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04 February 2010

Our children and students deserve answers!

(representative only, not related to below post)


she vexed the administration because she asked her teacher incisive questions about the nature of Gan Eden”


"The Hebrew word for question, she'ailah, is etymologically derived from the word sha'al - to borrow or request. According to Rashbam, Tosafos, Chizkuni, Klei Yakar, and other commentaries, sha'al, in this context, does not mean to borrow but denotes requesting something that is one's rightful possession - one's natural entitlement."


"It is against Torah hashkafah to take offense or to reject a sincere question. Just as water sustains the physical world and is free and accessible to everyone (this predates New York City's water meters!), so too should knowledge be available freely. This is precisely why, according to the halachic ideal, one should not charge tuition to dispense Torah knowledge (see Yoreh Deah, 246:5)."


“Thousands of frum individuals grow up with gnawing questions about the fundamentals of Yiddishkeit. Their questions may be trite and simplistic (i.e., Why do we keep Shabbos?) or profound and weighty (i.e., How do I know there is a God? or Hashem knows everything, including every move I make; yet I have free will. How can the two co-exist?)."


"It's not the particular question that is germane - every sincere and thoughtful question is relevant and important. Rather, it's the way the question is received and handled. Sadly, most often the questions are either rebuffed or repudiated by parents and teachers. Some adolescents are even slapped or labeled with the pejorative "apikores." The outcome is that in some cases the seeker despondently resolves to trudge through life with lingering and unresolved doubts in ikrei emunah, and in other cases, tragically, they throw in the towel, religiously.”


“Many rishonim (among them Rambam, Rabbeinu Bechaya ibn Pakudah, Rabbeinu Bechaya ben Asher, Rav Saadya Gaon) hold that the mitzvah of emunah is not predicated on blind faith but on rational and objective knowledge. According to Chovos HaLevovos, knowing and inquiring about Hashem, getting first-hand knowledge of Him, is a fulfillment of the Torah's charge "Veyadato hayom ki Hashem hu Elokim" - "and you should 'know' today that He is God ."


An excellent caring article about what is happening to some of precious youth. So, visit this link and please share this full article with your friends, please.

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