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In a message dated 11/11/1999 02:42:14 PM Pacific Standard Time,
lookjed list <lookjed@mail.biu.ac.il> writes:
2. Has anyone considered the use of non-Torah literature to help sensitize
students to ethical issues? I'm not suggesting learning the *concepts*
from anywhere but the Torah, but there's fairly broad consensus on what
constitutes vice and what virtue, and generations of authors, playwrights
and, yes, screenwriters have turned their talents to stirring our thoughts
and feelings. Why not make use of it? Not being particularly literate, I
can't give a lot of specific suggestions, and if I start listing my
personal favorites all the readers that know me will wince, but perhaps
someone out there can pick up the baton.
>>
My wife and I have used articles found in magazines like News Week and
Time as topics. For example, in the new issue of U.S. News & World Report
(Nov. 22, '99) the cover story is "Cheating, Writing, and Arithmetic; A
New Epidemic of Fraud is Sweeping Through Our Schools". This makes for
wonderful Pishon Peh (opening) material.
Another example is my wife gave to our 8th grade class (we share these
students) an article on Gossip. The author claimed that gossip is healthy.
The girls in the class had to write an essay, using sources, for the Torah
viewpoint and write arguments against the article.
R' Aryeh Blaut
Seattle</HTML>