Tween/Teen Learners: Ideation vs. Experience
ELIEZER BARANY
MOSHE KRAKOWSKY
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בכל דור ודור חייב אדם לראות את עצמו כאילו הוא יצא ממצרים
In the Haggadah we note that in every generation we are obligated to see ourselves as if we personally left Egypt, not just our forefathers. The Rambam has a different text in his Halachic work, the Mishneh Torah, reading: “ חייב אדם להראות ” one must present himself as if he left Egypt. More than simply seeing ourselves as having left Egypt, we actually have to act as if we did. The Rambam is teaching us a fundamental idea. It’s not easy to imagine yourself in a completely different time, culture, and circumstance—it’s hard to imagine what it must have been like to be a slave in Egypt, enduring backbreaking labor and suffering, and then emerging via the plagues and the exodus to the greatest revelation humankind has experienced. That was truly a one-time event! How can one accomplish this great feat of seeing ourselves as if we left Egypt? The Rambam basically tells us: “fake it ‘til you make it!” This fits with the idea expressed by the Sefer Hachinuch, who writes (Mitzvah 16—quite fittingly in the laws of Pesach) that our beliefs don’t just exist on their own—by changing our actions we can change our beliefs. The Rambam teaches us that if we present ourselves as if we left Egypt— if we actually act it out—we can come to experience a bit of the reality that the Jews in Egypt may have experienced, and this will inculcate an appreciation of our redemption. l TEACHING TIP: Tweens and teens seek authenticity, and the idea of “pretending” may have a negative connotation. Explaining that both Torah wisdom and modern psychology validate that actions, even when they feel less than real or genuine, can produce changes in feelings, attitudes and beliefs, may help tweens and teens be more comfortable with “acting” like slaves redeemed to freedom.
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ON THIS NIGHT WE ARE ALL TEACHERS
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