Teaching Hebrew Through Value-Concepts Theodore Steinberg*
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5. The Teacher A very special kind of teacher is required for teaching Jewish values. This is not a subject that can be taught by anyone, and while many of today's educators are adequate for some tasks — teaching Jewish values is not one of them. At least four necessary qualities should characterize teachers of Jewish values. Educators must: a) have access to Jewish sources; b) believe in and live a distinctive Jewish value life; c) exemplify a valuing person, concerned with developing this process in the young; and d) love children, and not regard them as creatures to be tamed, babies to be sat for, or passive clay to be formed. Teachers of values must see them in Yehuda Amichai's terms "as something else" — as unique beings upon whom "God has had great mercy". 6. The Value Community Jewish values education cannot take place in a vacuum; it is not something that happens only in the classroom. The home, school, synagogue, Jewish community center, local federation and the entire community should be kehillot kodesh — holy communities that live by Jewish values. From much educational theory, and many years of educational practice, one concludes that any attempt to teach Jewish values in a classroom is trite and worthless if the Jewish community of which we are part is not prepared to be a living embodiment of the virtues that we propose to teach. • <• • O O Teaching Hebrew Through Value-Concepts Theodore Steinberg* o pupil, parent, and teacher alike, the part-time, afternoon Hebrew school is a problematic undertaking. The major critique of that institution is that Tchildren who pass through its program for the usual five or six years often emerge with a poor grounding in Jewish knowledge, and a nebulous Jewish self-image. A secondary criticism, notwithstanding the school's appellation as "Hebrew school", is the "graduates'" ignorance of the Hebrew language. The reasons for this are many, in part cultural, in part pedagogic. With English having become the international lingua franca, secondary language acquisition * The author is an American rabbi residing in Jerusalem who wrote his doctorate on Max Kadushln's value concepts. 90 has ceased to be a serious academic requirement in the United States. Hebrew in particular is not only a difficult language with a strange alphabet, but is the tongue of a relatively small nation in the Land of Israel. There simply are not sufficient social, cultural, or economic advantages to be gained by mastering Hebrew. Ironically, Israelis have been absorbing more and more English into their daily vocabulary. In many Jerusalem neighborhoods, almost every tree and bus stop has a notice posted offering private English lessons. Just recently, the Ministry of Education recommended that a dozen high schools should, as an experiment, teach some courses in English in order to help students from disadvantaged communities master the language more readily. This directive was withdrawn, at least temporarily, because of intense opposition from loyal Hebraists. Still, the mere fact that it was considered by the Ministry of Education testifies to the high regard in which English competency is held. If most American Jews are generally ignorant of Hebrew, this should not be equated with indifference to the universe of Hebrew literature. A casual visit to any well-stocked bookstore in the United States will reveal the extraordinary proliferation of English translations of Hebrew books which have become avail• able in recent years. It is now possible for a serious amateur or non-specialist scholar to delve into the most abstruse Hebrew works, from the Talmud to medieval philosophy, Bible commentaries and kabbalastic texts — not to speak of contemporary Israeli literature — all of which are readily available in first- rate, readable translations. Why, then, are we so doggedly persistent in trying to teach Hebrew to American children? The answer is partly sentimental, partly religious, lots of stubbornness, and a deep feeling for Hebrew's role as the historical and sacred idiom of Judaism, as well as its remarkable revival as the everyday language of modern Israel. SYNAGOGUE AND BAR/BAT MITZVAH HEBREW As the language of the Bible and especially its function in the liturgy of the synagogue, Hebrew retains a significant degree of sentimental importance for many diaspora Jews. The need to master enough skill to read the prayers of the siddur has been generally accepted as a worthwhile goal by parents who make the effort and accept the expense and bother to send their children to an afternoon Hebrew school. The motivation of Bar/Bat Mitzvah usually gets youngsters into the classroom at a relatively early age. Nonetheless, Hebrew, as meaningful language, has rarely succeeded in the afternoon supplementary school. The most serious hindrance to effective Hebrew language teaching is the reality of severely limited instructional time. Language teaching requires many 91 hours, and there simply