Each day upon entering Maimonides, students, visitors, and teachers have the chance to read the school’s statement of values, which includes the memorable line: Torah study is enriched by our understanding of science, philosophy, literature, art, and music, which in turn is enhanced and enlightened by the teachings of Torah.
It is an important aspect of who we are as a school, and something our students experience each and every day.
To give one example, last week’s parsha included the important observation that the Jewish people are the firstborn children of Hashem (Shemot 4:22). But what does it mean to be the children of Hashem? While discussing the phrase this week – considering whether it is a metaphor (Seforno), parable (Ibn Ezra), figurative (Rashi), or literal (Avoda Zara 3a, and possibly Sanhedrin 43b) – our students used the structures and terminologies they acquired in their literature classes to unpack and understand a difficult verse in the Torah.
This week, my Talmud students and I used a “halacha lab period” to measure the temperature at which foods become yad soledet bo, when the hand recoils, an important measurement for the laws of Shabbat and transference of non-kosher tastes (see here if you are not familiar with the term). While measuring the hot water samples, the students used their skills of scientific analysis – proper measurement, basic calculation, knowledge of thermodynamics, reflex arcs, and hypothesis testing – to determine which experiments would be best to measure this key halachic temperature.
At the end of this week’s parsha, we read about the differing nature of the barley crop and the wheat crop and how they were impacted by the plague of barad, hail. But how are they different? What does the Torah intend to tell us about wheat and barley, and which other Torah verses should be read differently as a result?
History also matters for our students’ growth as Jewish learners. Yesterday, the students’ understanding of why Rabad wrote a critique of Rambam’s Mishneh Torah, and not of Rashi’s Talmud commentary, was informed by a discussion of medieval geography and history. The lesson was enhanced by understanding trade routes, language and communication, and locations of cultural exchange.
At Maimonides, we do not believe that our students take religious studies which enrich their Jewish lives, and secular studies which prepare them for college and fulfill governmental education requirements. Instead, we believe that all learning and knowledge ultimately has its origins in our Creator, and both uniquely Jewish studies and universal secular studies can inform our lives as spiritual beings and bring us closer to Hakadosh Baruch Hu. | 