Page:A Jewish Interpretation of the Book of Genesis (Morgenstern, 1919, jewishinterpreta00morg).pdf/30

 The Book of Genesis

12

must result in the formation of right hal)its. We are constantly forming habits, some right and some wrong; but if our instruction be correct, our discipline wise, and our environment healthful, the right habits will predominate over the wrong. The mere insistence upon punctual attendance, upon recognition of the teacher's authority, upon conscientious preparation of lessons, these and other conditions obtaining in the public school, are powerful factors in the formation and development of such right habits as punctuality, obedience, and diligence. Association with comrades in play is perhaps an even more potent influence in the formation of habits, and, if carried out under proper influences, in the formation of right habits, or morals.

It

follows,

therefore,

main function of the

the
 * first

place because

it

is

that

religious

it

is

school

not the to

teach

sole,

nor even

morals,

in

questionable whether morals can actually

the l)e

taught by set instruction, and in the second place because, if morals can be so taught, it is preposterous and reprehensible that the main instruction in so vital a subject should be reserved for the religious

one or two hours a week. of the Jewish religious school, therefore, is by no means, as is generally supposed, to teach morals. Rather it is to teach the child, and the adult, too, if it can reach him, Judaism; to make him a good, loyal, understanding Jew but at the same time to make him realize that Judaism, more than any other religion, is not a religion of mere belief and blind faith, but above all is a religion of life, conduct, and aspiration; that morality is an integral part of Judaism, and that, therefore, without right living and right morals, one can not be truly a Jew. The influence of the Jewish religious school must, of course, be positively moral and upbuilding. Moral teaching and influence there must be. but not. too much set moral instruction, and no constant interpretation and reinterpretation of the Ril)le stories only from the moral standpoint, as the mere framework upon which to fasten pretty moral lessons. The Bible stories and all stories should be told, partly because of the moral ideas they suggest and the moral impulses they 'impart, but after all chiefly because of their fundamental Jewish interest and significance, because of the supreme conviction on the part of the teacher that these stories contain Jewish history, mirror the life, thought, and ideals of the Jewish people, striving to know (iod. to worship Him truly, and to live the life which He has ordained for man. If the teacher tells these stories properly, voicing her own positive Jewish knowledge and spirit, the child will acquire the same knowledge and spirit, will learn what Judaism is, will become a loyal, earnest, knowing school with

its

The prime

task