A New Look at the Wicked Son

Last spring, at Orot's staff Shabbat in Naharia, I heard a wonderful thought about the Rasha - the wicked son - from Rav Ze'ev Hass, an instructor at Orot. For parents and educators, we find the Wicked Son the most challenging of children. First of all, what parent would even label her child as "wicked"?

רשע מה הוא אומר? 'מה העבודה הזאת לכם?' - ולא לו. ולפי שהוציא עצמו מן הכלל וכפר בעיקר, אף אתה הקהה את שיניו, ואמור לו: 'בעבור זה עשה ה' לי בצאתי ממצרים' - לי ולא לך, אילו היית שם לא היית נגאל! 

What does the Wicked Son say? "What is this worship for you?" - and not for him. And because he excluded himself, he has rejected a founding principle. You too must blunt his teeth and say to him, "For this God did for me when I left Egypt." For me and not for him. Had you been there, you would not have been redeemed.

The Questions 
We all well know the questions regarding the Rasha. At face value, his question really isn't that difficult: מה העבודה הזאת לכם - "what is this worship of yours?" His question is so similar to the question of the Wise Son that we are left to wonder why we react to him in such a seemingly harsh manner, and to the Wise Son with such love and care. Secondly, as soon as he stops speaking, we stop talking to him, and start talking about him - in third person. Only then do we return to speaking to him to deliver our harsh response. Finally, the answer that the Hagadah provides to the Rasha should trouble us. Blunt his teeth? Tell him that he would still be in Egypt? When has that worked on a child?
 

Not an Only Child Rav Hass suggested an answer by considering the "Wicked Son" not in a vacuum, but in contrast to his brother - the Wise Son. Imagine this son growing up, constantly trying to compete with his older, "perfect" brother. (This phenomenon isn't that unusual.) The oldest is often the most accomplished - intellectually, physically, educationally. Imagine how his brother feels when he's the one in school whose teachers always say, "Are you the Chacham's brother?" (As much as we ask teachers not to say things like that, somehow they still do...) How about at report card time, when he invetiably compares his grades to his "perfect" brother's? It's not hard to imagine him thinking that he can never really live up to the standard his brother set for him, so why bother?

The "Wicked Son" in our Schools

If you've ever taught in a school that tracks students by ability, you can see this phenomenon outright. It doesn't matter how you label the classes: "A1, A2, A3"; "Masmidim, Lomdim" - whatever you call them, the students in the bottom class know that they're the "dummy" class, and they'll say so outright. Oh - they'll do something else as well. They'll stop trying. After all, if their very own school calls them idiots, then why should they even bother trying to disprove them? (It's a good question that schools constantly struggle with: how do you establish an environment that allows excellent students to grow without labeling the others as inferior?) That's our "Rasha". If he can't compete with his brother - and he can't - then why bother. So he begins to act out. We don't believe that children are inherently wicked. But he acts wickedly. His behavior certainly is bad, manifesting an attitude of apathy and indifference. And so he asks his question: "What is this worship of yours?" Why should I bother if I'll never measure up?

The Unique Nature of the Jewish Nation

Chazal teach us that at the time of the Exodux, the Jewish people found themselves in the depths of spiritual depravity and degradation. In the words of the Midrash, they had reached the 49th level of impurity, as far down as one can possibly descend and yet repent and return. What if they had adopted the attitude of the wicked son. Had the Jewish nation given up, the Exodus would never have taken place. This, explains Rav Hass, is the concept of the "Chosen Nation"; the unique quality of the Jewish people that we contain within us a spiritual spark which can, and ultimately must propel us to improve, grow and acheive spiritual greatness. This is an eternal "rule" of the Jewish people. Even if we ourselves cannot see the great potential within us, God can. He will redeem us and nurture us in order to draw out the spark of holiness that we all contain. This inherent Jewish inherent quality will never change. And yet, it's the very notion that the Wicked Son rejects. So we say not to the Rasha - but about him, that if his apathetic attitude had been in Egypt, then he and the rest of us would never have been redeemed. Change can only come about when you believe in yourself and see not only your shortcomings, but the great potential within you to grow.

