i think this comment better illustrates how difficult it is to be a good teacher. If a person is unwilling to countenance new ideas, the teacher (the person introducing the new ideas) is to blame. It's a problem of binah of insufficient width.
yitz | Homepage | 10.29.06 - 9:26 am | #

There's some truth to that. But when it comes to the typical human narrow-mindedness that is so prevalent among Charedi Jews -- people who SHOULD be logical thinkers -- the prejudices against anything new and different even WITHIN the framework of Haalchah is so widespread that one teacher cannot do anything to stem that tide. One teacher can do very little in the face of twelve or more years of indoctrination. This, by the way, is my only real complaint against Charedi Yiddishekeit. I myself am an FFB Charedi, and I strongly believe in its ideology, and I practice it. Just about all except that common knee-jerk belief that anything new or different is wrong and/or insane. And perhaps there are some other prejudices we Charedim have that I try not to share.
Mordechai Housman | Homepage | 10.30.06 - 6:41 pm | #