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Essential Conferences for Summer, 2007 Articles: -Handwork and Intellectual Development -----ADHD: A Challenge of Our Time -The Cry for Myth -Freedom of Choice or Freedom From Choice? -Computers in Education -Helping Your Child's Teacher Communicate
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The Tale of Rabbi Shammai / 2 Given the importance of the question, and the fame of the two masters whose task it was to decide the issue, rabbis, scholars and students of the Torah had gathered from all over the land of Israel to hear the matter debated. The two contenders were as opposite in appearance as they were in opinion. In his resplendent gowns and silken prayer-shawl, Rabbi Shammai looked every inch ``The Jewel in the Crown of the Pharisees,'' as he was known by his followers. His voice was stentorian, and he proudly cited hundreds of lines of the Torah from memory, barely glancing at the copious notes he brought to the lectern. Although he was Patriarch of the Sanhedrin, the highest council of the Hebrew people, Rabbi Hillel, small in stature and modest in dress, could hardly be distinguished from the poorest of scholars in the audience, until he stood and spoke. Then the synagogue would grow silent, as all strained to hear his quiet voice, its clear tone warmed by humor. The debate went on for many weeks without anything being decided. Each time one of the rabbis would make what appeared to be a momentous point, the other would demonstrate its opposite. Every seemingly incontrovertible argument made by one rabbi would prove to be easily overthrown when the other spoke. The month of Kislev was approaching, and the assembled rabbis and scholars feared that, for yet another year, the celebration of Chanukah would be in disarray. One Sabbath evening during this intense and critical period, Rabbi Shammai, tightly clutching the scrolls that contained his notes and arguments, was returning to his quarters. As he walked through the narrow and twisting streets of the Old City, he rejoiced in the knowledge that the course of the debate was turning in his favor, and that by the next session victory seemed certain. He glowed with satisfaction at how well he had argued that afternoon, and inwardly rehearsed the words he would speak when he met again with Hillel. He saw himself, tall and impressive, standing before the assemblage of scholars and rabbis, rebutting the points made by Rabbi Hillel the day before, while citing the Torah to support his own arguments. Then, grandly summing up the story of the Children of Israel from the days of Abraham until the times of the Kings, he would conclude: ``Can we not agree, then, that while Abraham and the Patriarchs saw God and heard God, it was given to the Judges only to hear God, while the Kings so often erred because God had withdrawn from their eyes and ears alike? ``The story of the Children of Israel is not the pleasing fantasy of a people for whom the Light grows ever greater. No, it is the very real tale of a people whose God announces their world in a creative burst of Light, but withdraws so that, like a wise Father, He will strengthen His children by allowing them to find their own way. |