The Solution: Show Him the Truth For this reason, we are instructed specifically to "blunt" his teeth (and not knock them out). Rav Hass noted a fascinating truth about God's creations: the more sophisticated and advanced a being is, the more primitive it is at birth. Think about it: animals are expected to get up and walk on their own moments after being born. Human beings, on the other hand, enter the world helpless, unable to care for themselves in even the most simple manner. We require nurturing, care and attention for years before we can take the necessary steps to care for ourselves, and then hopefully, our children. Nothing symbolizes this idea better than our teeth. We're born without them, and as we grow, our teeth grow, symbolizing our development and maturity. (Baby teeth --> adult teeth --> wisdom teeth). So, when addressing the Rasha's attitude of indifference, we tell him to look at his teeth. Does he really think that he was supposed to be born with a mouth full of teeth? Why then should he necessarily have to live up to the Chacham from the very beginning? Just as his teeth will grow and sharpen, so too will he develop, grow and become the person that he was meant to be.

"Our" Rasha

No parent today would label her child a "Rasha." (God forbid!) And yet, every parent and teacher knows which child feels inferior; that he cannot keep up with the stronger kids, and would rather not bother. Our task must be to instill in our children a sense of potential. We must help them sharper their teeth (ושננתם לבניך - from the word שן - see Rashi) to the point that they too have a sense of confidence in their unique abilities. Like the Jewish nation, every child has that spark. It's up to us to help it emerge - to bring each and every child the personal redemption he or she can and must achieve.

Orot Israel College Students Attend Prestigious Academic Conference

by Dr. Avia Guttman  

Head, Special Education Department, Orot Israel College

On Monday, 25 Tevet 5773 (January 7, 2013), students from Orot Israel College’s special education department attended an important academic conference at Bar Ilan University in honor of Israel Prize laureate Professor Reuven Feuerstein’s 91^st birthday. Entitled “Cognitive Education, Modifiability, Learning, the Brain, and Everything in Between,” the conference was a joint undertaking of Bar Ilan’s School of Education and the Israel Association for Cognitive Education. After a number of distinguished academics – including Professor Zemira Mevarech, Dean of Bar Ilan’s Faculty of Social Sciences; Israel Prize laureate Professor Penina Klein of Bar Ilan’s School of Education; Professor Hephzibah Lifshitz, President of the Israel Association for Cognitive Education; and others – greeted the conference’s participants, the two keynote speakers took to the podium. Professor David Tzuriel, an internationally-renowned expert on dynamic assessment, spoke about “Mediated Learning and Cognitive Modifiability,” and Professor Moshe Bar, the director of Bar Ilan’s Multidisciplinary Brain Research Center, gave a talk entitled “To Learn and to Remember: The Human Brain from Infancy to Old Age.” Next, the participants were invited to choose from an exciting array of simultaneous symposiums, which focused on cognitive education’s real life applications. The symposiums were delivered by lecturers from different Israeli universities. Orot Israel College was represented by Dr. Avia Guttmann, head of our special education department, who chaired a symposium and delivered one of the lectures. Finally, Professor Feuerstein himself took to the stage and delighted the participants with his talk, which was entitled “Structural Cognitive Modifiability and the Brain’s Neuroplasticity.” Professor Feuerstein demonstrated how learning and repetition can even have an effect on the brains of individuals with impaired cognitive functioning. Later, the students thanked Orot’s administration for allowing them to participate in this prestigious conference. In particular, the students enjoyed meeting the world-famous authors of the books and articles they had encountered during the course of their studies at Orot. The students were also grateful that they had been privileged to witness academia at its best and said that they hoped they would have the opportunity to take part in additional conferences and colloquiums.

Orot Israel College Students Awarded For Serving as Youth Mentors

by Nati Fried – Dean of Students, 
Orot Israel College, Rechovot Campus 

Two talented Orot Israel College students were recently recognized for their work as student mentors in the Perach National Mentoring Program during the 5772 school year. On Chanukah, second-year student Ezra Avraham received the country’s top prize at a gala ceremony at Yerushalayim’s Begin House, and third-year student Oshri Cohen received an award for his efforts in the central region at Bar Ilan University. 

Perach has had an active presence at Orot's Rechovot campus for the past twenty five years. Nearly 60% of our fulltime students participate in this important program, which helps prepare them for careers in education.

Ezra Avraham, who is currently serving in the IDF as part of his studies at Yeshivat Hesder Orot Yaakov, spent last year mentoring a third grader, who was faced with various educational and social challenges. Initially, Ezra focused on helping the boy with his homework and playing soccer with him. However, after consulting with Perach’s professional staff, Ezra was able to expand his focus to education and teaching life skills. 

