יְהוֹשֻׁעַ בֶּן פְּרַחְיָה וְנִתַּאי הָאַרְבֵּלִי קִבְּלוּ מֵהֶם. יְהוֹשֻׁעַ בֶּן פְּרַחְיָה אוֹמֵר, עֲשֵׂה לְךָ רַב, וּקְנֵה לְךָ חָבֵר, וֶהֱוֵי דָן אֶת כָל הָאָדָם לְכַף זְכוּת:
Joshua ben Perahia would say: Make for yourself a Rav (teacher), and acquire for yourself a colleague, and give all individuals the benefit of the doubt.
1. Why are we told to make for ourselves a Teacher? How is a Teacher different than a colleague?
2. What is the connection between these two and giving all individuals the benefit of the doubt?
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Everything depends on the person who stands in front of the classroom. The teacher is not an automatic fountain from which intellectual beverages may be obtained. The teacher is either a witness or a stranger. To guide a pupil into the promised land, the teacher must have been there themselves. When asking themselves: Do I stand for what I teach? Do I believe what I say?, the teacher must be able to answer in the affirmative. What we need more than anything else is not textbooks, but textpeople. It is the personality of the teacher which is the text that the pupils read: the text that they will never forget. -Abraham Joshua Heschel: I Asked for Wonder: A Spiritual Anthology |
1. According to Heschel, what are the most effective means of education?
2. Who is the ideal teacher? Why?
3. What is the goal of education?