Rashi – from ‘alef’ to ‘tav’

Where does a child develop a love of learning, a love of Torah? Certainly not in school, said my friend, who holds a doctorate in child psychology.

“School is school, but a real love of learning comes from the home.”

All learning depends on two basic elements: the effort that goes into the learning process and the enjoyment derived from the experience. In the language of our tradition, these two elements are the yegia (labor) and the oneg (joy).

Unfortunately, most of our schoolchildren do not enjoy their Torah studies.

Large classes and unimaginative teachers contribute to an impersonal atmosphere of drudgery even in the better schools.

At home, the Shabbat table is a setting where children can experience the joy of Torah discussion. Each family’s diningroom table can also serve as the family’s educational center.

But what, you may ask, does eating a meal have to do with learning Torah? Rabbi Shlomo Riskin writes in his The Passover Haggadah (Ktav, 1983): “For the Jew the meal is a religious experience...

The food is secondary; the most important element of the meal is... the spiritual component – that which emerges from the divrei Torah [words of Torah] that are exchanged.”

At the Shabbat table, there is time to encourage our children to ask questions – and he or she need not compete with 39 other students, all vying for the teacher’s attention. The Shabbat table is also a place to pose questions to our children.

Questions draw interest, arouse curiosity and are essential for entering into a genuine conversation with the younger generation.

Questions can be asked on many different levels, involving different age groups. This, in turn, encourages children to ask questions of their own.

Even a teenager’s questioning process can be routed to the Shabbat table. There she can ask, criticize and air her legitimate questions – within the weekly Torah discussion.

Rashi (1040-1105), the great Torah and Talmud commentator, begins his commentary on the Torah with – you guessed it – a question, which brings us to Shalom Hammer’s The Family Rashi Book.

This volume – which is meant to promote the study of Rashi on the Torah – presents, on each one of the weekly Torah portions, a list of questions in English (with an admixture of Hebrew words), whose answers, arranged in an alef-bet sequence, are found within the Hebrew text of Rashi. The first answer begins with an alef, the second with a bet and so on.

Obviously, then, a working knowledge of Hebrew is a prerequisite for appreciating this book, as the letters of the Hebrew alphabet provide the clues to the answers, which begin with or feature Hebrew words or terms appearing in the Hebrew text of Rashi.

Here’s an example: Question: “Why does the Torah say that Chava was created to be a ‘helper corresponding against Adam’? Can Chava be both a ‘helper’ and ‘against’ him at the same time?” Clue to the answer: the Hebrew letter zayin. Answer: Zacha, “If one is worthy (zacha), [his mate] is helpful, if one is not worthy [lo zacha] then [his mate] becomes his adversary.”

Although the alef-bet sequence of the answers is cute, the link between the Hebrew letter that provides the clue to the answer and the actual answer is sometimes tenuous and superficial.

Consider the following example: Question: “Why was Moshe excluded from actualizing the plague of blood?” Clue to the answer: the Hebrew letter lamed.

Answer: Lefi, “Since (lefi) the river protected Moshe when he was cast into it.”

That said, when I tried out the book’s questions on my nine-year-old son, he was captivated by the challenge of answering the questions posed to him and kept asking for more.

I look forward to using the book every week as a tool to involve him in the discussion of the Torah portion. The book could be used in a similar fashion in a grade-school classroom or youth movement setting.

Rashi – from ‘alef’ to ‘tav’

This volume promotes the study of Rashi’s commentary by positing a list of questions whose answers are arranged according to the Hebrew alphabet.