[HANASHIR:8666] RE: A dilemma teaching Chad Gadya

[Eric Simon <erics...>]

>I vote for leaving in all the stories of the Torah, the haggadah, the
megillah, etc. and then making every effort to field the students'
questions in as responsible a way as possible.  And please counter those
who protest about violence in the Bible with this idea: if you don't expose
children to these stories, how can you teach them empathy, the importance
of tolerance, peace, love, righteousness, etc. etc. etc.? 

Indeed.  I always thought a very powerful message in the Seder was the
"diminishing our joy" (spilling drops of wine out), because HaShem was
saddened that his creatures (the Egyptians) were drowned at the Sea.
Avoiding the drowning at the sea would avoid the powerful lesson.
+-------------------------------------------------------+
| Eric Simon     | erics (at) radix(dot)net                      |
+-------------------------------------------------------+
| proud daddy to Joshua Ari  4/18/93 - 27 Nissan 5753   |
|        and Eliana Rebekah  3/12/95 - 11 Adar-2 5755   |
+-------------------------------------------------------+

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