Schools of Thought

When Carol Hoffberg (name changed) asked to interview me for her doctoral thesis I was intrigued.

Carol explained that she had to interview three educators each with at least 30 years experience. She asked if I could be one of her research subjects. Although this forced me to come to grips with my own age I agreed.

The first thing Carol asked me was to recall two individuals instrumental in molding me as a teacher.

The first person who came to mind was an older European rebbi who barely spoke English. In the late 1970s when the majority of the boys no longer understood Yiddish he switched to lashon hakodesh. When we asked him why he didn’t teach in English he replied “You are my talmidim and you must strive to understand me. Although you have an excuse for not understanding Yiddish you certainly can struggle and persevere to understand lashon hakodesh!”