ready now – Let me quote my original post: “was written as a small part of the dialogues of Timaeus and Critias,”. How is that not clear??
And you did not answer my question: If secular literature is so ossur, how could the Rosh Yeshiva have Shakespeare on his shelf, whether or not he read it? It’s on his private bookshelf! There is no New Testament there… And as I pointed out, it’s only derogatory to you because you have invented your own criteria for Gadlus based on what you think. Gadlus is not defined by your opinions of what a Godol should and shouldn’t do. If the Rosh Yeshiva has no problem with it, it is not derogatory to say so, and therefore not loshon horo.
As for your point about exam boards. Sorry, but you really don’t have a clue what you’re talking. Firstly, exam board regulation covers not what is set, but how the exams are marked (i.e. that they are marked fairly). The government has no control over the specifics of a syllabus, and, as pointed out, the syllabus is identical for every pupil sitting the exam of that board. You seriously suggest that 1,000,000 non-Jewish kids read The Maggid Speaks so that a couple of thousand Jewish ones don’t have to read Great Expectations?! Furthermore, the subject scores are not pooled, where on earth did you get that from? You get a result for each subject. I got 9 grades in my GCSE’s because I did 9 subjects. I got 3 grades in my A-levels because I did 3 subjects. And 1 A/S-level because I did one subject.
You quote a study by a London University exploring whether or not RE should be compulsory. Guess what? They don’t make the curriculum. It is not compulsory and is in no danger of becoming so, whether or not some people in a university think it should.
The quality of Jewish writing is very poor; that is an objective fact. It therefore is entirely unsuitable to suggest that Jewish literature be used for teaching English skills.
As for maths. “one CAN study it”. Are you even paying attention? One MUST study it! Seriously, try learning sukka daf 5 (basic measuring skills… don’t make me laugh!) without GOOD knowledge of maths. Or maybe pesachim daf 109. Or most of perek lo yachpor. Or all of eruvin. Or rosh hashono daf 22. Or a thousand other sugyos I could mention. And I’m sure I quoted a Gr’a concerning the 7 amudei hachochmo saying that chisronos in maths, sciences etc. leads to chisronos in Torah… Sounds like a MUST to me… Incidentially, the Gr’a had his talmidim translate as many works on maths and the sciences as possible into loshon hakodesh so that more yidden could study them. He even wrote a few himself. Maybe try learning Ayil Meshulosh with your ‘basic maths skills’…
Before you reply, please take the time to read this post properly and please be prepared to actually have some proper evidence for any of your claims. I have given you mareh mokom after mareh mokom. All you’ve given me is your own opinion as if it was moshe mipi hagevura…