Jewish Educational Thoughts Again

12/19/10 NY Times Op-Ed by Ross Douthat, A Tough Season for Believers

While this article was written with Christians in mind, it seems to me just as appropriate for religious people of any faith group, since the tension it describes exists in every religious community.  It is, I believe, the tension between tradition and change, between communal responsibility and individual autonomy, between a religious outlook and a secular one.
One of the books Douthat mentions in his article is American Grace, by Robert Putnam and David Campbell.  Putnam is the author of Bowling Alone, one of my all-time favorites.  His focus in that book was on the disintegration of community and communal responsibility.  He noted then (in 2000) that religious communities were among the most successful communal organizations in the country.  I look forward to reading this new analysis of community, and am anxious to see how he and his co-author describe the state of religious institutional connection today.
The last two paragraphs of the article sum up the problem:

Putnam and Campbell are quantitative, liberal, and upbeat; Hunter is qualitative, conservative and conflicted. But both books come around to a similar argument: this month’s ubiquitous carols and crèches notwithstanding, believing Christians are no longer what they once were — an overwhelming majority in a self-consciously Christian nation. The question is whether they can become a creative and attractive minority in a different sort of culture, where they’re competing not only with rival faiths but with a host of pseudo-Christian spiritualities, and where the idea of a single religious truth seems increasingly passé.

Or to put it another way, Christians need to find a way to thrive in a society that looks less and less like any sort of Christendom — and more and more like the diverse and complicated Roman Empire where their religion had its beginning, 2,000 years ago this week.

If you substitute the word "Jews" for the word "Christians" I believe you are describing the challenge facing the Jewish institutional community as well.  While we may never have been "an overwhelming majority" in the United States, we certainly need to 'become a creative and attractive minority'.  As Jewish educators, we are right in the middle as the situation unfolds, and must think seriously about possible outcomes.

Shemot

Last year's post on this parasha is really filled with ideas and suggestions for analyzing this week's reading. Since the calendar is different this year, most of us are reading Shemot before the December vacation (if we have one) so the narrative that ended the book of Breisheet should be fresh in the minds of our students.  With that noted, please re-read that post and pick out some of the issues you didn't have time for last year.

When I re-read the parasha just now a couple of questions jumped out at me.  Interestingly, some were the same ones that troubled me last year, and some were a little different.

1. In chapter 1 verses 15 - 21 the text tells the story of the midwives, Shifra and Puah.  Here's what popped out for me in this reading - Why didn't Par'o punish them for disobeying his orders?  Also, when so many women who played roles in the story of the Jewish people remain nameless in the text, why are these two named?
2. Why did Par'o allow his daughter to keep the baby, who was obviously one of the Hebrews?
3. Chapter 2:25 - why do the Israelites cry out to God only after the Par'o who had enslaved them died?
4. Chapter 6:1 - isn't it strange that Par'o is described as having a "yad hazakah", a "strong hand", a term that I've always associated with God!?

Regarding the story of the midwives, and what they did to save a people in danger, an additional resource I would like to suggest is Facing History and Ourselves, which is a wonderful site about making moral choices in life.  It has excellent teaching ideas that help sensitize students to the importance of being "upstanders" in the face of evil.

VaYechi

This parasha brings us to the end of the first book of the Torah, and also to the end of the story of the family line that would eventually become the people of Israel.  Please look at the other posts on this parasha for some questions you may want to ask yourselves and your students.
Looking at the book of Breisheet as a whole, think for a moment about some of the themes that were explored:

• God's role in the world
• Individual responsibility
• Sibling relationships
• Good and evil
• Reward and punishment

What others can you think of?

Jewish Educational Thoughts

Two articles on the same page of the NY Times Saturday caught my eye, and are worth reading for what they suggest about Judaism and about education - my two favorite topics, as you know.

What Works in the Classroom?  Ask the Students.
There has been a great deal of attention paid recently to the issue of teacher evaluation.  Most honest people would agree that some teachers are better than others - the disagreement seems to be around what the criteria should be for making that distinction.  Race to the Top, the national program for improving education, includes as one of its four areas of concentration

Recruiting, developing, rewarding, and retaining effective teachers and principals, especially where they are needed most; 

Good idea, but doesn't define "effective teachers" and in practice relies on standardized test scores for its judgments about whether or not a teacher is effective.

Sam Dillon's article identifies a different way of evaluating teachers that asks students directly what they think. According to Ronald Ferguson, the developer of the questionnaires,

"Kids know effective teaching when they experience it."

