Educational Jump-Start
ה (ויקרא א, א)
ֶׁל משֶא אָרְקִּיָו
Hashem called to Moshe. (Vayikra 1:1)
Said R. Asi: Why do we start teaching children with Vayikra and not with Bereishis? Because the children are pure and the korbanos are pure. Let those who are pure come and engage themselves with that which is pure. (Vayikra Rabbah 7:3)
Let’s go ask a question to a straight-thinking educator: Where do you think it’s best to start in the Chumash when teaching young children?
He might suggest beginning with Parshas Lech Lecha, to teach the children about how Avraham obeyed Hashem, and how Sarah davened to have a child.
That would make a lot of educational sense.
So why do Chazal say we should start by teaching little children about korbanos? If we do that, what will the children hear? The kohanim slaughter animals and catch the blood in receptacles and throw it on the Altar. This doesn’t sound like the most educational topic in the world. It’s not what we want our children to be doing.
And the rebbe teaching them the subject probably doesn’t even understand these matters himself. He doesn’t exactly know why kohanim are supposed to throw blood on the Mizbeach and what all these things are about. He only knows what it says.
Yet, the first rule in teaching children is to open their minds and develop their powers of understanding. But rote learning does exactly the opposite.
And what parshah do the children go on to after this? The beginning of Bereishis. Another strange choice of subject material. What does a children understand about “emptiness and chaos on the face of the deep, and the spirit of Elokim is hovering over the face of the waters”? Do we even understand it? It is pretty puzzling why we choose the subject matter we do.
