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<DIV>Dear Friends,</DIV>
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<DIV>In response to Daniel Eidenson's query about how we promote Teshuvah to our
youth and Baalei Teshuvah, I have attached the text of a talk I delivered
to youth directors in preparation for the Yamim Noraim. I hope it is of interest
to some. All feedback greatly appreciated.</DIV>
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<DIV>Johnny Solomon</DIV>
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<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>The high Holy Days are by their nature misunderstood. They are high –
unreachable to all but a few, and supposedly holy – although no student or
teacher or philosopher has ever been able to define this word meaningfully to
me. This confusion regarding the nature of these days means that the youth we
encounter in our synagogues, as well as pretty much everyone else in shul, come
with baggage, and generally the wrong type of baggage. <BR>Our generation are
not the first to misunderstand the nature of Rosh Hashana. We find in Sefer
Nechemiah (8:10) that on Rosh Hashana, Ezra read the Torah to the people, who
responded by mourning and weeping. His response, with Nechemiah and the Leviim,
was "Go your way, eat fat foods, and drink sweet beverages, and send portions to
them for whom nothing is prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord; do not
grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength."</DIV>
<DIV>Some Mefarshim say that the reason they cried was because the curses from
the Torah were being read, and this made the people realise how much they had
sinned. However, according to the Malbim, the regular Rosh Hashana Torah reading
was read. Only when hearing this did the people even realise that it was Rosh
Hashana! Like many of the youth we encounter in shul, it did not hit the people
that Rosh Hashana was coming until that very day. The people immediately reacted
– they started to cry. They wanted to fast. They realised that this was a once a
year opportunity that was soon going to pass. However, Ezra and Nechemiah
responded by stating “Go your way, eat fat foods, and drink sweet beverages
etc.” What the Malbim implies is that when you have the ‘infrequent fliers’ –
those Jews who only realise the enormity of Rosh Hashana on Rosh Hashana (which
I think describes the majority of the kind of kids we encounter), don’t let them
mess about with the heavy stuff that takes serious preparation. Such a Jew does
not have the stamina to<BR>revisit their wrongdoings. Instead, all that kind of
Jew has is their faith and their desire to do something positive. In my opinion,
we have a responsibility to actualise this desire. Such a Jew can achieve more
by doing acts of chessed such as sending “portions to them for whom nothing is
prepared” than dwelling on their<BR>past misdeeds. <BR>This idea reminds me of
one of the most famous Talmudic debates (Eruvin 13b) between Beit Hillel and
Beit Shammai…"For two and a half years were Beth Shammai and Beth Hillel in
dispute, the former asserting that it was better for man not to have been
created than to have been created, and the latter maintaining that it is better
for man to have been created than not to have been created. They finally took a
vote and decided that it were better for man not to have been created than to
have been created, but now that he has been created, let him investigate his
past deeds (y'fasfes) or, as others say, let him examine his future actions
(y'mashmesh).<BR>What’s the difference between the two final opinions? Somebody
with time to reflect, who makes time to reflect, who prepares for days such as
Rosh Hashana should rather investigate their past misdeeds as that Rambam
demands of us. However, like the people listening to Ezra, and like our kids,
their limited time deliberating spiritual ideas should focus more on their
future actions. That is, not what they have done, but<BR>what they can be.</DIV>
<DIV>What we have just done, whether or not you realise it, is define our goal
and the goal of our kids during these busy and complex days.<BR>So, how can we
make our activities productive in formulating and planning the future spiritual
activities of our students post Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur?<BR>There is an
important idea in teaching. Something you might all know but you might not have
considered far enough. This is that theory of multiple intelligences. That is,
we all learn differently; our brains are more effective with more individualized
teaching to our learning style. Rav Kook, reflecting on this idea, noted in his
Orot HaTorah (9:6) "There were those that went off the path of the Torah because
they rebelled against a method of learning which ran counter to their unique
individual nature". That is, unless we recognise the individual needs of the
youth we encounter, we can actually have a negative effect on their Jewish
education.</DIV>
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