educators chosen by the polis, but were the parents of each family.

“Hear, my son, your father’s instruction
And do not forsake your mother’s teaching”
Proverbs 1:8

In addition to the parents, the tribe of Levi provided teachers for the entire nation.

you diligently observe and do according to all that the Levitical priests teach you; as I have commanded them, so you shall be careful to do.
Deuteronomy 24:8

For many days Israel was without the true God and without a teaching priest and without law.
II Chronicles 15:3

The parents and the Levitical priests’ responsibility was to educate their children in Hebrew Israelite customs and not follow the educational customs of the Gentile nations around them. By failing to do this, subsequent generations did indeed follow the customs of the non-Hebrew Israelite nations and lost their land.

you shall not follow the customs of the nation which I will drive out before you
Leviticus 20:23

And they followed vanity and became vain, and went after the nations which surrounded them, concerning which the Lord had commanded them not to do like them.
II Kings 17:15b

If those of us in exile long to return to the land, then we need to be taught by our fathers and mothers the Torah at the outer level as well as the heart level as taught by Yeshua. We need to teach our children according to the Hebrew custom and not allow them to think they belong to the polis as the secular educators want us all to think.