_
For those of you who do not know me, my name is Paul
Oberman and I’m the Interim Head of School at Yeshiva Atlanta. I am not a
Rabbi, and although my knowledge of Torah is not as vast as many, I am
interested in learning and motivated to do so. Each Friday I will share a small
Torah thought that I find interesting or perhaps perplexing, and tie it into
the life of a school, in this case Yeshiva Atlanta. I welcome any feedback and
would be glad to hear from you at poberman@yeshivaatlanta.org
In this week’s parsha, Va’etchanan, one of the interesting discussions regards the instruction the Jews received concerning Shabbat—zachor (remember) and shamor (guard). Some commentaries interpret this as two sides of Shabbat—the spiritual enjoyment and the legalities that must be followed. Rabbi Moshe Ben Nachman (Ramban) offers a different explanation; he suggests that when Hashem spoke, Moshe heard “remember” and the Jewish people heard “guard.” Why would this be the case? Ramban suggests that Moshe understood and loved Shabbat to such a level that it would be unthinkable for him to ever think of violating Shabbat, in much the same way that a married person deeply in love would never think to harm a spouse and would find that additional piece of instruction redundant and unnecessary.
With this in mind, constructing a student handbook is a fascinating phenomenon. How much should one focus on the spiritual side of attending a Jewish school, for example, and how much on the nuts and bolts of the rules? Certainly the hope is that all students love and understand the school mission to such an extent that any additional prohibitions are completely unnecessary. But of course the developmental side of students must also be taken into consideration. It is an important balance to consider on Shabbat and also in day-to-day life at school.
One of our goals this year at Yeshiva Atlanta is to promote the spiritual side not only for our students but also for our families and alumni. In this vein, we will be adding lunch ’n’ learn opportunities for parents and alumni hosted at Yeshiva Atlanta. Please be on the lookout for additional emails on the topic soon.
Finally, if you have not yet seen the new Yeshiva Atlanta website, please check out http://www.yeshivaatlanta.org/ You will see more pictures, a detailed calendar, the student handbook, a link to the school store, and an opportunity to support the school.
Shabbat Shalom--
Paul Oberman
In this week’s parsha, Va’etchanan, one of the interesting discussions regards the instruction the Jews received concerning Shabbat—zachor (remember) and shamor (guard). Some commentaries interpret this as two sides of Shabbat—the spiritual enjoyment and the legalities that must be followed. Rabbi Moshe Ben Nachman (Ramban) offers a different explanation; he suggests that when Hashem spoke, Moshe heard “remember” and the Jewish people heard “guard.” Why would this be the case? Ramban suggests that Moshe understood and loved Shabbat to such a level that it would be unthinkable for him to ever think of violating Shabbat, in much the same way that a married person deeply in love would never think to harm a spouse and would find that additional piece of instruction redundant and unnecessary.
With this in mind, constructing a student handbook is a fascinating phenomenon. How much should one focus on the spiritual side of attending a Jewish school, for example, and how much on the nuts and bolts of the rules? Certainly the hope is that all students love and understand the school mission to such an extent that any additional prohibitions are completely unnecessary. But of course the developmental side of students must also be taken into consideration. It is an important balance to consider on Shabbat and also in day-to-day life at school.
One of our goals this year at Yeshiva Atlanta is to promote the spiritual side not only for our students but also for our families and alumni. In this vein, we will be adding lunch ’n’ learn opportunities for parents and alumni hosted at Yeshiva Atlanta. Please be on the lookout for additional emails on the topic soon.
Finally, if you have not yet seen the new Yeshiva Atlanta website, please check out http://www.yeshivaatlanta.org/ You will see more pictures, a detailed calendar, the student handbook, a link to the school store, and an opportunity to support the school.
Shabbat Shalom--
Paul Oberman
