FINDING ANSWERS VS ASKING QUESTIONS

L is enrolled in the Florence Melton Adult Mini-School--finally carving out time in a schedule crowded with work, marriage, creating a home and raising children. She, like many others, wants to find answers to the Jewish questions she has asked all of her adult life. Today we were reading and discussing texts related to the rarely discussed subject of sin. We studied texts from Genesis and some of the commentators who wrote about the good and evil inclination within all of us.
“So why,” L. asked after reading about Adam and Eve eating of the tree of knowledge in the Garden of Eden, “didn’t God put the tree somewhere out on the edge of the garden? Why did it have to be right in the center, and why was the snake placed there to tempt Eve?”

Several students shared their answers to her questions—each one finding an explanation that was rational and perhaps comforting -- but not completely satisfying. Certainly, none of the responses satisfied L. Frustrated, she said, “All of these answers can’t be right. Adam and Eve were not just set up for failure. We also should not be expected to fail, to be satisfied to go on without answers.”

Jewish teachers have a complicated responsibility. We have two tasks that could appear to contradict each other. On one hand, we are responsible for teaching a body of knowledge that has been passed down to us through the centuries—our texts and its commentaries, practices, beliefs, and ethical behavior. Our students expect to learn these from us. On the other hand, we are responsible for engaging learners in analysis and questioning. We want them to wrestle with possible answers and equip them to make choices among possible Jewish options. When Jewish learners study Bible commentaries, Talmudic sources and contemporary texts, they are aware of differences of opinion on many important issues. But they want answers.

The class ended with L. shaking her head in frustration. I understood her dissatisfaction. If it is comforting, I told her, this is what happens when you delve into the tough questions in Judaism. Perfect answers are elusive. The process of seeking answers is what learning is about. Perhaps, there may never be an answer that is completely satisfying, but we discover some remarkable things along the way.