“These are the words that Moshe addressed to all of [the
Children of] Israel across the Jordan, in the wilderness, on the Arava plain
facing Suf, between Poron and Tofel, and Lovon and Chatzeiros and Di Zohov.”
~ Devarim 1:1
Rashi notes that the place names in this verse do not
correspond to the location of the Israelite camp when the Book of BaMidbar
(Numbers) ended, when they were encamped in the plains of Moav. Additionally,
some of the place names (such as Tofel and Lovon) appear nowhere else in
Scripture. Rashi concludes that these geographic identifiers actually serve as
coded rebukes of the Jews for previous bad behavior – “in the wilderness”
alludes to the episodes when the Jews grumbled against God in the desert,
“Facing Suf” hints at the complaints of the Jews as the Egyptian army
approached them by the Yom Suf (Red Sea), Tofel and Lovon are plays on Hebrew
words to intimate the Jews’ malicious criticisms of the manna (which was white,
lovon), and so on.
As a teacher, I interpret Moshe Rabbeinu’s struggles with
the Jewish people by considering his role as our preeminent teacher. He was
given a lesson plan to follow – food and water regularly provided by acts of
Divine kindness, miracles such as the splitting of the Red Sea and tremendous
military victories to demonstrate God’s benevolence, and an all-encompassing
code of laws to guide the people’s daily lives. It was a comprehensive,
all-encompassing lesson plan. Yet, as we know from reading Shemos, VaYikra, and
BaMidbar, the students continuously rebelled.
It took tremendous patience and sensitivity of a man of
Moshe’s stature to reason with the Jewish people, recognize and accept their
shortcomings, and (at times) persuade God not to obliterate them. All teachers
would be well served by reading this week’s parsha carefully, to be reminded
that even history’s most masterful teacher faced frequent complaints and
serious challenges to his lesson plan; we should expect no less.
It would do us all a lot of good to remind ourselves of role
models to teaching success, who reflect Moshe Rabbeinu’s skills and resilience.
For me, one such role model was Mrs. Chaya Newman – the principal of Bruriah
High School for Girls (and my boss) for over three decades. Like Moshe, she
faced complaints from all quarters – students, teachers, parents, and other
administrators. I used to marvel at her ability to wade through and sift the
complaints, to determine which were legitimate concerns and which were not. She
must have read Parshas Devarim many times.
Guest posting by
Joel Glazer
Author of “It Happened in my Classroom”
Social Studies teacher in Bruriah High School for Girls
1 Av 5773
July 8, 2013
No comments:
Post a Comment