If this is true in the public school sector, it is even more true in the Jewish sector.  We are not simply in the business of learning and education, we are also very much in the business of attitude development.  It's been said before - the way in which your students relate to you as their teacher becomes in many cases the way in which they relate to the Jewish world in general, and to their Jewish identity in particular.  So it's not just a matter of being "nice".  It's also of modeling the kinds of behaviors and values we want our students to internalize as fundamental to Jewishness - love of learning, compassion, intellectual curiosity, kindness, you fill in the rest.  Teaching in a Jewish school is one of the most challenging and weighty responsibilities one can have.

Which brings me to the next article:  On the same page as the article about asking students is a fascinating story in the Beliefs column, by Mark Oppenheimer - "Agency's Shtick is Jewish Humor For a Good Cause"
I have a few questions I'd like to raise about this article, which troubled me on many levels.

1. Why is repeating negative stereotypes about Jews and Jewish behavior humorous?
2. Is it OK to say derogatory things about Jews if you yourself are Jewish?
3. Is it OK to say these things if the agency sponsoring them thinks it will raise money?
4. What is the "Jewish" that the celebrities in these spots feel?
5. Is the "Jewish" these personalities present the "Jewish" we hope our young people grow up to be?

Judd Apatow, who ran the project and is quoted in the article as saying,

“I am the kind of Jewish person who feels very Jewish but does not practice at all. I did not take part in this project because Jewish people run this charity. I got involved because they do very important work that is changing many people’s lives in a positive way.”

The final question:  Am I being overly sensitive?  Is it generational?  Should I just 'get over it?'
I'd like to know what your reaction is.

VaYigash

Click on VaYigash in the column on the right for more thoughts and ideas

Try as I may, I can't get away from my 21st century perspective when I think about Joseph.  No matter that the traditional commentaries understand him as a tzaddik, a righteous person, my perspective is less sure of his status.
We all know the history - how he was apparently singled out by his father for special consideration, his brothers' jealousy, his time in jail in Egypt, his rise to power, his eventual reconciliation with his family.

and yet...

• Did he really need to gain ownership of the entire gross national product of Egypt in the process?
• What kind of favor did he do his family by setting them up with special privileges in Goshen?
• Why is it so important to Joseph that his father know what a big shot he has become - and why is he comfortable ignoring the unpleasant fact that he has not made any attempt that we know of to contact this same grieving father for all the years of his absence from Canaan?
• Is it possible to read the Biblical account without addressing these questions?
• Does being a believing Jew require us to accept that in this case the end justifies the means?
• or does being a believing Jew require us to ask just this sort of question and come to answers that satisfy us in the context of our culture and society?
• How is Joseph an example of the kind of person we hope our Jewish children will grow up to be?
• How is he not?
• How might the narrative here have laid the groundwork for later events in Egypt?

It might be easier to read these final parashot of the book of B'reisheet without these questions.  It's just that I can't do it.

Miketz

Joseph is obviously talented in many ways.  He is good-looking, as we saw last week here in chapter 39:

ו וַיְהִי יוֹסֵף, יְפֵה-תֹאַר וִיפֵה מַרְאֶה.

6  And Joseph was of beautiful form, and fair to look upon.

He was able to interpret dreams, as we saw last week and also this week in chapter 41:

יב  וְשָׁם אִתָּנוּ נַעַר עִבְרִי, עֶבֶד לְשַׂר הַטַּבָּחִים, וַנְּסַפֶּר-לוֹ, וַיִּפְתָּר-לָנוּ אֶת-חֲלֹמֹתֵינוּ:  אִישׁ כַּחֲלֹמוֹ, פָּתָר.

12 And there was with us there a young man, a Hebrew, servant to the captain of the guard; and we told him, and he interpreted our dreams for us; to each man according to his dream he did interpret.

He realized that his power was a gift of God, not of his own making, as we read, also in chapter 41:

טז  וַיַּעַן יוֹסֵף אֶת-פַּרְעֹה לֵאמֹר, בִּלְעָדָי:  אֱלֹהִים, יַעֲנֶה אֶת-שְׁלוֹם פַּרְעֹה.

16 And Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying: 'It is not up to me; God will give Pharaoh a complete and satisfying answer'.

