[HANASHIR:8670] Re: A dilemma teaching Chad Gadya

[Judah Cohen <jcohen...>]

I agree with all that's been said here; so since the theoretical side has
been so well treated, I'll add a couple personal stories:

My mother used to sing Chad Gadya with the idea that the Angel of Death
"took away" the butcher.  (She *did* include "slaughter the ox.")  Of
course, for those who know my mother, this was accompanied by
illustrations on posterboard.  The one for the angel of death was of a
gravestone with the name "butcher" on the front.  Until the fourth or
fifth grade, I never understood that illustration to be a gravestone, but
rather a place where the butcher had been "taken"--a large box of some
sort.  This even though I'm sure my mother said something about how the
butcher got old and died when she presnted the song.  It just didn't
connect.

The moment I finally understood what the "box" really was turned into the
moment I faced my own mortality--that I, too, would die some day.  It
scared me at first, quite a bit.  But interestingly, I believe it was
approximately a developmentally "appropriate" time for me to understand
the concept of death.  And it became a great way for me to discuss the
issue with my parents.  

That said, a thought:
These kinds of "less-than-PC" stories and songs that are part of a
nuanced and deep culture may actually give children the opportunity to
face potentially difficult issues in their own time, and within a
caring and supportive environment; and *not* at some
pre-ordained moment when parents deem them "appropriate."  I grew up with
Chad Gadya, as I grew up with the Purim story, as I grew up with the
Akedah, as
I grew up with the Shoah. All were introduced to me when I was very young;
but none were shoved down my throat.  Rather, they were there for me to
interpret as I was ready to interpret them.  I feel that coming to the
stories in this way gave me perhaps the best introduction to some of
the most difficult issues of the "real
world" as I could have had.

Judah.

------------------------ hanashir (at) shamash(dot)org -----------------------+