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Nitzavim- Diagnosing the problem

For this year’s Parsha Lesson I will be focusing on a chinuch (parenting/ educational) lesson that can be derived from the Dvar Torah.

Background

In this week’s parsha, Moshe begins his final address to the Jewish people before his passing on from this world. Moshe tells the Jewish people that there will come a time that they will sin and they will stray from the path of the Torah. And when they do, it will seem like climbing up the highest mountain to re-obtain the proper Torah values and the proper knowledge and scholarship necessary to follow the Torah and do as Hashem commands. It will seem impossible and insurmountable.

However, Moshe reassures them, do not despair! It is not as difficult as it seems, in fact- it is very doable. It is very much within your reach to return to Hashem, to learn the Torah properly, in order to accumulate the knowledge and establish the proper foundation to do as Hashem, the Master of the World, commands. 

What is the key?

The Midrash explains that the trick is: incremental growth. Daily growing, little and consistent steps in the right direction, will lead to a person becoming ‘rich’ in Torah knowledge and in their connection with Hashem. Day by day, learning a bit more, growing a bit more, a person will- over time- develop into a completely new person that is committed and knowledgeable in a way that could not have even been imagined from the outset.

Question

The Rosh HaYeshiva of Yeshiva Chofetz Chaim, R’ Henoch Leibowitz z”l, asked- why is this the encouragement and advice that Moshe is giving to the Jewish people? Don’t we find just the opposite approach advised in other areas of the Torah? 

One of those sources is in the Midrash where it says that a person is supposed to constantly push themselves and ask- when are my actions and my knowledge going to reach the level of my forefathers, Avraham, Yitzchak and Yakov? 

Elsewhere, in PIrkei Avos, it says that a person is supposed to think- when am I going to know as much Torah as those greater than me in this generation? And once more Torah knowledge is attained- when is my knowledge going to equal that of the great ones of previous generations? And on and on, until one is supposed to think- when am I going to attain the Torah knowledge of the Prophets and even the knowledge of Moshe himself!?

This would seem to be a very different approach than the approach of- day by day, little bits of knowledge and growth… So which one is correct? Is someone supposed to be focused on the small incremental steps in the right direction or is someone supposed to be focused on how much knowledge and growth they have not yet accomplished? 

Is someone supposed to find satisfaction and feel accomplished from what they have done or are they supposed to be insatiable in their constant pursuit of ever greater levels of excellence?

Answer

The answer is, of course, that they are both correct. Both of these perspectives are true and correct. Every little amount of knowledge and every step in the proper direction is terrific, should bring satisfaction and happiness and will ultimately lead to them growing and amassing much ‘wealth’. It is also true that no matter what one has accomplished in Torah knowledge and perfection of their behavior, there is always more and ever greater levels of accomplishment to be attained.

The question is- which perspective, and which focus, is helpful and successful for the individual at any given time. Is it spurring the person to do the right thing, and to grow, by focusing on the small incremental steps of growth and over time attaining big accomplishments? Or, is it working better for the person to focus on what they have not yet attained?

Whichever focus and perspective is productive and spurring a person to accomplishment is the one that they should employ! They are both true, they just both may not bring about the best results at any given time. At times one perspective might be the most beneficial to focus on while at others times the other perspective might be the one to focus on.

Chinuch Lesson

There are two different types of doctors in the world: 

1. Doctors who have encyclopedic medical knowledge and have the knowledge to address any and all possible medical issues that may arise, but who are not particularly good diagnosticians (ability to figure out what is ailing the patient and diagnosing the problem).
2. Doctors, who may not have as much medical knowledge, but who are able to really get ‘into the mind’ of their patients and understand what is wrong on a very profound level- and therefore able to diagnose the problems much more effectively.

Ideally, a doctor will have both- encyclopedic medical knowledge, and be an excellent diagnostician. The question is however- which one is more important? 

Of course baseline medical knowledge, to the degree where one is a certified medical doctor is necessary, but once a person gets into the more rarified territory of medical prowess- a master diagnostician is much more preferred. Why? Because while he may not know of as many solutions as the other doctor, at least he will be treating the problem. The doctor with the encyclopedic knowledge may know of 1001 cures to cancer, but he may be treating the patient for the wrong thing.

It could not be more true when it comes to educating and directing our children- and ourselves- to become better people and grow in their knowledge and understanding and character. It is far more important to get it right in understanding the problem! There may be proper solutions, but if we have misidentified the problem we can be doing more harm than good.

To tell the disenchanted child who feels despair at ever making something of themselves that their accomplishments are nice, but when will you ever reach the accomplishments of the great ones in the world!? This will make the child’s despair even worse and not lead to their being successful.

On the flipside, to tell a child who is ‘resting on their laurels’ and feels contented to just ‘get by’, that every step and every bit of growth is terrific- you will be adding to their laziness and lack of motivation to work and grow. Both of these children may present many of the exact same symptoms, but they are really in two completely different places. 

As parents, as educators, and as people who are at the very least responsible for our own growth and development- it is crucially important to not misidentify and to get this diagnosis right.

Wishing you and your family a wonderful Shabbos!

Rabbi Eli Meir Kramer

What's happening...

Judaic Studies

5th/ 6th grade Girls- Morah Chaya Leiter

The 5/6th grade girls are off to a great start! With a nice amount of school before the Chagim (holidays), we had the opportunity to really delve into the time period of Elul and the Yimei Ratzon, giving us the ability to gain the most out of this time. We worked on "Spraying and Washing" ourselves through the process of Teshuva, and each day the students had a chance to share how they are working on bettering themselves, which they then put on the bulletin board. Some examples are remaining calm while others were bothering them, listening to parents right away, and speaking positively instead of complaining. 

In Chumash, the students are starting to gain a tremendous amount of skill to assist their understanding of the Pesukim (verses). Besides for the skills, we are learning many life lessons that Hashem provided for us in His instruction manual, the Torah. We explored the topic of how Hashem loves us and that is why Hashem counts us numerous times (and we even got to see Morah Leiter's eraser and napkin collection!). You can feel the learning atmosphere permeating out of 115 as the girls apply themselves to make this a successful, productive year!

General Studies

1st Grade- Mrs. Aimee Friedell

First grade is off to a brilliant start! We are establishing routines and learning how special it is to be a first grader in Shalom Torah.

One of the first activities we completed was called, “What Does A First Grader Look Like, Sound Like, and Feel Like?” We studied pictures of first grade children. We determined which showed what a first grade should look like. The pictures we chose showed happy children, playing and working together.  

We then thought about some of the things a first grader might say. We determined that first graders ask lots of questions and use words like please and thank you. They say things that make other children feel good. We discussed how a first grader feels, especially on the first day of school. All of our first graders were feeling confident and excited.

When the activity was completed, we created a lovely poster that will hang in our classroom all year long.  

Pre-School

Nursery- Morah Susan Leibowitz

Nursery has been having so much fun learning about ourselves in our All About Me unit! We have been focusing on our feelings and emotions. We have made special mirrors for our bulletin board using a cd as the mirror with our pictures on them.

Everyday in our class we come up to our special “Affirmation Station” mirror in our classroom and we say something special that we love about ourselves! We also have been using a very special feelings mirror that we have and we love looking through it and matching our emotions to the character on the top of the mirror!

We have also traced each other making all kinds of different faces using a cover from a plastic bin and dry erase markers (this was a big hit!) and we also used our block center to measure trace our friends and see how different we all look . We can't wait to see what the fall season brings to Nursery!

Join us for a special

Shalom Torah Family Shabbaton!!

First Shabbos after Sukkos!