<HTML>I would like to raise one of several issues that all those who are engaged
in Jewish education in the classroom will encounter again and again over
the years. There are certain topics that are particularly thorny and one
either pleads ignorance, which registers in certain ways upon
students--they may be impressed by one's intellectual humility, but then
again they may feel that the teacher is simply insensitive to a burning
issue and were s/he to care sufficiently, they would have been able to at
least provide a few approaches however inadequate, or the teacher attempts
to deal with the issues, with questionable success. I would welcome an
open discussion of these matters, in the spirit of the give-and-take that
informed the exploration of how to approach Talmudic medical assertions.
The topic that I would like to first bring up is the issue of slavery for
non-Jews, or Eved Kena'ani. Not only is this a matter that is dealt with
in a number of contexts in Chumash, but it also plays a major role
wherever Kinyanim are considered, as for example in Masechet Kiddushin,
and Nezikin--the matter of Roshei Eivarim, as contemplated in Bava Kamma.
While one could claim that this is a holdover from an epoch when economics
dictated a certain workforce, the important assumption that dicta in the
Tora should be above time and relevant to all periods of human existence
truly begs the question . From an integration point of view, sources such
as these were invoked to justify the South's position regarding slavery, a
perspective that is difficult to defend from many perspectives.
I would wish simply to stress that rather than scholarly expositions, I
think that responses should focus upon how this topic can and should be
presented to students.
Sincerely,
Jack Bieler
Hebrew Academy of Greater Washington,
Silver Spring, MD</HTML>
