Project 929 America- Bringing American Jews together through Jewish literacy

It’s a fairly familiar trope. How many  American Jews know the name of Jesus’ mother and how many know Moshe’s mother's name? Of course, to be fair, the two women do not have equally significant roles in the respective religions, but there is still an important point being made here. Far too many American Jews are ignorant of Tanach, and this includes the Orthodox community. How many American Jews know the names of the books of Trei Asar, let alone have studied any of them? How many people in our communities are familiar with the book of Melachim?  It is for that reason that I would like to make an immodest proposal.

Project 929 was recently started in Israel. The project, which began at the home of Israel’s president, is based on the idea that all Israeli Jews should study the 929 chapters of Tanach, by studying one chapter each day. With an attractive website, and articles from all segments of the Jewish-Israeli population, it is off to a very promising start. Even as some features of the program have attracted some controversy (click here if you can read modern Hebrew), there is still a lot of excitement about the project.

It is time for a similar program to be started in America. It is past the time for "The people of the book" to study the book. While most American Jews are not fluent enough in Hebrew to read Tanach in its original language, there are a number of excellent translations available (of course, I can not avoid noting the irony of making this suggestion one day after the date that the rabbis say the Torah was translated into Greek). As with the Israeli edition, there could be articles contributed by scholars and laymen on the various chapters. Imagine an article by Leon Wieseltier about the sale of Joseph by the brothers, or the chance for the average American Jew to be exposed to Rav Soloveitchik’s Adam I and II. Also similar to the Israeli program, there would be articles shared  from across the Jewish spectrum of all the denominations, as well as secular Jews. Not only would such a program help generate American Jews who are more Jewishly literate, but it would also be a project which could lead to much unity, as Jews from all walks of life would be studying the same chapter together. Imagine the discussion groups that could be started that could be open to all Jews regardless of affiliation. Consider the thoughtful discussions and debates that might occur between Jews who until now lacked a common religious language.

I don’t know the cost of the Israeli program, or how much it would cost to start Project 929 America, but whatever the cost, there are things that are important enough that money should not be an obstacle. Truly, this project would be priceless.

To Be or Not To Be- What can be done to reach our best and brightest students

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.