By the end of the year, Ezra’s young charge had undergone a dramatic change. Not only was he able to open up and moderate his behavior, but he had acquired new skills and interests. Moreover, the Perach coordinator stated that over the course of the year, Ezra himself had developed into a mature and more assertive young man. In fact, Ezra added that serving as a mentor had helped him learn more about himself and his own personality. 

Oshri Cohen, who is of Ethiopian descent, spent last year mentoring a bright, motivated boy from a lower socioeconomic neighborhood. Over the course of the year, Oshri helped the boy with his schoolwork, exposed him to new and positive interests, and encouraged him to make new friends. Throughout the process, Oshri maintained close contact with the boy’s homeroom teacher and parents, who were greatly appreciative of Oshri’s efforts. 

Fittingly, the award citation referred to Oshri as “a mentor with the soul of an educator” and as “an excellent role model.”

The Greatest Jewish Generation

I'm not bashful at shiva houses. After years paying shiva calls as a shul rabbi, I no longer beat around the bush. I'm not there to talk about politics or neighborhood issues. So I sit myself down as close as I can to the aveil and simply say, "Tell me about your mother."
And they always want to do exactly that. And sometimes I find myself in awe of what I learn. Take yesterday.
Last week, I received an email from Orot about the passing of Mrs. Sarah Lev, the mother of Mrs. Shoshana Feuer, who works in the office of the President of the College, and I paid a Shiva call yesterday afternoon. Nowadays, when an older Israeli passes away my first question is always, "Was she born in Israel?" (After all, so many were not, which leads to fascinating aliyah stories). So, when Shoshana told me that her mother was born in Europe, I wasn't surprised. But what Shoshana told me next moved me greatly. (I didn't write everything down, so I'm sharing from memory.)
Mrs. Lev grew up in Lodz, Poland. As a child, she studied in a Mizrachi school where she learned Hebrew, and even traveled to the United States as a Mizrachi representative to promote the values of Zionism. (I didn't even know that they sent such missions before the War!) When the Holocaust broke out, her entire family moved east – and continued to move east, until they found themselves in a Russian work camp in Siberia, where they remained until the war ended. After the war, she returned with her family westward, and eventually ended up in a camp in Germany, where she met her future husband.
In Germany, she and her husband began to care for a group of some sixty children who were orphaned during the war, many of whom knew nothing about their families. (Later in life, one refused to marry an Ashkenazi girl, for fear that she might somehow be related to him.) She taught the children Hebrew, and together with her husband became their de-facto parents, accompanying them to Israel when they made Aliyah in 1948. While they didn't remain close to all of them, they did remain quite close with a group of them, and many would bring their future husbands and brides to the Levs before getting engaged. During the shiva Shoshana pointed out an elderly-looking gentleman, about seventy years old now and said, "He made aliyah with my mother." Even now, so many years later, he came to honor and remember the only real mother he had ever had.
Thinking about the stories Shoshana told about her mother, I cannot help but find myself in awe of the tremendous suffering that Mrs. Lev and her generation endured on the one hand, and their amazing fortitude and strength on the other. By and large, they didn't talk about how hard things were (and I'm sure things were no picnic when they got to Israel either). They didn't complain. They did what had to be done. And they – their entire generation, built the country that I am blessed to live in today.
In America, we refer to the generation of Americans who fought in World War II as the "greatest generation" for similar reasons. They fought and suffered and endured, and built the country that the United States is today. The same is true of the heroes that fought Israel's wars and defeated the enemies bent on our destruction.
But we don't talk often enough about a different type of greatness; that of the thousands of Sarah Levs, who gave their strength and dedication to helping others because that's what needed to be done; who accepted their lot in life – the tremendous loss and terrible pain – often with tremendous fortitude, and literally built the country and rebuilt the Jewish people on their backs.
That generation is, inevitably, moving from this world to the World to Come. We must remember them, honor them, and cherish them – and commit ourselves to pass on their shlichut and mesirut nefesh for Klal Yisrael to the next generation who did not have the zechut to know them.

Orot Israel College Hosts Storytelling Workshop

Nati Fried 
Dean of Students, Orot Israel College, Rechovot Campus

Throughout the ages, educators have recognized the power of a story. Indeed, storytelling can serve as an ideal solution to a litany of educational and pedagogical challenges, and talented teachers can transform even the most mundane tale into an exciting, suspenseful narrative, which keeps an entire classroom of students riveted to their seats.

