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Re: Teaching the Avot
There has recently been some very good discussion of how to present the
Avot. I humbly offer my two cents (sense?).
In discussing the Avot, our students are perhaps more likely to be
influenced by what we *don't* say than what we *do* say: our mannerims,
gesticulations, tone, facial expressions, attitude, and so on, may
reinforce a profound and deep respect for the Avot, despite (or perhaps
because of) their imperfections. On the other hand, they might betray a
deeply-rooted cynicism about Hazal and midrashic sources that hovers like
a cloud over some.
When I tell my students that I cannot, on the spot, explain a certain
midrash, do I at least leave them with the impression that the midrash is
worth explaining and that the matter is "davar rek hu" - mimeni; or do I
leave them with the impression that they would be better off not wasting
their time on midrashim and just learning Ibn Ezra, or better, learning
archeology instead? (or perhaps proffering their own interpretations?)
Despite our best efforts, our own personal beliefs are probably most
likely the ones that our students will pick up on.
Jerry Unterman commented that there is a "growing tendency in the Orthodox
world to imply that there are not 70 panim to the Torah, but rather only
one interpretation." I cannot say what is or is not the current trend, but
in my own community, I am much more threatened by those who would, and do,
thoughtlessly supplant their own painfully original and pitifully
ill-informed interpretations for those of Chazal, Rashi, Ramban, Ibn Ezra,
Radak, Seforno, and a hundred others. Originality (as opposed to
creativity) is not a worthy goal in and of itself. (See R. Carmy, To Get
the Better of Words: An Apology for Yir'at Shamayim in Academic Jewish
Studies, in 2 Torah U-Madda Journal p. 19-20). R. Carmy continues, "The
creative religious individual aims to make the words and ideas of Torah
his own. To contend with a sugyah or a passage in Tahakh and forge in the
smithy of one's consciousness the same understanding that animated Ramban
or Seforno or R. Shimon Shkop, is, from the perspective of yir'at
Shamayim, a triumph of human creativity." Eventually, originality will
follow for the "capably individual who works lishmah."
If I have preached, recall the story of the preacher who stood before his
congregation one Sunday and told the people, "Thou shalt not steal!" They
all responded heartily with, "Amen." The following week, he got up and
said, "Thou shalt not steal chickens!" His words were met with a cold
silence. When he questioned one of his parishioners after services, he was
told, "Reverend, you've gone from preachin' to meddlin'." (I thank R.
William Greenberg for this and many other gems.)
Jonathan Marvin
Seattle, WA</HTML>
