Why Do Our Kids Have to Learn About Oxen and Pitchers?

Hi, this is David Alowski with the question and answer short series. So anonymous says you'll often mention specifically in your why be Jewish year that at some point kids will ask Rebby why do I have to learn this? I don't own an ox and I'm not planning on buying one. I don't run through the public property with pictures. And then you move on to saying that Yiddishkite has to be relevant. But I've never heard you give the answer to that. Why do we have to learn about oxen, pitcher running, marriage with an indeterminately valued piece of silk, gitten catching fire while floating from a roof and so on. What is the relevance? How do we explain this to our children? So, it's an excellent question obviously that's why I use it and it is one of my problems that I sometimes make fun of something and I don't go back and give it meaning. For example, we did a short where someone said to me, "In your wy Jewish, you destroyed the santo for me. Could you please bring it back?" Right? That's true. I use something sometimes for a laugh line and I don't go back and fill it in. So, there's three answers to this question. I'll tell you the one that I like. The first answer is learning Gammorra sharpens your mind. It doesn't matter what the topic is or how it works, etc. It just automatically sharpens your mind. Okay, that's true. But I don't think that's a good enough answer because so does doing crossword puzzles. I know that because in the New York Times cross word puzzles it says approved by the AARP. So apparently doing crossword puzzles will help to keep your mind sharp. So I don't I don't like that particular answer. The other answer is that I've heard is that well you never know which suga is going to have bearing on practical. So you need to know all of the different sugas in order to be able to come up with understanding. The answer that kids give me when I say that is well I tell you the truth I'm not planning on becoming a pisic. So if I have any difficult questions, instead of me having to sit here and learn it with all of them at first, why don't I just go and uh ask a rabbi or a POK and have them answer it for me? Why do I have to know it? So that's a problematic answer. So the correct I'm going to tell you the correct answer and then I'm going to tell you what you tell a kid. Yeah. Where they may not appreciate it. The reason we learn Gamarra is because everything we're learning is relevant. You just have to figure it out. I've told this story before where Misha Shapiro said to us, "Anything that you learn has to turn into doing." And he quoted the second in the Torah and he looked at us and said, "What is the what am I supposed to do based on that PK?" And he gave the answer that the say the world was not created to be nothing. So therefore it means that everything you're learning is there to teach me something. So you eventually the more that you learn they're all the building blocks that are going to tie together in a way that's going to explain something to you. So when explained where the Gmorra and Babakama which seems somewhat esoteric explained uh that there are three different types of avice in a shore. There's Shane, Regal and Karen. He explained how those three are three ways that we destroy in this world and they represent three different types of aus and they represent and the and they're the root of all evil in this world and you think you're just learning a little about what happens whether an animal eats something or tramples something or gores somebody. There's there's all this deeper meaning to it. So that's the correct answer. If there's a kid, then as much as possible, we should struggle to make what we're learning meaningful to them, right? So, even though I don't have a ax, right? You say I'm walking through the down the street with an ox, you know, I can very often substitute a car. Yeah. Uh, sometimes I can substitute somebody walking a dog. Even though I don't run through the street with pictures, you could understand somebody coming back. They just brought themselves a computer and somebody bangs into them. You know, someone's got a 2x4 and swings it around and smashes my computer. They could understand that. So yeah, as much as possible, we should try to make it relevant and meaningful situations they can relate to. There's a deeper problem and that is if a kid is asking why am I learning that? That means however you're teaching it, forget about what the subject matter is, isn't interesting. Kids don't mind sitting there spending their time on a brain teaser if it's interesting. It doesn't have to be something that's relevant to their lives. if the actual learning becomes interesting. And that's part of the challenge is when you learn with a kid, you have to make sure that the learning is interesting. Till next time, this is Doofski.