"Song of the Sea" (AKA "Miriam's Song")
text seen as scribed in actual Torah
Parashah Beshalach (Exodus 13:17 – 17:16)
“…the Israelites marched on dry ground in the midst of the sea.” Exodus 15:19
This week’s Shabbat is known as Shabbat Shira (The Sabbath of Song) because it contains the text from Miriam’s song, the verses from the Torah which describe the Hebrews leaving Egypt as they walked through the Sea of Reeds.
What is also unique to this week’s Torah portion is the way in which the text is inscribed on the parchment of the Torah. There are only a handful of times where the text of the Torah visually depicts a message or illustrates an idea by the way the sopher (scribe) writes the text.
Usually the text is written in a justified column fashion that is uniform and identical from column to column. In this week’s Torah portion however, we see a layering of the text that depicts three staggered columns almost intertwining with one another. The visual is quite powerful if you are able to “see” the intended representation of the two walls of water surrounding the Hebrews as they walked through the Sea (see above photo).
It is hard for me to imagine this awesome scene without reverting to flashbacks of Charlton Heston in Cecile B. DeMille’s movie, “The Ten Commandments.” On the other hand, our children will have flashbacks from DreamWorks’ depiction of the Exodus in the movie, “The Prince of Egypt.”
The reason I share this seemingly obvious fact is that our children’s memories will be no less meaningful, powerful, or even memorable, than ours. Yes, they will be different, but they live in a different world, at a different time, with different experiences, expectations, and available resources. So too is their education.
I often meet with parents who share with me their memories of how they learned a certain concept, idea, or fact. They are not wrong being confused as to why their child might be learning it differently; but they are often wrong thinking that differently means “less than” the way they learned it.
Today, our children see the world so differently than we did. They are bombarded with millions more stimuli than we ever were. They have the accessibility to more information than they will ever be able to absorb. So the manner in which we teach them needs to be different, as the world in which they will be living their adult lives will be so very different than the one we are living in today.
This weekend, my questions are for you, rather than for your children. This weekend, think of the knowledge that helps make you successful at what you do. Is it the ability to remember the facts and figures, methods and concepts, ideas and formulas; or is it your self-confidence, your social skills, your drives, pursuits, and motivations to always do better?
One should never be at the expense of the other, but one should never have to exist without the other either.
Have a wonderful weekend. Shabbat shalom.
What is also unique to this week’s Torah portion is the way in which the text is inscribed on the parchment of the Torah. There are only a handful of times where the text of the Torah visually depicts a message or illustrates an idea by the way the sopher (scribe) writes the text.
Usually the text is written in a justified column fashion that is uniform and identical from column to column. In this week’s Torah portion however, we see a layering of the text that depicts three staggered columns almost intertwining with one another. The visual is quite powerful if you are able to “see” the intended representation of the two walls of water surrounding the Hebrews as they walked through the Sea (see above photo).
It is hard for me to imagine this awesome scene without reverting to flashbacks of Charlton Heston in Cecile B. DeMille’s movie, “The Ten Commandments.” On the other hand, our children will have flashbacks from DreamWorks’ depiction of the Exodus in the movie, “The Prince of Egypt.”
The reason I share this seemingly obvious fact is that our children’s memories will be no less meaningful, powerful, or even memorable, than ours. Yes, they will be different, but they live in a different world, at a different time, with different experiences, expectations, and available resources. So too is their education.
I often meet with parents who share with me their memories of how they learned a certain concept, idea, or fact. They are not wrong being confused as to why their child might be learning it differently; but they are often wrong thinking that differently means “less than” the way they learned it.
Today, our children see the world so differently than we did. They are bombarded with millions more stimuli than we ever were. They have the accessibility to more information than they will ever be able to absorb. So the manner in which we teach them needs to be different, as the world in which they will be living their adult lives will be so very different than the one we are living in today.
This weekend, my questions are for you, rather than for your children. This weekend, think of the knowledge that helps make you successful at what you do. Is it the ability to remember the facts and figures, methods and concepts, ideas and formulas; or is it your self-confidence, your social skills, your drives, pursuits, and motivations to always do better?
One should never be at the expense of the other, but one should never have to exist without the other either.
Have a wonderful weekend. Shabbat shalom.
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