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<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-top: 0pt;">Apropos my essay on the
topic of Pinocchio as a paradigm of Jewish Education (see
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://aishdas.org/rygb/pinny.htm">http://aishdas.org/rygb/pinny.htm</a>), I have been asked to address the
fundamental statement made by Chazal (Koheles Rabbah 4:15) that is a
core issue in the education of high school age students – viz., that
while one is born with his or her yetzer ho'ra, the yetzer ha'tov
only begins its development at the age of bar or bas mitzvah. The
person who asked me to address the question commented that: "This
assumption has implications for educational practice all across the
board, including before, during and after bar mitzvah age. It works
within a much larger view of moral and religious development that needs
to be worked through, but has the promise of linking in with a much
larger vision of Jewish education. In the world of educational
psychology, the views that have been offered about moral and religious
development have turned out to be insufficiently complex and easily
undermined by empirical research."<br>
<br>
He proceeded to challenge us to achieve a systematic articulation of
this principle. The specific questions he suggested for a more
intensive examination were:<br>
<br>
1. What was the deeper basis for the assumption made in Koheles
Rabbah?<br>
<br>
2. Do Chazal address this issue in greater detail anywhere else?<br>
<br>
3. Is there consensus regarding the age of thirteen?<br>
<br>
4. Were Abraham's theological musings as a child as reported in the
Midrashic literature detached from his moral development or did they
occur after he was thirteen years old?<br>
<br>
5. Is it the same for girls?<br>
<br>
6. What happens at thirteen that makes the yetzer ha'tov come to
life? Is it biological? Is it related to sexual development? Is it
social?<br>
<br>
7. Does it happen all at once?<br>
<br>
8. Are there references or works in the tradition that focus in
depth on the developmental aspects of moral consciousness?<br>
<br>
9. Are there references or works in the tradition that explicate
the educational implications of this view?</p>
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</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-top: 0pt;">Any conversation on
these questions would be very helpful. Thanks!</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-top: 0pt;"><br>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-top: 0pt;">KT,</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-top: 0pt;">YGB<br>
</p>
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