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| Three Weeks: Teachers Armed with Spiritual Might |
The Three Weeks — the period between the fasts of the
Seventeenth of Tammuz and the Ninth of Av — are a time of
sadness for the Jewish people. These days recall the
calamities that befell us during this time — exile
from the land of Israel, destruction of Jerusalem and the
Temple. This period is also referred to
as Bein Ha-Metzarim, a time when the Jewish people are 'Between the
Straits.'
The Shulchan Aruch brings down a curious custom
for the Three Weeks: teachers should not strike their students
during this time. Not that teachers are
encouraged to hit students during the rest of the year; but
during the Three Weeks they should be especially
careful when punishing students. This custom is
apparently the source for Rav Kook's dictum for the month
of Tammuz:
Rav Kook took a curious custom and transformed it into
something much greater — a motto for how to educate in a
time of national rebirth. This generation cannot be subdued
with rods, nor coerced with threats of punishment, in this
world or the next. We can only reach them, Rav Kook taught,
with love and 'spiritual might.' A generation in spiritual
distress — 'between the straits' — must be inspired by
teachers who are armed with broad spirits and lofty vision.
A Generation That Seeks High Ideals
Rav Kook thought deeply about the widespread rejection of religion and
traditional Jewish culture in his day. Unlike the prevalent
outlook, which attributed this phenomenon to
weakness and materialism, Rav Kook viewed matters in
a radically different way. He presented his understanding of
the new generation in his article Ma'amar HaDor ('The
Generation').
Path of Pleasantness
A careful analysis of the wording in Rav Kook's adage
reveals an additional insight. His phrase "beating rod" does
not appear in the legal code of the Shulchan Aruch.
Rather this phrase comes from a Talmudic statement in Sanhedrin
24a. The rabbis contrasted the Torah scholars of the Land of
Israel with those in Babylon. The Babylonian scholars
were sharp and caustic in their legal debates.
Their method of Torah study was like a 'beating rod' —
painful and unpleasant.
The scholars of Eretz Yisrael, on the other hand, correct
one another gently. Their gracious method of study is one of noam —
pleasantness and mutual respect.
Thus a successful educational approach for this unique era of
redemption must embrace two qualities:
(Adapted from Mo'adei HaRe'iyah, p. 533)
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Copyright © 2006 by Chanan Morrison
"The nation is redeemed from 'Between the
Straits' [the Three Weeks] through teachers who are armed with spiritual
might, who do not require a beating rod."
"Our generation is an amazing generation, full of wonder. It
is difficult to find a similar instance in all of our history, a
generation composed of contradictions, a mixture of light and
darkness."
"It is the current greatness of the masses that has brought
about their [spiritual] decline. The generation finds that
all it hears and sees from parents and teachers is beneath
it. The [previous generation's] ethics fail to capture their
hearts and quench their thirst. They also fail to instill
fear and trepidation. For this generation has already risen
beyond the stage when one runs away from fear, real
or imagined, physical or spiritual."
"Great troubles and upheavals have made them tough
and intrepid. Fear and threats cannot shake them. They are
prepared only to stand up and follow an elevated,
enlightened path of life. Even if they wanted to, they could
not be bowed and bent, saddled with burdens and yokes...
They cannot be motivated to return out of fear. But they
are very much capable of returning through love, a love
bound to lofty awe.... A great-spirited generation
seeks, and must seek, in every direction that it turns,
great ideals."
"This is not a generation of pettiness, but one of greatness
and high ideals. The only way to reach such a generation is
through spiritual greatness."