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interesting teacher
One of the mini-classes tonight was well-done in terms of technique. (This is the rabbi I particularly liked, the one who just moved here.)
He said he was going to talk about Tisha b'Av, since it's timely, but first he wanted to talk a little about something else that's timely: the conflict in the middle east. After a minute or so he mentioned the custom of leaving notes (containing prayers) in the wall in Jerusalem, and then handed out paper and asked us to write whatever prayers felt appropriate as if we were there. (He said no one else would see them.) He collected the folded papers and set them aside.
After writing "Tisha b'Av" on the board in Hebrew and deconstructing it for those who don't know the language, he talked about all the bad things that have happened on that day throughout history -- the destruction of the temple (both times), and more recent events continuing into the 20th century. The latest thing he had was Iraq walking out of talks over Kuwait (IIRC); he asked if that spooked anyone else. A couple people nodded and he asked why, and someone said "makes you wonder what's going to happen on Thursday" (Tisha b'Av this year). Some in the room were thinking of that from a "theology" perspective (what does God have in store for us?); I found myself thinking that Jews aren't the only ones who know about Tisha b'Av and if I were a terrorist who wanted to wipe out Jews, I'd plan something impressive for that particular day. But I digress.
He showed a short (3-minute?) video depicting the destruction of the second temple (obviously this is a reconstruction), and asked how we think we would have felt if we were living through it. He got "depressed", "angry", and "scared" out of the class pretty easily, and also a comment about losing faith.
Then he gathered up those papers (remember the papers?), took one, and set it on fire. To drive the point home about how crushing this must have been.
So, in 15 minutes, we had lecture, video, discussion, a class activity, and a "non-traditional" way of making a point, and it all worked. I'd like to see more of what this rabbi has to offer.
He said he was going to talk about Tisha b'Av, since it's timely, but first he wanted to talk a little about something else that's timely: the conflict in the middle east. After a minute or so he mentioned the custom of leaving notes (containing prayers) in the wall in Jerusalem, and then handed out paper and asked us to write whatever prayers felt appropriate as if we were there. (He said no one else would see them.) He collected the folded papers and set them aside.
After writing "Tisha b'Av" on the board in Hebrew and deconstructing it for those who don't know the language, he talked about all the bad things that have happened on that day throughout history -- the destruction of the temple (both times), and more recent events continuing into the 20th century. The latest thing he had was Iraq walking out of talks over Kuwait (IIRC); he asked if that spooked anyone else. A couple people nodded and he asked why, and someone said "makes you wonder what's going to happen on Thursday" (Tisha b'Av this year). Some in the room were thinking of that from a "theology" perspective (what does God have in store for us?); I found myself thinking that Jews aren't the only ones who know about Tisha b'Av and if I were a terrorist who wanted to wipe out Jews, I'd plan something impressive for that particular day. But I digress.
He showed a short (3-minute?) video depicting the destruction of the second temple (obviously this is a reconstruction), and asked how we think we would have felt if we were living through it. He got "depressed", "angry", and "scared" out of the class pretty easily, and also a comment about losing faith.
Then he gathered up those papers (remember the papers?), took one, and set it on fire. To drive the point home about how crushing this must have been.
So, in 15 minutes, we had lecture, video, discussion, a class activity, and a "non-traditional" way of making a point, and it all worked. I'd like to see more of what this rabbi has to offer.
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