“RABBI’S MUSINGS (& AMUSINGS)”
Erev Shabbos Kodesh parshas Noach
2 MarCheshvan 5782/October 8, 2021
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לרפואה שלימה נטע יצחק בן רחל
BLISSFUL LITERACY
If
ignorance is bliss, illiteracy can be beneficial.
It was
the final Friday of the past summer’s camping season. I was in our bungalow in
Camp Dora Golding looking at a calendar when I realized that Shabbos would be
our twins - Gavriel and Michael’s - fifth Hebrew birthday. Generally, we
celebrate our children’s English birthdays for the simple reason that we
remember those (at least the rest of my family does. I’m lucky if I remember
all of my children’s names….). But I made the mistake of announcing that it was
their birthday in their presence. They excitedly asked what we were doing to
celebrate their birthday. My wife shot me an annoyed glare and asked me why I
had to say anything.
On
Shabbos morning the following day, camp’s director and First Lady - Alex and
Chanie Gold hosted their annual hakaras hatov kiddush, in appreciation of the
devotion and efforts of the camp administrators and their families throughout
the summer. All camp families attended the gala kiddush presented by Chef Yosef
Oldak, which included an impressive assortment of meat, kugels, herring and
sushi platters (for those who like that stuff…), endless candy, and cookies
that had the Camp Dora Golding logo on them.
When our
family arrived at the kiddush, the twins assumed it was in their honor and were
very excited. We weren’t about to tell them otherwise.
I
approached Alex and asked him if he could give a happy birthday shout out to
the twins at the end of his speech. He graciously agreed. He did even better.
At the end of his warm message of gratitude to the assemblage, he asked “where
is Gavriel and Michoel Staum?” The two of them looked up surprisedly from their
plates of candy and cups of soda and raised their hands. Alex called them over
and told them that because it’s their birthday they each get another cookie.
The
twins assumed that the words on the cookies read “Happy Birthday Gavriel and
Michoel”. They were delighted to add the extra cookies to their overflowing
loot of nosh.
We
thanked Alex for helping us with our birthday dilemma, allowing the twins to
feel special without it costing us a penny. He jokingly replied that he was a
sending us a bill for half the kiddush.
Of
course, we want our children to learn to read and write. There is a beautiful
excitement generated as they begin to recognize letters, and even more so, when
they are able to read words. But, until that time, we can take advantage of
their illiteracy.
More
recently, our daughter Aviva got her driving permit. During the days prior,
while she was studying for the exam, whenever I was driving and she was in the
car, she would announce what each sign we passed meant. The entire trip I heard
“stop, yield, left turn ahead, traffic light ahead, speed limit 30, two way
traffic, dead end, pedestrian crossing, etc. It was worse than having a cop
driving behind me.
Those
signs had been there for years, but she had never paid much attention to them
because they didn’t mean much to her. But now that she needed to know what each
one meant she paid careful attention to ensure she understood their message.
At the
beginning of each year, when I hand my wide-eyed, overwhelmed freshman students
the gemaras they will be using for the year, there is a palpable feeling of
nervousness. I tell them that now the words in their new gemaras look like they
are in a foreign language (to be fair, they are written in a foreign language.
But I mean even more foreign than a chumash or mishnayos). Our goal is that
over the course of the year, they will invest in their learning, and repeatedly
review the words of the gemara until they become fluent and comfortable with
them. That includes marking up their gemaras with punctuation, translation of
hard words, and other brief notes. If they do so, they will discover that they
will become very attached to their gemaras, until it feels like a dear friend.
They will invariably feel a deep sense of mastery, pride and love for the
volume whose words once seemed so alien to them.
I also
tell my students that there is a certain majestic beauty seeing a yeshiva
bochur walking in the street clutching his gemara. Just as he takes his
tefillin with him whenever he goes away overnight, if he develops a true
connection with his gemara, he will want to take it with him as well.
On
Simchas Torah many Yeshiva bochurim dance while grasping the gemaras that they
use every day. There is an unparalleled pride in the feeling of connection to
Torah and Hashem which results from investment and diligence.
I write
this from the vantage point of a rebbe of boys because that’s what I have the
great zechus to be. But the same is true for a girl who invests in her Torah studies
and tefillah.
Davening
is a particular challenge for many of us (especially our youth) because the
words are so foreign. But one who tries to understand the timeless words of
tefillah will begin to recognize the incredible tapestry and depth that are to
be found in the words of the Siddur.
May we
all become spiritually literate and discover the great sweetness of connection to
Torah and Tefillah.
Shabbat
Shalom & Good Shabbos
R’ Dani and Chani Staum