One of the dilemmas of chareidi chinuch is how to respond when our children bring home facts that are patently wrong, attitudes with which we cannot agree or statements that morally confound. Sometimes they are matters of hashkafah from a wing or a group that we do not share, at other times a clear misinterpretation of Torah passages or opinions that masquerade as hashkafa but that no one would support. Of course non-chareidim experince these things alsout in the chareidi framework, respect for the authotrity and tradition is the defining values, not to be lighlty tampered with.
Please do not misunderstand. Chareidi chinuch is generally, wholesome, full of meaning and spiritually uplifting. Most mechanchim are committed and self-sacrificing and seek only to teach Torah and to develop their students. There are, of course, bad apples in every bunch but they are, fortunately rare.
However, not all mehanchim are thinkers and some can teach but are not exceptional tamidei chachamim. Sometimes they make mistakes.
There is an argument to be made that every error should be corrected. Chazal advise us to only teach children from a scroll that has been proof-read. This is because, Rovo says, an error (in childhood), once it enters, it enters: in other words, what a child learns at a young age is very difficult to correct later on. (Pesachim 112a). However, like always, one needs to apply this statement in a wise and discriminating manner.
My personal approach is not to take issue with misinterpretations or defensible hashkafic positions. After all, it is more important for our children to trust and respect their rebbeim and receive with confidence what they are imparting than to be "right". It is injurious and short-sighted to leave our kids with a message that their rebbi does not understand something or, worse, is a simpleton who believes in unreasonable things. Young children are not good at making distinctions and older children need certainty and trust to develop spiritually. Disrespect for the carriers of the tradition easily can extend to distrust of all received truth and turn into cynicism and denial. On the other hand, morally unacceptable (racist, unnecessarily exclusionary or insulting ) statements should be rejected with all force.
A friend recently presented me with an a situation that startled me with the sheer beauty of the dilemma. His little son came home from school with a list of the things that happended on Shiva Asar B'Tamuz and that his truly wonderful rebbi, a master educator in all respects, taught him by heart. Among them was that Menashe set up a cross in the mikdash (Temple).
At first, this threw me. After all, the cross as a religious symbol postdates Menashe by some 600 years. On second thought I realized that, in the language of the Mishna in Taanis, Menashe set up a "tseilem bamikdash". This word means "image" in Hebrew but for an Yiddish speaker, it means first and foremost, a "cross". Hence, if you are a native Yiddish speaker and never focused on this word, you may understand that the Mishna is teaching that Menashe set up a cross in the Temple.Lacking historical awareness, this understanding makes plenty of sense. Are not the Christians, Romans, and the Pope is in Rome, the ones who so greviously persecuted the Jews for millenia. They must also somehow be connected to the destruction of the (first) Temple. This appears to be common misreading, by the way. It is not the first time that I heard this translation coming from those who learn in Yiddish.
Should we treat it a simple error, which it, of course is? Or, is it an attitude, and if so, does it call for a correction, or is this attitude of some value for children's chinuch.
I advised him to let it pass; what would you do?
Comments