 He is trustworthy, as we read:

לט  וַיֹּאמֶר פַּרְעֹה אֶל-יוֹסֵף, אַחֲרֵי הוֹדִיעַ אֱלֹהִים אוֹתְךָ אֶת-כָּל-זֹאת, אֵין-נָבוֹן וְחָכָם, כָּמוֹךָ.

39 And Pharaoh said to Joseph: 'Since God has shown you all this, there is no one as discreet and wise as you.

He is also manipulative, as you can see if you read what happened when his brothers appeared before him to beg for food the first time (chapter 42) and the second time (chapters 43 and 44).
Finally, in chapter 45 Joseph reveals his identity to his brothers, who return to their father with what must have seemed unbelievable news.

• What do you think caused Joseph to behave the way he did?
• What bothers you about Joseph's behavior?
• What about Joseph's behavior seems fair to you?  What seems unfair?
• Who changes the most in the story - Joseph?  his brothers?  his father?  someone else?  Explain your answer

An important aspect of the story of Joseph is related to the theme of Hanukkah.  There are two interesting stories in today's NY Times that relate to the theme of identity, a theme that is central to Hanukkah.

The first is about Poland, and the tension in that country between the forces of religion, specifically the Catholic Church, and the influence of secularism, of life independent of the rule of religion.  You may want to read the article here

Poland, Lacking External Enemies, Turns on Itself

The second article is about yoga and its relationship to the Hindu religion.

Hindu Group Stirs a Debate Over Yoga's Soul

• What is the relationship between these two stories and the upcoming holiday of Hanukkah?

Be sure to look at last year's post on Miketz here for more ideas

VaYeshev

I can remember as a young teacher that the story of Joseph was the most fun to teach - there were so many projects one could choose, there was so much detail in the text that kids could enjoy reading, and the issue of sibling rivalry was always a topic students were able to speak about with authority.
Assuming younger students have spent their time learning the narrative - who said what to whom and where, who dreamt what and what it meant, who sold Joseph to whom and why, and on and on and on, perhaps it is time to think about Big Ideas instead of storytelling.


BIG IDEA:

• Living as a minority within a majority culture is a challenge - especially when the values of the majority are different than those of the minority

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS:

• How was living in Egypt different from living with his family in Canaan?
• What were some challenges Joseph faced in this story so far?

LEARNING ACTIVITIES:

• This article by Rabbi Harold Berman suggests a connection between the story of Joseph while he was in the household of Potiphar the Egyptian and the story of Hanukkah.  How does he believe they are similar?
• Amy Virshup in the NY Times writes about online preparation for Bar Mitzvah.  What does it say about the tension between traditional Jewish practice and the modern culture in which we live?
• Bruce Feiler, the author of Walking the Bible and a number of other books based on examining Jewish history and theology, wrote an article entitled Time-Shifting Holidays that examines his efforts to meld tradition with the constraints of the modern world.  What is your reaction to his solution?  To the words of the Rabbi he quotes?

ASSESSMENT:

• Students should be able to express their ideas about what it is like to live as a Jew in a world which often creates conflicts with what they ought to be doing as members of the Jewish people.
• Students should understand that being Jewish involves being part of a community, and is not simply an individual identity.
• Students should be able to articulate ways in which they can choose to be part of the Jewish community in their own lives.

As always, be sure to read the other posts which examine this parasha by clicking on the list to the right or by clicking here

VaYishlach

Be sure to read last year's post for more ideas on how to understand and teach this parasha.

This year the issue of the conflict between Jacob and Esau feels very current.  Both in Israel and in communities around the world there is a tension between the descendants of Jacob and the descendants of Esau that seems to be getting worse, not better.
In Israel the relationship between the Jewish and Arab populations is complex.  There is an excellent article at My Jewish Learning entitled Arabs in Israel which explains some of the historical and contemporary issues involved.

A great deal of attention is being focused on peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.  This week's parasha raised some questions that may impact the thinking around resolving the conflict.

• When Jacob and Esau lived together, how did they get along?
• What happened when they separated?
• When they met each other after years of living apart, what happened?
• After this (apparently) friendly reconciliation, then what?  When did they next meet each other?

Michael Oren,  currently the Israeli ambassador to the United States, said in an interview in 2007 that one of the problems Americans have is that we look at the Middle East and think we are looking in a mirror.  This interview can be viewed here.

Most Americans have been raised with the idea that everyone can get along.  No differences are seen as too great to prevent cooperation and collaboration.  But maybe this is not always the case.  Maybe sometimes people with completely different values, aspirations, and cultures get along better if there is some distance between them.

