Tween/Teen Learners: The Journey from Tragedy to Redemption
MOSHE KRAKOWSKI
AHARON NISSEL
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TEACHING TIP: There can be a significant difference between the abstract thinking of young tweens and older teens. The material here addresses the concept of covenants and the difference between passive and active engagement. A preliminary discussion for younger participants on what a covenant is, as well as examples of passive versus active engagement may be helpful.
3. Shared obligation: we are all responsible for, and impacted by, each other’s actions.
In Kol Dodi Dofek, Rav Soloveitchik distin- guished between the “Covenant of Fate” and the “Covenant of Destiny.” In his con- ceptualization, the Covenant of Fate—best exemplified by the covenant made in Egypt— is a forced covenant; as much as you may try to escape, if you are Jewish, you will always be Jewish. The Covenant of Destiny, on the other hand, is represented by the covenant at Har Sinai, one of choice, which elevated the Jews from merely a people with shared experiences to an active, purposeful nation. The Covenant of Fate is characterized by four features: 1. Shared experience: all Jews are Jews regardless of where they come from, what they look like, or how they live. 2. Shared suffering: antisemitism affects all Jews, even those who try to minimize their Jewishness. The Holocaust impacted even the most assimilated Jews.
When one person commits a chillul Hashem , for example, it gives a bad reputation to all Jews.
4. Shared cooperation: every Jew must support other Jews as brothers and sisters. For the Rav, this covenant describes the experience of the Jews in Egypt. The Jews had no agency of their own in Egypt; they were enslaved, and they were redeemed, but their role was mostly passive. They were saved by Hashem because Hashem was the God of their forefathers, to whom Hashem had promised both suffering and redemption.
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ON THIS NIGHT WE ARE ALL TEACHERS
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