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<DIV><FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" face=Arial color=#000000
size=2>From:
Saul.Z.Newman@kp.org<BR><BR>http://www.beyondbt.com/2009/10/28/dealing-with-a-rebbes-comments-about-dinosaurs/<BR><BR>what
would you tell the BT how to handle , when his kid's rebbe
says <BR>dinosaurs didnt exist......</FONT></DIV><FONT
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<DIV><FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" face=Arial color=#000000
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<DIV>This is what I wrote there in the BeyondBT comments section:</DIV>
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<DIV>I would tell the child that some people agree with his rebbe but other
people do not, and that there are various opinions among rabbanim and talmidei
chachamim about dinosaurs. I wouldn't say it in a way to suggest, "Your
rebbe is an ignoramus" but rather, "Your rebbe is following one opinion, but
there are others." Presumably the child is already familiar with Rashi's
in which two different opinions are cited about this or that, so the idea of
rabbanim with different opinions is not new. </DIV>
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<DIV>You do not want to set up a situation in which a child believes that a
rebbe can never be wrong or that there can never be more than one opinion.
Because when he comes across evidence that his rebbe was wrong or that others
disagree, it may shake his faith in the whole system. He may conclude, not that
the rebbe was wrong, but that the Torah is wrong.</DIV>
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<DIV>Of course these doubts are not likely to be a problem at the age of six but
you need to start with a good foundation so that when he is in his teens he
knows there are various opinions. He also has to know from an early age
that he can ask questions without being an apikores for asking.</DIV>
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<DIV>----</DIV>
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<DIV>What I did not write was an answer to what might be the child's next
question: "But what do /you/ think? Do /you/ agree with my
rebbe?" My answer to that question would be, "No, I follow the opinion of
other rabbanim who think that dinosaurs really did exist." I would be very
careful to modulate my tone of voice so as not to suggest any hint of disrespect
or disdain for the rebbe. Any such disdain that I might feel would be
saved strictly for adult company, in, for example, the next issue of
Avodah.</DIV>
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<DIV><FONT lang=0 face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2 FAMILY="SANSSERIF"
PTSIZE="10"><BR><B>--Toby Katz<BR>==========<BR></B></FONT></DIV></DIV>
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