Midrash unstructured is a difficult. In truth, the group was losing heart a little and so was I. We had lost the deeply inspiring moments that just seemed to rise up out of the Torah text. We would focus on a word, think about where else it appeared, try to interpret what the character might be doing or even the HOBBH (have you ever tried to type “Holy One Blessed be He over and over again? I should add that I never copy pages from a book when I teach. I always type or cut and paste selections so I can compose the class a bit musically.) ‘S motivations and voila, we would find inspiration to carry us through the week.
I had to admit to myself that I did not like the reflective practice that I saw in the mirror and needed to make a change pronto. Not sure how I landed on this but probably has something to do with my deeply felt belief that my students (all of them, everywhere) are sacred texts and that we would get to the written text if we started with them once again. This is a bit of a polarity with my desire to let the classical text itself be more of a presence, but I had to try this.
The following week was Chaye Sarah, my Bat Mitzvah parsha. I began class with a simple question: what is the value of a life? This drew some silence and then some beautiful responses. A lie is valued by what you accomplish, not what you earn, by the family you create, how you reach out to others. They led right to Rashi: Why does this pasuk repeat the word shanah over and over again? To indicate that Sarah’s life is sequenced “each is interpreted individually…and all were equal in goodness.” Each person was able to describe the sequences of their lives: when they lived in their parents, homes, marriage, before and after children, before and after the loss of parents. There was something in the moment that I can only call a merging of these women’s’ stories and Sarah’s story, a jumping into the looking glass of the Biblical narrative.
From there we could go on to the Midrashim through the prism of the question. What else does this parsha have to say about the value of life? The analysis of the Midrashim was focused and the learning rich.
So now, each week, I have to inquire of the text and find the profound questions to frame our study, there is always more than one. Sometimes I consult with Aviva and the Sfat Emet; sometimes the question comes from inside me. Then I can cut, paste, hone, shape and craft the lesson. And is that not what Midrash is in essence supposed to be?
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