| Kabbalah
and Education A Kabbalistic Approach to Spiritual Growth |
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| Kabbalah and Jewish Meditation |
Part
29 As
we saw at the outset, the basic root of chinuch
appears most frequently in the Bible in the sense of
"inauguration" and "initiation" [see footnote #1].
However, the word chinuch can also be broken down into parts,
producing chen meaning "grace/beauty" and uch, a word fragment
which has n Based
on this etymological information, we can now more precisely define chinuch
as the process of revealing the latent and particular beauty which God has
planted in each soul.
The
measure of successful education becomes the extent to which an educator can
draw out this inherent grace of soul causing it to shine forth through the
student's life. The
Hebrew language has eight synonyms for beauty, each emphasizing a different
facet of that elusive and seductive quality. Grace (chen) is the
aesthetic of symmetry whether in movement, form, or proportion. It is a
state of balance and harmony between elements which implies a higher, hidden
point of synthesis. The lure and enchantment of grace is its ability to
suggest unity within a state of multiplicity through the balanced
arrangement of parts. Yet
beauty is not intrinsically holy. Only if it brings with it a deepened
appreciation of God does it enter the category of true grace, otherwise it
remains bound to the external and physical, an end in itself, and is called
false grace (sheker ha-chen). This illusory beauty is the ultimate
ugliness, for it seduces human beings into worshipping vanity and appearance
rather than unity and essence. The kind of inspiration that is the beginning
point of a good education process must orient students' tastes and passions
toward the beauty of truth and holiness, strengthening them to withstand the
temptations of false pleasures and ideals. King
David teaches that the "Torah of God is perfect; it restores the soul." The
Ba'al Shem Tov explains this to mean that no matter how much knowledge of
Torah we many obtain, its essence and ultimate beauty is completely beyond
our comprehension; an untouchable, unknowable wisdom that is immune to, and
unadulterated by our limited perceptions and conceptions. Anyone who studies
Torah--appreciating that the individual details and even the most profound
understandings all hint to another level that is absolutely awesome and
inconceivable--will find that this type of learning "restores the soul." The educator begins the task of unlocking and revealing the beauty of soul by identifying the sensitivities and talents of each student. These abilities, as they develop, become the channels through which the soul finds expression in the physical world. Every personality has predispositions and aptitudes, strengths and weaknesses, and these are the raw materials of an educator's craft. He reinforces his students' natural gifts, minimizes or eliminates their blocks, and thereby creates the possibility of self-fulfillment. His students will be satisfied when they feel they are realizing their potential; they will be frustrated whenever they feel they are being prevented from doing so, whether by internal or external obstacles. Peace is the sense of well-being--the aura of grace and beauty--that surrounds those who are utilizing their sensitivities and talents in a way that is consistent with God's Torah for the benefit of the community.
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