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EIKEV 5784
Change of Direction
Rabbi Andrew Shaw Chief Executive, Mizrachi UK
It is a question I often get asked.
Why did you become a Rabbi?
The answer is quite simple, but quite ironic.
The reason is because of what I saw and experienced at my time at Leeds University By my second year, several Bnei Akiva students and I, supported by our chaplain Rabbi Dove, had created a whole range of programmes such as Oneg’s on Friday night, Shiurim during the week and home hospitality for Shabbat. This led to a tremendous increase in student participation and inspired me after a year working for UJS to ditch the accountancy route and start my Semicha.
So, what was the irony?
It was that the initial reason for Semicha came from my work with students, I was certain that when I became a Rabbi I would be working on Campus. However, my work in my almost 25years as a Rabbi has been mainly focussed on teenagers and not students with the creation of both Tribe and now Yehudi.
So, what sparked the change in my focus? Why did I shift from students to teenagers and their families?
It was a visit to a village in Israel which I rst went to in 1995
It was called Yemin Orde led by an inspirational leader – Dr Chaim Peri.
I thought of him this week, when I heard the news of the return of the bodies of the six hostages murdered by Hamas, one of whom was another Chaim Peri z’l, an artist and peace activist. Learning about the tragic story of how he was captured from Nir Oz and taken to Gaza made me re ect on the other Chaim Peri and the village he ran and the impact that it had on me.
Founded in 1953 by the British Friends of Youth Aliyah, the village of Yemin Orde was named after the British Major General Orde Charles Wingate, an in uential force in the formation of the Israel Defence Force. Since its founding, Yemin Orde youth village has become a model for how young people from different backgrounds can live together in harmony, with residents originating from as far as North Africa, Iran, India and Eastern Europe.
So why was I there?
I had arrived in Israel in September 1995 to start my semicha and I received a call shortly after, from JFS who informed me that they send two groups of about 25 year 9’s (13/14-year-olds) to spend about three months at the village, to live, learn and experience Israel. They wanted me to go once a month for Shabbat to give the kids a British connection and to run educational programmes.
I wasn’t sure. For the last ve years I had exclusively worked with students, did I really want to work with teens? However, I had plenty of experience with teens through my work with Bnei Akiva over the years, and it would also be good experience for me, so I agreed.
Yemin Orde is located on 77 acres on the Carmel mountains –it is beautiful.
Over the next 2 ½ years I spent time with ve groups from JFS and had plenty of time to see the wonderful work that Chaim Peri had done creating this village. I will never forget each Havdalah when every child was given a candle and the shul was lit up with hundreds of candles.
However, for me, the real discovery was spending time with the JFS teenagers Unlike my work with Bnei Akiva, these students were from a very wide range of observances
and practise, yet we had some fantastic discussions and experiences which made me realise the importance of starting the educational journey at a younger age than students. They were old enough not just to teach them but to engage them with the content as well.
We see this powerfully in our Parsha.
Last Shabbat we read Va’etchanan with the famous verse from the rst paragraph of the Shema:
מוּקבוּ
And you shall teach them to your sons and speak of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk on the way, and when you lie down and when you rise up. (Devarim 6:7)
This week we have the second paragraph and a seemingly identical verse.
מוּקבוּ
And you shall teach them to your sons to speak with them, when you sit in your house and when you walk on the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. (Devarim 11:19)
In fact, the nal six words are identical, but the interesting part is the rst part
In Va’etchanan we have
In Eikev we have
The difference is that in last week’s Sedra we were simply teaching the children In this week’s Sedra, we are asked to discuss the teachings with them.
This is what I saw when I was at Yemin Orde, the next stage of the educational process
The ability to discuss, to develop to understand in a deeper way. Of course I had seen that with my work with students, but it was my time at Yemin Orde, learning, discussing and exploring with the JFS teens, that I realised this was the age we needed to focus on. That we could start earlier in the process, once an age had been reached where meaningful discussions were possible.
Torah can not simply be taught, it may need to be initially to young children, but eventually, as the 2nd paragraph of the Shema explains, we need to enter into that dialogue.
Additionally, the Shema places the focus on familial teaching. The beauty of the teenage years is that they are spent at home. We must involve the family in the educational
process Yemin Orde’s incredible work was that they took children from around the world and gave them a family.
The JFS children were blessed to be part of this world for a few months of their lives, and I was blessed to have experienced this for the years that I did.
However I guess in the end, my initial work with students has been incorporated into the work with teenagers over the years. For the work in Stanmore, Tribe and Yehudi –one of the main deliverers of the education to the teens were and are the students.
So, for children – 1st paragraph of the shema – TEACH them Torah
For teenagers – 2nd paragraph of the shema – DISCUSS with them Torah
For Students – 3rd paragraph of the shema – ‘Do not explore after your heart and after your eyes after which you stray’. Become a Jewish leader and a role model instead!
That is where it all began for me and where it continues today!
Shabbat Shalom
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