Jews across the ocean have been similarly successful. In a report released in 2012 by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, Israel – a tiny country little more than a half-century old, besieged by constant wars and the constant threat of war – was ranked the second most educated country in the world.
This is because millennia of emphasis on Talmud Torah above all have ingrained in the Jewish psyche the necessity of intellectual pursuit. Over the years, whether or not Jews have strayed from their commitment to the principals of the Torah, the value of learning itself was retained.
All observant Jews know they are obligated to study Torah. And while Judaism stresses study over all else, there are no short cuts or entitlements to succeed at it. The only limitations set on this pursuit are restrictions specific to each individual.
Everyone has the ability to maximize his own potential and skills in learning through study and hard work. The Torah does not discriminate. Even converts who have mastered Jewish teachings have become great and revered Talmudic scholars.
Progressives who push the opposite of these Judaic principals in an effort to level the academic playing field have only made the situation worse. Government policies aimed at lowering standards in American education to artificially elevate some in our society have only lowered our international academic standing worldwide.
Until such time as the study and work ethic becomes ingrained in communities that are floundering, there will be no change of the kind progressives envision. And no amount of outside advantages provided to those communities will succeed as long as those ethics are not internalized. As Judaism has shown, success ultimately lies not in simply being people of the Book but in being people who live by the book.