I know that when we are young, we need things to be simplified in order that we understand the concept at a basic level. Obviously you cannot teach a child in kindergarten about creation the way that we learn it now. It would be way over their heads. But at the same time, there is a way to teach it so that we do not have to be "re-teached" in high school. How do yall think that we could fix this idea? How is there a way so that when children learn about the six days of creation in kindergarten, they do not reach high school and then say, Wow everything I learned when I was younger was wrong...
I think that Berishit is a perfect example of when we may think about this idea. It is such a fundamental part of Judaism, the first pessukim of the Torah and sometimes it is the first thing we learn as children. We learn that there were 6 days of creation and on each day, something different was created. Now we are learning that the idea of days might not even be accurate. Our mindset is so different now but what about when we were kids?
dear sade,
ReplyDeletei am equally excited to be the first person to comment on your first blog this semester.im also so proud that you blogged so early-so proactive!
I completely understand what you are saying. many teachers often make it seem like what we've learned has been completely wrong and that we need to re-learn everything "the right way." The thing is, i tend to disagree with that. I think that what we have learned when we were little kinder is definitely not wrong. The beauty of becoming older is the fact that we can now think in a more abstract and complex manner(as Piaget has discovered through his numerous experiments in cognitive development;)Therefore, we are able to not re-;earn everything, but rather learn it in a different way. The beauty of the Torah,in my opinion,is the fact that the Torah is an endless source of information we can learn, understand and discover in order to enhance our lives and us as human beings. We can look at all the different things in the Torah and interpret them however we want and in whichever way. We can learn so many different things from just one concept in the Torah. Therefore, i believe that we are not re-learning the information, but rather adding on to it and looking at it from a different and more abstract angle.To me, that is such a beautiful thing because the things we can learn from the Torah is absolutely endless.
I think that this is a very intelligent post. I think that not only do we need to be relearning it in a different way, but that it is harmful if we do not. The Torah is not just a book, but a source on the world. I think that to think about certain things in the same way as we did in first grade is childish and naive sometimes, and bad. Because a high schooler thinking about something the way a 1st grader would will understand how it makes no sense...
ReplyDeleteBeats me how to fix it though
Sade,
ReplyDeleteThis is a very interesting post. I feel the exact same way, however, I do realize that it would be impossible for a kindergartener to understand the more abstract and complex ideas that we are currently learning about the creation of the world. I think a way to fix this is trying to solve the problem gradually. I think that year by year more and more information and new ideas should be added to 'kindergarten version' of the creation of the world. That way when we students get to Rabbi Gersten's Machshava's class or Mrs Perl's chumash class, they are not completely surprised and a little confused about the creation of the world. I also think that starting from 7th grade there should be a machshava class in which this topic is discussed. This is important because usually you learn one sefer a year and if you are not learning Bereishit than you will not get to these ideas.
I wish this was like facebook and you could like everyone's comments!
ReplyDelete