We have recently completed the cycle of Jewish holydays that begin with Rosh Hashana, transition to Yom Kippur and end with Sukkot. The mood of these days are a study in contrasts. The first 10 days, from the New Year to Yom Kippur, are intense periods for prayer, soul searching, repentance, and asking forgiveness from your fellow man. The completion of Yom Kippur leads into the preparation and then the celebration of Sukkot. This agrarian holiday includes dwelling in a Sukkah, a temporary shelter with its thatched roof that is partly open to the sky. Suffice it to say that the climate of Israel is much superior for this holiday than Montreal. Sukkot also has other agricultural symbols, including prayers for rain and the use of four species in many of the holiday prayers.
The four
species, Lulav (Palm), Hadasah (Myrtle), Arava (Willow) and Etrog (Citron) are
very diverse in their properties. We are taught that they represent 4 classes
of individuals: those who perform meritorious deeds, those who are learned in
Torah, those who have both traits, and those who have neither. What is
fascinating is that the rituals surrounding the Arba Minim (the four species)
are only valid if all the 4 are taken together. We can’t just take the lovely,
fragrant Etrog, representing meritorious behaviors and scholarship, nor can we
cast aside the lowly willow, which has neither a fine smell nor provides tasty
fruit, thus representing individuals without good deeds or learning. In spite
of the disparities between the four species, they are always must be brought
together in the rituals of Sukkot; they are inexorably linked even if they
differ greatly.
This is a
tremendous lesson that can be extrapolated to many things, but it is a crucial
part of providing education. There are many different types of students,
stronger and weaker, those who are motivated, and those who need considerable
encouragement, those who have special needs, and those who have outstanding
abilities. The role of an educator, and indeed of a parent, is to recognize if
someone is an Etrog, a Myrtle, a Palm or a Willow, or falls anywhere along the
spectrum. Like in the Sukkot rituals, all are special and must be treated
equally; without one, any one, the others lose value. Treating all as unique
with their own special abilities is a crucial lesson we learn from the 4
species.
We commemorate
the passing of Mark on the 7th day of the Jewish Month of Cheshvan,
which always comes out soon after Sukkot. Mark was a tremendous scholar, but
also an amazing educator. He worked hard as a university professor to both
motivate and educate. As a Father and Uncle, he provided games, and puzzles for
his kids, nieces and nephews to work on, to think through and to have fun
learning. It did not matter who, he always had time and patience to give to his
family and his students. This was tied together with his legendary scholarship
and his wish to solve complex problems in physics. On the other hand, he wrote
chapters for the “Encyclopedia of Physics”, primarily a tool for
non-physicists. For Mark, communicating knowledge was key.
It is the
18th anniversary of Mark’s untimely passing. 18 is the numerical
value for the Hebrew word “Chai” meaning life. Mark’s memory lives on in us and
it is important that we carry on his legacy. In honor of this anniversary, we
have dedicated a library in memory of Mark at Yeshivat HaKotel, the school of
higher Jewish learning that Elan and Ariel trained at and has contributed to
the education of many. The plaque is inscribed with his name in English and
Hebrew and says “The Pursuit of Knowledge is Everything”, which embodies his
vision. We invite anyone who is in Jerusalem to visit, and in remembering his
life, remember the lessons Mark taught that should live on through us all: that
everyone should be treated as a special person, and that we should never stop
learning and trying to understanding the world around us.
