Learn To Speak, Speak With Wisdom Like A Child (Hunter/Garcia - Foolish Heart)

Everyday around 4:15pm I call my wife. I ask her how her day has been. I ask her about our children. Knowing that my 4^th grade daughter will be receiving much more homework than she is accustomed to, I ask how much homework does she have and if she is focused upon doing it. I don’t have the same concern for my 6^th grade daughter as she is an incredibly conscientious student. Then my attention turns to our 2^nd grade son. Every day since school has started I have asked if the boy has homework. Everyday my wife responds that he has no homework. Apparently there is a widely held belief that 2^nd graders should not receive any homework. I guess it would interfere with playing with Wii, X-Box, gameboy, DS, Leggos, or watching the mind numbing drivel on the Disney Channel. Don’t these teachers understand that homework for a 2^nd grader is as much a benefit for the parent as it is for the student? Of course a few minutes of homework can re-enforce some of the math, English or Hebrew that had already been taught. Certainly that re-enforcement benefits the 2^nd grader. Don’t the teachers understand that a little homework contributes to discipline, budgeting time and the development of good study habits? More importantly, don’t the teachers understand that homework is a vital weapon in the arsenal of parenting weapons with which we parent our son? Don’t they know that homework is the foil to prevent our kids from watching TV? Don’t they understand that homework is the mechanism that allows a child to work independently so that way we can watch the news, make dinner etc? Don’t these teachers understand that homework is a parent’s way of mandating a little quiet time and thereby eliminating all the bickering that occurs between siblings? Seriously, I do worry that schools and teachers are so worried about being thought of as “nice”, that they sacrifice the two vital reasons for teaching in the first place: contributing to the intellectual and emotional development of the student and to impart knowledge and wisdom to the student.

This week's Parsha is Ki Tavoh. For the past several Parshiot, Moshe has been listing and explaining all the precepts and laws. Last week's Parsha and the first part of Ki Tavoh explain the rewards. We will inherit the land; we will keep the land. Our enemies will be rendered weak. We will be fruitful and multiply. However the second half of the Parshah explains all the curses that would befall us if we neglect to observe these laws. Every curse, of course, is the diametric opposite the previous blessings. So if we were promised bountiful harvests and many children, then our curse will be drought, famine, and bareness. Traditionally, the Aliyot that contain the curses are read in a softer voice. However as horrible as these curses are, we must understand that it is up to us. We can either follow these laws or not, and as a result we will bear the consequences of our actions. This is not necessarily a bad lesson for us as well as our children to learn. We are responsible for our actions, and we must bear responsibility for the consequences of those actions.

As a Rabbi, I find one of these curses to be quite remarkable as it tells us the role of the Rabbi, and how traditionally Rabbis were evaluated. Arur Mashgeh Iveir Ba'Derech, Va'Amar Kol Ha'Am Amen - Accursed is one who causes a blind person to go astray on the road. And the entire nation said 'Amen" (Deut 27:18). If we read this literally then we are talking about a guide or a seeing-eye dog that would lead the blind astray. However this curse is symbolic. We know that Torah is a light and the word Derech (way) is usually in combination with the Way of the Lord (God's Laws). On a metaphorical level, the curse is upon those leaders of a community that causes the less knowledgeable to go astray. If that knowledge causes those who are blind (re: those who are in the dark or without light) to go astray, then that leader should be cursed. Implicit to that statement is that the one who causes the blind to go astray sees the light, has knowledge and teaches or guides the community away from God.

Our Talmudic Sages offer an Agadah about the teachers/Rabbis who were the leaders of their communities. "If there are two teachers, one who covers much ground but is not exact, and one who does not cover much ground but is exact, Rav Dimi b. Nehardea maintained that the one who is exact and does not cover much ground is to be appointed. What is the reason? A mistake once implanted (in the mind or in behavior) remains [a mistake]. (Talmud Baba Batrah 21a-b). Our sages essentially understand the first rule in education. It is terribly difficult to undo that which has already been incorrectly taught. Perhaps our leaders should cease infantilizing the American public and instead, educate them truthfully about the difficult choices that need to be made, about informing the public of re-allocated federally budgeted monies for one project and using those monies for something else.

With about two weeks to go before the High Holidays, this concept of Teacher and Rabbi and what is means to lead is vital. Throughout the holidays, we as parents, children, teachers, educators, lay leaders and professionals will have opportunity after opportunity to educate. We will have opportunities to educate through our words, our actions and our deeds. We will have an opportunity to be guide for others as they seek Torah, Teshuvah, and God. If we teach and guide incorrectly we only exacerbate and perpetuate misconceptions, false assumptions with no new perspectives and fresh understanding. Like B'nai Yisroel has the outcome for their behavior right in the palm of their collective hand, so do we. We all have the opportunity to be a beacon of light for those who need our strength, our insight, our knowledge. We all have the opportunity to be a beacon of light in our actions and deeds as a means of demonstrating living a life of Kedusha, a life of Holiness.

Peace,

Rav Yitz