On the other hand, there are certainly those who believe that the differences can be overcome without separation.  Some websites that support this idea are here:

Hand in Hand

Arab-Jewish Center for Equality, Empowerment and Cooperation

The Center For Jewish-Arab Economic Devopment

Finally, if you are interested in hearing the voice of an Arab Muslim who is an example of thoughtful and moderate views, please read any of the articles here.

You may not agree with all the views presented here, but they are certainly material for discussion.

History - How the Story is Told

Recalling History on a Day of Light and Darkness - An article appeared in today's NY Times that explores the tension inherent in deciding what to commemorate, and who does the remembering.  It refers specifically to the fact that Kristallnacht occurred on the same date as the fall of the Berlin Wall many years later.  Both happened in Germany, both are commemorated by the people of Germany, both are significant events for Germany and her people.
When preparing to celebrate my own mother's 100th birthday several years ago, I came upon a number of sites on the internet that enumerate the events that happened on every day of the calendar year.  It was amazing how many things had happened over the years on her exact birthday - how few of them I knew about - and how even fewer did I realize shared the date of her birth.  What does that mean for how we learn, teach and understand history?

Ideas to think about:

• We are more likely to remember that which has personal meaning for us
• Time often diminishes memory
• Some things seem to be remembered no matter how long ago they occurred
• Every individual and every group chooses its memories according to their own criteria
• Events that are publicly commemorated tend to be remembered longer than those which are not

Questions to think about:

• Which events in Jewish history do we as a Jewish community commemorate publicly?
• Which events in Jewish history do non-Jews know about?  Why? 
• How do we choose which events to remember publicly?  Why?
• In your opinion, what events in Jewish history should be commemorated forever?  Why?
• In your opinion, which events in Jewish history will be commemorated forever?  Why?
• Which historical big ideas do you want your students to remember?  Why?

Jewish Wisdom for Today's Reality

I really like this first issue of Shabbat Table Discussions from Yeshiva University's Center for the Jewish Future.  I came upon it at  Tzvee's Talmudic Blog which I follow and enjoy.  I recommend you read it and hope you enjoy it as well.

Vayetze

Last year I asked some questions in the blogpost - didn't get any answers!!!  I still have the same questions, and I'm hoping some readers might suggest some responses!
I thank you in advance for your thoughts.

Vayetze, 2009

I checked the links and they're still valid.

In case you are interested in more resources, here are a few new links:
G-dcast is a wonderful site to find short cartoons illustrating each parasha.  This one focuses primarily on the relationship between Rachel and Leah, and the importance of children in Biblical times.

• A question - why do you suppose there is a daughter mentioned at all?  Until now only sons have been mentioned, although the law of averages would certainly suggest that our ancestors had female children as well as male, and I just wonder what the significance of the daughter is that causes her to be named here.

If you are interested in what the community of Beit El is like today, click on this link to the site of the winery there.

• What do you think it feels like to read this week's parasha in Beit El?

Engaging Teenage Boys in Jewish Life

I just read about a program for post-Bar Mitzvah boys that sounds very interesting.  The organization that has created it is the same one that sponsors "Rosh Hodesh, It's a Girl Thing!"  I hope people will think about bringing it to the New York area.  There is certainly a very large potential pool of participants.

Moving Traditions

Toldot

Last year's post for Toldot suggested several alternative ways to read and understand the parasha.  This year I would like to concentrate on an idea that connects the story of Jacob and Esau with current thinking about education.
James Kugel, in his book How to Read the Bible says the following:

Interpreters ... assumed that the Bible was a book of lessons directed to readers in their own day'

Traditional commentaries tell us clearly that Esau is 'bad', Jacob is 'good'.  And yet today we might look at both of these personalities less as "black and white" and more as "shades of grey".




Big Idea:  People - even 'identical' twins - are not exactly the same.  Identical educational practices are therefore inherently not fair to students.


Important questions you may want to think about.

• How can we support learning in our diverse classes (and all classes are diverse - some more so than others, but in the end all)?
• What are the factors that help us decide how to teach a particular concept?
• What does it mean to focus on learning rather than on teaching?
• What lesson is the Bible trying to teach us as readers today?

Sources you may find helpful

• Torah with Rashi commentary, from Chabad.org presents a traditional understanding of the sons of Yitzhak
• How to Read the Bible, by James Kugel - this link takes you to several different pages, all of which say similar things about how the traditional interpreters describe Jacob and Esau
• Multiple Intelligences, a theory of learning first developed by Dr. Howard Gardner, and since embraced by many educators, could easily have been suggested by the story of Jacob and Esau. 

