Reply To: Different Tracks of Modern Orthodoxy

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#2161433
AviraDeArah
Participant

Aaq, I’m surprised that you think I’m a neturei karta member – I’m just a run of the mill yeshiva product, who learned to be anti-Zionist from gedolim who had no affiliation with neturei karta, or even satmar.

As for how i teach my students; i never speak about zionism in class. I don’t tell them anything about the state of Israel, or zionist leaders. The school knows that I’m different from most of the other faculty, and they respect it. The school acknowledges 5 iyyar, but does not say hallel.

What i do is spread Torah. I do, however, make a point of certain things that they’re likely never to hear elsewhere, as it is a kiruv -esque yeshiva. I mention the pasuk of hayom hazeh nihiyeseh li l’am, that we became a nation by kabalas Hatorah, and that rav saadya gaon says that only Torah is what makes us jews. Sometimes a kid will ask “what about non religious jews? Are they jewish?” To which i answer that they are looked at, mostly, as innocent captured children. For those who do know better, i tell them that they’ve forfeited their right to be part of the jewish nation, but they’re welcome to come back.

I’ve never had a kid ask me “but isn’t judaism about torah and a land and a language.”

I also purposely avoid the made up day school havara, and the kids actually copy the way I speak when they’re in school. One kid told me that when i say hebrew words, it’s a lot warmer and what i say sticks in his head a lot more.

I stress positivity, and i never get angry with the kids. Once in a blue moon i get serious, and they know something big must have happened to warrant it. I also encourage the kids to prove me wrong about things; i offer them prizes if they can show that i made a mistakr. I do that to get them to learn more, and to show them that in Torah we don’t stand by our words. I try to teach them to deal with social problems in the same way, to always want the truth to win out, even if it’s embarrassing.

You’d be surprised, given my tone on here, what happens in my classroom. Kids spout all sorts of kefirah that they’ve been programmed to say. Sometimes I’ll take note of it and work it into a lesson not aimed at any one student. I’ve kept up with several of my talmidim and I’ve helped some get into frummer schools. I’ve also had parents go from giving me tongue lashings over telling their boys that Hashem sees them when they play ball and that they should cover their heads, to thanking me at the end of the year and saying that they know so many other kids who are going off the derech, etc… I’m happy to say that I’ve almost never had a kid go off the derech in my class, as far as i know.