Pirkei Avot: In the Image Mishnah 2:5

Tutor, Tane, India, 2001 © Zion Ozeri

1) How do you interpret this photograph?

2) What might be the relationship between the woman and the children in this photograph? What evidence can you see in the photograph to support your answer?

3) What other title and caption or midrash might you suggest for this image?

(ה) הוּא הָיָה אוֹמֵר...וְלֹא עַם הָאָרֶץ חָסִיד, וְלֹא הַבַּיְשָׁן לָמֵד, וְלֹא הַקַּפְּדָן מְלַמֵּד...

(5) He (Hillel) used to say: An ignorant person cannot be pious; nor can a timid person learn, nor can an impatient person teach...

Understanding:

1) These statements are all framed in the negative, so that we know who cannot learn or teach. Based on this information, how would you describe the ideal learner and the ideal teacher?

2) Think about a time when you feel that you learned something. What helped you to be a good learner at that moment?

3) Do you have a memory of a great teacher? What makes that teacher so effective?

Reflecting:

Help build a digital scrapbook by adding your own image or Midrash, with a caption, here, in response to these questions:

1) What does good learning or teaching look like?

2) When are people most able to take in new information?