posted
As some of you may know, the night of Shavuot (this Sunday night, preceding Monday - which is the holiday of Shavuot) is a night where there's a custom among Jews not to sleep and learn Torah the whole night. Then you've got those brilliant yet exhausting morning-prayers, but that's a seperate issue.
I was asked by Dr Elie Holzer (who practically runs the Schule) to teach 14-16 year-olds something. I thought originally that he had a topic in mind and was just placing upon me the task of merely passing the lesson. However, it seems like they had a special newsletter to show that the congregation is happy to announce that I (a non-member) am about to teach a lesson for the young and the youngly-spirited - where I basically started it from scratch (title, ideas, sources, whatever you want). It's a cool thing, but I have one hour to teach people my age about Torah. Teens today can sometimes be a little rough on the teachers...
And so I have a title: "פתירת סטריאוטיפים: כיצד נתקבלה רות לתוך עדת ישראל והשלכות לימינו", or in English - "Solving Stereotypes: How Ruth was accepted into Adat Yisrael [the community of Israel] and applications to our day". I will discuss how Deuteronomy 23:4-7 ("a Moabite and an Ammonite shall not come with in the populace of God, even a tenth generation will not come to them, the populace of God, for ever") gets in trouble with Ruth and her story.
I will discuss stereotyps within the Torah and the Talmud (Gemarra) and will try to show how these things are solvd. Staying on course, though (and not gtting carried away) is a thesis I can complete in 5 minutes. I need to encourage people with interesting Biblical stuff and show the many levels that there are. Unfortunately, I have very little analytical tols whn it comes to understanding texts from the later parts of the Bible (in the Greek reset of the Bible books were arranged chronologically, in Jewish writings it's according to the time written, and according to the Gemarra - so Ruth is late on).
You people have interesting ideas, and I'm a little in danger of making the lesson boring. This isn't a fascinating 3-minute speech about Louis Carrol's books where I compare the illustrations with the teacher, it's a serious lesson about how we solve stereotypes and their implications, relating to Ruth.
Jonathan Howard
Posts: 358 | Registered: May 2005
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I did. Now I want to know if anyone has ideas that I missed. But don't even think for a single minute I didn't go researching several books (hundreds of years old in some cases); some of them are about as easy to read as it is to read Chaucer had he dropped out two of three words, eliminated anything that could aid you in understanding syntax, tried desperately to cause ambiguous confusion, had debates with himself in his poems, and had tried to write in Ancient Persian.
Don't start telling me I haven't done my homework.
posted
I have no input on the subject matter- but some general teaching hints- more for teaching in church settings.
Think of teaching as a 60/40 proposition. If you're talking more than 60% of the time, chances are your students have tuned out. I think this is especially true for teaching in church settings.
Ask lots of questions. Let them read quotes or excerpts and then have them explain what they've just read.
Make this something applicable to them. How can they take the information that you're teaching them and apply it to their lives?
I think one of the most valuable pieces of advice given me about teaching is that teaching should focus less on imparting what you (the teacher) know and focus more on helping your students gain and develop their own desires for seeking knowledge and inspiration.
Good luck! I wish you well on your lesson!
Posts: 862 | Registered: Oct 2003
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posted
Glynn is being a jerk to a (relative) newbie. He always has been, and he always will be. He's actually a nice guy when you become "human" to him. This usually takes at least a year of being on the forum.
In the meantime, I'm getting pretty sick of calling him out on his BS.
Posts: 5656 | Registered: Oct 1999
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posted
Actually, that was meant as a joke to those who knew me in my first year at Hatrack. That used to be my thing.
Posts: 4753 | Registered: May 2002
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quote:Actually, that was meant as a joke to those who knew me in my first year at Hatrack. That used to be my thing.
Yes it "used to be your thing" and I said to stop doing it about once a week back then.
But not explaining it was a joke to the person you are saying it too, makes it you still being a jerk.
Posts: 5656 | Registered: Oct 1999
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I just don't like seeing new people get hostile reactions here (that they don't deserve). I still remember how scary it was to join in. Plus I am always a newbie at one forum or another, and end up getting flamed myself sometimes.
This place is my home, and I try to keep it a nice place to stop by .
Posts: 5656 | Registered: Oct 1999
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posted
So are you planning to discuss the difference between a מואבי and a מואבית? The significance of David coming of a controversial lineage? The additional complication of יבום/חליצה?
Have you looked at the articles on Aish? How about torah.org? Listened to related lectures from 613.org?
Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003
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