How do we articulate goals about Torah study - to students of any age? What should those goals be? Obviously, there are skills one develops for Torah learning: language (Hebrew and English), understanding structure, finding one's way in a chumash or a tanakh or an online equivalent, and so forth. But when it comes down to it, the most compelling goal I have heard articulated recently is that students of all ages should develop love and passion for Torah and for Jewish tradition, and that it should be alive for them..
Easy enough to say. But how does it work?
Well, this week I saw my students' eyes light up. Recognition that learning we have been doing for weeks is not simply rote, neither is is some archaic thing. Words and concepts we have been studying in Modern Hebrew for several weeks came together with this week's Parashah, Vayera, in beautiful synchronicity.
Avraham and Sarah welcome strangers to their tent. So, too, does Avraham's relative Lot welcome strangers - angels, even - to his city. And they welcome with such grace and hospitality that we can't help but learn from them that this is a godly, holy way of doing things. Aha! So the fact that we began the year's Hebrew language module with language of welcoming - to welcome new students (both real in our class, and in the virtual classroom of our textbook) - is actually Torah, not just modern Hebrew! And not only that, but we had unexpected visitors in our classroom this week, AND next week we are having "Bring a Friend" day.
I just love it when all the learning starts to come together. And when I don't even have to bring it together, for the faces of my students (in this case second graders) to light up with joy . . . I think I might just have achieved a little bit of the goals that Torah should be alive for the students, and that they should develop passion for it.