is not enough time in the afternoon to instruct children in the Hebrew language along with other vital subjects such as history and tradition. Educators regard 1500-2000 hours, spread over two or three years, as the bare minimum needed to learn the basics of a foreign language, especially one that pupils are not likely to use or encounter outside the classroom. This is not an achievable goal in the afternoon Hebrew school where, under the most ideal conditions, the average class meets for six hours per week, forty weeks per year, over six years, amounting to a total class time of about 1440 hours. Much of this time is necessarily devoted to subjects such as rites and customs, Jewish concepts, holidays, prayer, Jewish history, etc. Even though Hebrew words enter into these studies, the hours for direct and intensive language instruction are minimal. Additional class time will inevitably be lost to holiday programs, bad weather, school assemblies, etc. Realistically, therefore, the actual instructional time for Hebrew language teaching shrinks down to a total of approximately 600-700 hours spread over a half dozen years. The conclusion is inescapable: Hebrew as a functional language cannot be taught in the afternoon school! The supplementary school must be encouraged to do what it can most effectively — and that is to teach a limited kind of Hebrew. This should include rote-reading and writing, and a knowledge of prayerbook Hebrew, for the synagogue is the only "natural" Hebrew environment that most students will encounter with any degree of frequency and familiarity. Most importantly, the Hebrew curriculum should include the intensive study and use of several hundred Hebrew words and phrases that express classical Jewish concepts and values. The radical change being proposed here would be systematically introduced during the last two years of Hebrew school. The primary stress would be on Judaism's classical value-oriented vocabulary, teaching words such as tzedakah, hesed, zehut avot, rahamim (rahaman), galut and net. The child should not only learn what the words mean, but be taught and encouraged to use them in the context of daily English conversation in the Hebrew school, at home, and wherever appropriate. These valuational terms not only express authentic and relevant Jewish ideas, but have the latent power to shape and reinforce the pupil's sense of Jewish identity. MAX KADUSHIN'S VALUE-CONCEPTS This approach flows out of the research and findings of the late Max Kadushin, a rabbi, educator and Jewish Theological Seminary professor, who spent his schol• arly career studying the intricacies of Jewish valuational thought as expressed in rabbinic literature. Several of his ideas are especially suited to Jewish education and, specifically, to the teaching of Hebrew words and phrases that convey 92 distinct Jewish values. Kadushin found that certain words and phrases which appear frequently in Hebrew literature convey important ideas, yet cannot be defined precisely because they show a wide range of abstract meaning rather than a precise, single definition.1 The literal meaning of derekh eretz, for example, is "way of the land", but the phrase, as used in Jewish literature, refers to a set of moral concepts ranging from statements of practical wisdom and simple good manners, to ethical issues such as honesty and trustworthiness. Similarly, the well-known term tzedakah connotes variously justice, charity, and benevolent love for another person. Arayot (or gillui arayot) deals with sexual matters and especially forbidden sexual relationships. Kadushin identified some 200 such terms, and designated them as "value- concepts" because each appears to possess two distinctive characteristics: It functions as an abstract "concept" with a communicable range of meaning; at the same time, the term also serves as a "value" which is personal, subjectively felt and experienced, and thus capable of influencing character and personality. The term tzedakah, for example, is not only an idea with cognitive content, but possesses an affective power that can touch and shape a person's behavior and life outlook. Conceptual value terms are especially useful as educational instruments because they are not only expressed in Hebrew noun forms, but have additional traits: Each possesses what Kadushin called a "drive towards concretization or actualization". By this he meant that the value term does not function merely as an interesting, or even admirable, idea, but is a concept that is intended and "desires", as it were, to be used and applied. Thus, a person who uses terms such as derekh eretz, or kibbud av ve'em, and holds them as personal values, is likely to act in accordance with their respective mandates. The principle sources through which rabbinic concepts have been actualized are aggadah (legend) and halakhah (law). In the former, they are given literary form, often in vivid, colorful stories. The halakhah, however, is the more powerful form of concretization, for here value-concepts are transformed into actual deeds.