I've met them in almost
every school in which I've taught. The student who is bright and
cynical and convinced that the Torah education that he (I use “he”
for stylistic reasons, and not as a way to suggest that this problem
mostly occurs with boys) is receiving is more indoctrination than
education. Additionally, this student is not convinced of the truth
of what he is learning in his Torah classes. Invariably, this
student finds a secular studies teacher with whom he can openly and
honestly discuss these concerns, and it is sometimes one who fans the
students concerns, rather than try to help or to steer them towards
limudei kodesh faculty who might be able to help. By the time this
student graduates, he is ready to move on from more than just high
school. I have long wondered what, if anything, can be done to keep
these students from reaching the conclusion that Torah (and mitzvah
observance) has nothing to offer them. While I am not comfortable
sharing all of my ideas on this matter, what follows is part of my
thinking on helping these students see depth and seriousness in the
Torah they are learning.
To begin with, I'd like to
point out something which is quite ironic. The same student who comes
to doubt the reality of biblical figures like Avraham and Sarah, has
no problem engaging in an analysis of Shakespeare and speaking of
Romeo and Juliet, or Hamlet as if they
are real. What are we doing or not doing that prevents many
intellectually-minded students from seeing the people and stories in
Torah as real?
Midrash
is fascinating. Understood correctly, they have much to teach us. Too
often we do not provide our talmidim with the chance to move beyond
the literalness of “Little Midrash Says”. While telling midrashim
over as literal stories might be a good way of educating young
children (or not), it is disastrous for older students. We live in a
time when miracles are thought to be the stuff of fairytales. While
there are certain miracles which we will teach with pride as having
happened, adding to that list, especially when it is far from clear
that Chazal intended these statements to be taken at face value, is a
mistake. This is especially true for things that are scientifically
not only impossible, but absurd. Whatever was meant by the midrash
that Og was 300 amos tall (I have heard good explanations), basic
knowledge of human physiology tells us that no such person could
ever exist. I would suggest that the advice I received from Rabbi
Howard Bald when I worked for him at Yeshivat Rambam be followed. He
told me to never teach a midrash that I could not explain. I think
this would include any Rashi which contains a midrash as well.
Midrashim are not there for fun. They too must be treated as serious
Torah.
The
second issue is that we often teach Torah essentially as ahistorical.
I wonder how many of our students could tell us when various biblical
events took place, let alone what was going on at that time in the
rest of the world. I recently saw a book which dealt with the
historicity of the Purim story, where the author thought it necessary
to justify why he was making use of archeology. Among other
justifications were the fact that Rishonim made use of ancient
artifacts when they came their way. Any time we fail to provide
historic context as well as other information that students take for
granted in their general studies classes (such as maps photographs of
the area), we are unintentionally suggesting that these events are
somehow less real.
Finally,
I would add one more suggestion based on a conversation I had this
morning with Dr. Alan Brill. It is important that our students also
encounter the more rational mephorshim (as opposed to only those who
relied more on midrash and/or mysticism). In doing so, they will
discover the complexity of our tradition and come to realize that
many of their “heretical” thoughts and doubts are anything but
heretical. Ralbag, Ibn Ezra and others said things which some people
today would consider to be theologically out of bounds. Why hide
ideas from our students which might help them better understand and
accept Torah?
As
I alluded to at the beginning of this post, there are other things
that need to be considered if we are not to lose some of our best and
brightest students. If we recognize the problem, and are up to the
task, it can be done.
Post by Pesach Sommer.
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