On God Judaism and Education
Copyright 2009
It is so interesting to read of our common history and experience and to see the sometimes subtle sometimes stark differences in their impacts on us.
Unlike Phil, I actually liked the Jewish education and don?t remember too much translation. I remember we had one Jewish history lesson each week which was not terribly interesting but should have been. In Form I, I even enjoyed grammar ? who remembers Weingreen. It revealed to me the very logical structure of the Hebrew language and certainly facilitated my eventual learning of the spoken word in Israel. I remember getting to Israel on Ulpan and being amazed at what poor grammar Israelis spoke. Of course this is natural ? and is commonplace amongst native speakers. And on my return, I loved Hebrew (having Noya didn?t hurt) but the focus was on speaking and reading modern (well more modern) stuff like Shalom Layish.
My criticism of Jewish day schools in Australia, as witnessed through the experiences of my daughters, is that there was too much focus on religious teaching and not enough on the spoken word.
Like Philip, my family planned an overseas trip during the last part of 1967 and I was keen to accompany them. One of the attractions was to be an opportunity to meet the Italian family who had rescued my father while on the run as an escaped prisoner of war. However, and here I have to express gratitude to Norm, this was not to be. About three weeks before the group was to leave, he summoned me out of a Tony Dinner drama period (?Look back in Anger??) lesson and demanded to know why I was not going on the Ulpan. I explained that I preferred to go with my parents. He told me it was time to ?break the umbilical cord? and that I should think again. Of course I did and I am glad.
Phil, I am fascinated by your statement of faith and your daily prayer. I admire spirituality though I don?t really understand it. Perhaps I am too much of a philosophical materialist, of the belief that there is matter and the rest we invent for our own comfort. Even so, this makes it a very positive thing. But when I read the writings of Naomi Pollak about her studies, Eric with his Jewish expressions, Stan Seeff and his commitment to the community, Ash and his focus on ethics, Michelle with her command of Hebrew, now Phil and so many more of you, I see that the school did sow the seeds of a love of matters Jewish that have flowered enormously.
To the discomfort of some of my friends and perhaps to the amazement of myself, my atheism and interest in Judaism sit comfortably along side each other. I too have fasted on Yom Kippur since my barmtitzvah but until about four years ago, this was best explained by the fact that I am married to a girl (I still see her as a girl) from a religious family and this was the least I could do. But then I met Rabbi Richie Moss and I can say that having attended his Yom Kippur service the past four years, it has become an inspiring and uplifting day. The spirit is a positive one. The theme of favourable inscription for the coming year is re-enforced throughout the day. What resonance could this possibly have for a non-believer? Well, it depends how you interpet the message. I treat it as one of motivation, one that renews the spirit and infuses me with optimism and energy.
I do have one beef with the Hebrew/Jewish education we received, one that I have discussed with Terry. Was it too much to ask a Jewish school for a more balanced exposure to the facts surrounding the birth of the State of Israel? It would be years before my own readings and research would show me that there were degrees of victimhood and victimisation on both sides. To reveal this at school would not have compromised our acceptance of the moral and political right of Israel to exist, nor diminished the ardour that we see on these pages. I wonder how the Lebanese and Gaza hostilities were treated at the school in the modern era. Well I don?t really.