Assessment:

• Please explain how the story of Jacob and Esau might affect the way your classroom functions.
• Try to be an objective observer in your classroom.  How are you showing respect for different learners?  How do your lessons support alternative strengths your students have?

Be sure to check out Parsha 4 Kids for more ideas on connecting your students to Torah thinking

Hayei Sarah

As I was rereading this parasha I was thinking how strange it must sound to today's young (and even not-so-young) people.

• Avraham calls his servant and instructs him to find a wife for Yitzhak, his son with his wife Sarah, who has recently died.  
• We have no evidence he discussed this plan with Yitzhak - in fact, we have no evidence that Avraham and Yitzhak ever spoke to each other after the incident we call the Akeidah, when Avraham appears to have been ready to sacrifice his son.
• We read that the servant takes many gifts with him as proof that his master is wealthy.
• The servant describes some sort of magical test by which he will know how to choose the bride-to-be that has to do with her hospitality to strangers and kindness to animals.
• He repeats (with a few minor alterations) his master's instructions to the father and brother of this young woman he wants to bring back home to his master for Yitzhak.
• The father and brother of the bride-to-be accept the offer with no information other than about the wealth of the family.
• The brother and mother of Rivka (the bride-to-be) ask for a few days to prepare her for the journey
• Rivka say's she'll go, and she does - accompanied by her nanny.
• Her family receives many gifts in return.
• She still doesn't know anything at all about the groom to whom she will be married - not even his name!

Well, that certainly doesn't sound much like today's world - except in some cultures we and our students would consider backward and anti-feminist.  So what questions might we raise to make this episode meaningful to today's audience?

Questions to consider:

1. In a time and place when families might live in little contact with other families, how would a young person be able to meet a mate?
2. What appears to be important to Avraham in choosing the mate for his son? 
3. What at first appears to be important to Lavan in deciding whether his sister should go with the servant?
4. What do Lavan and Betuel say is the deciding factor?
5. Does Rivka have a choice?
6. What do you think we are supposed to learn from this story?

Sources:  If you want to read the entire chapter that tells this story, go to Chapter 24 in the Bible. Here are some excerpts:

24:[3]  Swear by Adonai, the God of heaven and of earth, that you won't take a wife for my son from the Canaanite people among whom I live.  [4]  But go to my country, to my relatives, and take a wife for my son Yitzhak

 ... 

[6] And Avraham said to him,  "Be sure you don't take my son back there."

...

[29] And Rivka had a brother named Lavan.  He ran to the man outside, to the fountain.  [30]  And when he saw the ring and bracelets on his sister's hands, and when he heard his sister Rivka's words, 'this is what the man said to me'

...(the servant repeats essentially what Avraham has told him)...

[50]  Then Lavan and Betuel answered and said,  'The thing comes from Adonai.  We can't say whether it is a good or bad thing.  [51]  Here's Rivka in front of you - take her and go,and let her be your master's son's wife, as Adonai has spoken.
...
[55]  And her brother and her mother said, 'Let the young woman stay with us a few more days - after that she'll go.
...
[58] And they called to Rivka and said to her,  "Will you go with this man?"  And she said, "I will go". [59] and they sent Rivka their sister, and her nanny, and Avraham's servant and his men.

Teshuvah

We usually introduce the subject of teshuvah as saying 'I'm sorry', but an article in today's Wall Street Journal highlighted the difference between the two.  In particular, please read the inset here that appears in the article

Saying 'I'm Sorry'

A 'comprehensive' apology is more likely to win forgiveness, researchers say. There are eight elements:

• Remorse
• Acceptance of responsibility
• Admission of wrongdoing
• Acknowledgment of harm
• Promise to behave better
• Request for forgiveness
• Offer of repair
• Explanation

Source: University of Waterloo

Maimonides states the steps of teshuvah as follows:

1. Realizing what you did was wrong
2. Confessing to the wrongdoing
3. Correcting the wrong you caused
4. Acting properly when confronted with the same situation that led to the original wrongdoing

Here are some questions to help you think about the difference between "I'm sorry" and "teshuvah"

• What is the purpose of "I'm sorry"?
• What is the purpose of teshuvah?
• What step that leads to teshuvah is missing from the "I'm sorry" list above?
• How does this help you understand teshuvah?