Commentary
The average 12-year-old student at a yeshiva has more wisdom than almost any student at Harvard or most other universities. (A yeshiva is an Orthodox Jewish school with an emphasis on religious studies. About half the school day is devoted to religious studies—taught from the original Hebrew sources.)
This is probably true for many 12-year-olds in traditional Christian schools as well.
College students do have more knowledge than almost any 12-year-old in religious school. But they have much less wisdom.
I know this because I was a yeshiva student from the age of 5 until 19. To appreciate how much wisdom I was taught is to appreciate the root of our society’s present crisis: Secular life doesn’t teach wisdom (nor, it should be noted, do many schools that call themselves “Christian” or “Jewish”). Generations of Americans have not been taught wisdom; instead, they have been told that it is sufficient to rely on their feelings to understand life and to determine right from wrong….