Why We Teach
from a pre-Blogger blog
Conversation with a 12-year-old bat mitzva candidate, who I’m tutoring by probing the meaning of the prayers:
Okay, read me the first part of the Sh’ma in English.
“Hear O Israel, the Eternal is G-d, the Eternal is One.”
Okay… what’s that mean?
“Well, G-d is one.”
What else?
“Well, that monotheism is something Jews believe in.”
Okay. But what does it mean to you?
“I think it means that, in a way, that we’re all Abraham, since Abraham was the first Jew, and the first person to know that G-d is One or that there’s one G-d. So, every time we say the Sh’ma, it’s like we’re saying that for the first time, and understanding that we’re Abraham.”
…..! Well…. ah…. what responsibilities does that give us, if we’re all Abraham?
“It means that we all have to treat each other honorably, and with love. But since we’re none of us perfect, and can only do the best we can, that’s what we have to do — the best we can.”
