Origins of Jewish Schools

I am not Jewish. I am a Christian. But I understand that before there was Christianity there was Judaism. I also have come to believe that Christians make a lot of mistakes because they do not understand the Jewish context that underlies a lot of what we consider to be the New Testament. One idea that I have been confronted with recently is that there was a robust educational system in 1st century Judea consisting of Bet Sefer, Bet Talmud (Bet Midrash?), and then being called to follow a Rabbi. This has given rise to a claim that in the 1st century there was a common blessing to the effect of "may you be covered in the dust of your Rabbi." In addition to being a Christian with questions, I am a retired US Army soldier who was taught to "trust but verify." When I tried to discover if there was such an educational system in 1st century Judea and if there was such a blessing in common use, I did not find any sort of evidence for either. I am aware of Avot 1:4 and the statement attributed to Yose be Yoezer which is similar in some respects. I found a reference in Wikipedia (maybe not a great resource) that said there were no formal schools spread through Judea until Simeon ben Shetah (75 BCE) required them in larger cities and Joshua be Gamla (64 CE) required them in every district and town. This causes me to doubt Christian claims that Jesus, etc. would have attended formal schooling. Instead, I'm inclined to think that they would have learned from their fathers and that the quality of their learning would have been dependent on the amount their fathers knew. Is there any substance to the claims of those saying that such an education system pervaded Judea in the 1st century CE or to the assertion that such a blessing was common among the Jews at that time? I appreciate any insight that you can give to me as well as any source materials that I can read. With respect, Larry Essick

Shalom!

Thank you for your question.

Please note that this website is for questions of Jewish law. We do not comment on other religions.

However, regarding the origins of the Jewish school system, I leave you with this passage from the Talmud, Bava Batra 21a:

What was this ordinance? As Rav Yehuda says that Rav says: Truly, that man is remembered for the good, and his name is Yehoshua ben Gamla. If not for him the Torah would have been forgotten from the Jewish people. Initially, whoever had a father would have his father teach him Torah, and whoever did not have a father would not learn Torah at all...What verse did they interpret homiletically that allowed them to conduct themselves in this manner? They interpreted the verse that states: “And you shall teach them [otam] to your sons” (Deuteronomy 11:19), to mean: And you yourselves [atem] shall teach, i.e., you fathers shall teach your sons.

When the Sages saw that not everyone was capable of teaching their children and Torah study was declining, they instituted an ordinance that teachers of children should be established in Jerusalem...What verse did they interpret homiletically that enabled them to do this? They interpreted the verse: “For Torah emerges from Zion” (Isaiah 2:3).

But still, whoever had a father, his father ascended with him to Jerusalem and had him taught, but whoever did not have a father, he did not ascend and learn. Therefore, the Sages instituted an ordinance that teachers of children should be established in one city in each and every region...Yehoshua ben Gamla came and instituted an ordinance that teachers of children should be established in each and every province and in each and every town, and they would bring the children in to learn at the age of six and at the age of seven.