Disjointed Commentary on My Learning...

I had mentioned in an earlier blog that I was going to begin learning Pirkei Avos with someone. Well, she is getting married in a couple of weeks, so, as you can imagine she is quite busy and the timing is wrong. However, another local friend of mine wanted to learn with me so she went and got the book too. Although we have not been able to coordinate our schedules, I started reading the book. In order to help myself make sense of it, I thought I would blog about what I have read so far. I am really not sure where this post will go except for the fact that I will share the things I found interesting.

Any discussion, insight, or commentary is more than welcomed and appreciated.

"Visions of the Fathers" by: Rabbi Abraham Twerski

Introduction
The introduction does just that, introduces what Pirkei Avos is and how it has been looked at over the ages. Pirkei Avos is the most popular tracate of the Talmud. The whole basis of Pirkei Avos is to concentrate on the development of middos (character traits). I liked Twerski's commentary that states, "A human being is born with various talents and propensities, but while some of his makeup is predetermined, how he will use his innate capacities, whether for good or evil, is left totally to bechirah, to one's freedom of choice" (2). I found this quite interesting because I do believe that having choice is a gift from G-d. He gave us the free will to live our lives. Nobody is saying that the guidelines in P.A. are required but that they are to be strived for in order to better one's self. And bettering one's self makes for a healthier total person overall.

Twerski discusses the notion that "Just as the body will develop symptoms when it is deprived of essential nutrients, the vitamins and minerals which are necessary for proper physical functioning,so will our spirit manifest symptoms when we fail to provide the neshamah with its 'nutrients'. The latter are the middos that we are meant to develop" (3). For me this makes total sense. I firmly believe that there are many of us, including myself, who are in need of spiritual nourishment. I believe this is why I am taking on the task of reading the book to begin with. It is very easy to focus on only one or two aspects of life, getting caught up in those, and neglecting other important pieces. For me, it seems quite a task to be consistently working on the spiritual, social, physical, and emotional needs of myself. I suppose if I think hard enough I can say that I am working on the spiritual by reading this book and with the Jewish rituals I try to partake in, socially I try to get together with friends or people from work, even when I don't always feel like it. Physically I need to really work on. I'm thinking I need to wholeheartedly commit to 20 minutes a day of something to nurture my physical self. Emotional work is something I do often, especially being in a new relationship. So, perhaps I do a little to nourish most aspects of my life, but surely not enough.

I think that part of that nourishment comes from the Jewish community at large. I have always been of this belief: that community is a key part of Jewish life. Twerski quotes the Talmud in saying how essential community is and how crucial it is to not isolate one's self from community. This being said, it is quite apporpriate to learn this book with a friend and to attend Shabbat dinners or lunches or what have you in order to maintain a connection with others.

Chapter 1
Chapter One discusses Moses receiving the Torah from G-d and transmitting it to Joshua who then shared it with the Elders who shared with the Prophets...and so on.

What I found interesting is the use of the words receive and transmit. He suggests that a receiver is passive and a transmitter is active. Maybe it is the English student in me that got caught up on the significance of these two words; or perhaps it was the following excerpt that I could relate to and apply in my own life and experiences:

"The teacher-student relationship may be one where the student is so eager to learn that he absorbs [receives] everything the teacher provides. There may be another relationship in which the teacher may have to exert extra effort to convey [transmit] his knowledge to the student. There may be a halfway point, when the efforts of each are relatively equal. It is important for instructors to realize their students' capacities and attitudes, so that they may adapt their teaching methods to maximize the learning process.

For a minute there I swear I thought I was reading a teaching pedagogy book! This explanation makes clear that Moses was a teacher in the truest sense. This part of the chapter goes on to say that as major changes occur in the learning process, the methods in which we teach must also change; in this case the way in which teaching Torah must change throughout the ages. He explains how this is partially why the Torah academies became so popular and mainstream during the 18th and 19th centuries and why, after the Holocaust, Torah academies again resurged. Essentially, the notion is that the transmission of the Torah is continuous but must be adapted to the techniques that are appropriate for the time (11). Again, oh so true in the teaching world!

Just a few more tidbits that I found interesting.

First, there is mention about how our ancestors were reluctant to hear the voice of G-d (think Sinai). He suggests that "they did not consider themselves worthy and deserving of receiving the greatest of all revelations. This is just one of several incidents where our history has been negatively affected by misguided humility" (12). This quote is so profound and so applicable in my own life, perhaps not with hearing G-d, but just seeing my own self worth. Something to think about.

The last thing I'll touch on relates to deliberation and judgement. Pirkei Avos says: "Be deliberate in judgement", meaning, do not be hasty when making decisions. All I know is I never realized how quick I am to make judgements. I'm not referring to the judgement of others (though I'm sure I am guilty of that too)but more my reactions to situations that are new or uncomfortable to me. I am quick to reply or shoot down ideas and it's non-productive and basically causes me to sabotage situations that could be potentially good or positive. I really need to do work in this area.

So what did I learn? I'd say the best thing about the introduction and chapter one was the connection I was able to make with something from my ancestral past: Moses and Sinai, with my life and career as a teacher. The lessons don't change much, but the way in which we hear them and learn them and teach them must change in order for the message to be heard.