However, many teachers are reluctant to try their hands at storytelling. They are afraid they will “ruin” the story because they feel that they do not have adequate acting skills. Thus, on Chanukah, Orot Israel College invited Rav Naftali Fuchs, director of the religious Nedudim Theater Company and a popular educator, to our Rechovot campus.

A graduate of Yeshivat Ateret Kohanim and Orot Israel College, Rav Naftali believes that stories have great educational value and can be used to achieve numerous classroom objectives, such as understanding the material, generating interest in the lesson, handling disciplinary problems, fostering a love of Torah and the mitzvot, and more. In recent years, he has been leading workshops to train teachers in the art of storytelling.

During the course of the fascinating workshop – fittingly entitled “Storytelling and the Power of the Story” - Rav Naftali demonstrated how to tell a story, where to get stories, and how to tailor a story for a young audience. The workshop proved to be a resounding success, and the audience – which largely consisted of teaching interns - walked away with a new appreciation for this classic educational tool.

Orot Israel College Grants Benefits to Wives of IDF Soldiers

By all accounts, “sharing the military burden” will likely be a hot topic in the new Knesset. Meanwhile, some institutions have been working to protect the IDF’s reserve soldiers and their families.

Following a recent meeting held between Orot Israel College’s administration and the student union, Orot students whose spouses are serving in the IDF reserves will now receive the same benefits and accomodations accorded to students in the reserves or on maternity leave. Thus, Orot is set to become one of the few higher education institutions in the country to grant benefits not only to reserve soldiers but also to their wives, who truly “share the burden.”

The list of benefits will include unlimited absences, academic leniencies, extensions on papers and assignments, additional examination dates, assistance with the course material, printing privileges, free photocopying, and more.

“The decision reflects Orot’s educational outlook, which emphasizes the necessity of balancing academics with societal needs,” observes Rav Professor Neria Guttel, President of Orot Israel College. “As a college which serves as a second – and even a primary – home for those who study here, we are constantly working to create a warm, nurturing, and supportive environment, especially for students who are the wives of our elite soldiers, who go out to serve the country imbued with a fear of Heaven and a love of Israel.”

Dean of students Rav Dr. Moshe Rachimi added, “Our guiding rationale as a college is that we were not only charged with focusing on academics, knowledge, and pedagogical training. As part of the college’s policy, we insist that the faculty treat the students with great sensitivity, in accordance with our conviction and desire to set a personal example. We want our students to feel that they are studying in a home which promotes openness and faith alongside a rigorous academic program. I believe that we have to provide a platform that is conducive for success, together with an open, flexible approach – obviously, while correctly adhering to the rules.”

Orot Israel College Student Receives Prestigious Award

At a moving ceremony held recently at the Begin Heritage Center, Yifat Hajbi, an Orot Israel College student and a high school cinema teacher, was awarded the prestigious “Morei HaMei’ah” (literally, “Teachers of the Century”) Exemplary Educators Prize by the Education Ministry’s Religious Education Department. Yifat received the prize in recognition of her work establishing an innovative alumni project at the ulpanah (girls’ religious high school) where she teaches.

Yifat is a third-year student at Orot, where she studies communication and Oral Law, and has been teaching at Ulpanat Zevulun for the past seven years. She founded and runs Midrashat Mekimi, a unique weekly learning program geared for the school’s alumni.

According to the judges, “Hajbi is a beloved teacher who forms a personal bond with most of her students, who see her as a teacher who is available to advise them on every subject.”

Rav Professor Neria Guttel, President of Orot Israel College, noted, “Our Sages compared teachers to the stars in the heavens. Orot Israel College is proud to nurture stars. Yifat Hajbi is a little star who is destined to become a big star. It is a great honor for us that our student earned an award for excellence from the Religious Education Department.”

Yifat said, “I was very happy to hear about the award. It is a great feeling when a teacher is recognized for her efforts and empowered. This type of recognition gives me and other teachers the strength to continue to give of ourselves for the benefit of our students, who are the future generation of Am Yisrael. Particularly today, when the teacher’s stature is often being eroded, these types of initiatives are an appropriate response to continuing this important, holy work with renewed motivation.”