<HTML>The question isn't about which approach is right - both are within the scope of Jewish thought. You must teach that which you believe correct, as it would be dishonest to do otherwise. If you are not sure, then it becomes an educational question. The implications of teaching kids that Hazal knew "everything" lead to an all or nothing conclusion, and if the students reject the medicine, science, etc. in the gemara because it defies currently accepted knowledge, there is the real danger that if Hazal didn't know "everything" then they knew nothing. When dealing with
students living in a Western civilization and with the axioms of
scientific knowledge deeply ingrained in their psyche, it is educationally dangerous to advocate what Aaron Ross calls the "hard core" approach.
On Ross' terminology, I'm unsure of why he calls one approach "hard core" and the other "feel good" - an easy argument could be made to reverse the terms! To be intellectually honest, neither approach is more "hard core" nor "feel good" than the other, and R Avraham ben HaRambam was no religious apologist.</HTML>
