I was on the plane to the Siyum HaShas (yes, at MetLife stadium) talking to one of my colleagues at school, who is also one of the rabbis who saved my Judaism. Shoutout to Rabbi Kurtz!
(A brief aside- Rabbi Kurtz taught me Medical Ethics, Business Ethics and Jewish Philosophy at TI/ the Blitstein Institute for Women while I was a teen in high school. I was fascinated by the topics and his erudition, and when I got to Stern, emailed him that there was going to be a conference on organ donation. His reply- “Send me your notes” is the reason I attended that conference, got involved in the YU Medical Ethics Society, and am now the proud carrier of a halachic organ donor card. If you don’t know about HODS, check them out- I love the idea that when I die, I will hopefully save someone’s life.)
Anyway, Rabbi Kurtz and I got to talking, and he asked me whether I ever use my English Literature degree.
The answer is: yes! Every day! Every time I teach Tanakh.
So today I’m going to take you through Prophets [Navi] class, and show you how I teach Navi as opposed to how you might have learned it elsewhere.
Let’s begin with Jeroboam.
When we are first introduced to Jeroboam, he is King Solomon’s servant. The verse reads:
וְיָרׇבְעָם֩ בֶּן־נְבָ֨ט אֶפְרָתִ֜י מִן־הַצְּרֵדָ֗ה וְשֵׁ֤ם אִמּוֹ֙ צְרוּעָה֙ אִשָּׁ֣ה אַלְמָנָ֔ה עֶ֖בֶד לִשְׁלֹמֹ֑ה וַיָּ֥רֶם יָ֖ד בַּמֶּֽלֶךְ׃ Jeroboam son of Nebat, an Ephraimite of Zeredah, the son of a widow whose name was Zeruah, was Solomon’s servant; he raised his hand against the king.
וְזֶ֣ה הַדָּבָ֔ר אֲשֶׁר־הֵרִ֥ים יָ֖ד בַּמֶּ֑לֶךְ שְׁלֹמֹה֙ בָּנָ֣ה אֶת־הַמִּלּ֔וֹא סָגַ֕ר אֶת־פֶּ֕רֶץ עִ֖יר דָּוִ֥ד אָבִֽיו׃ The circumstances under which he raised his hand against the king were as follows: Solomon built the Millo and repaired the breach of the city of his father, David.
I ask the students if they can figure out why Jeroboam’s position is significant. Sometimes they can. If they can’t, I direct them to go look at I Kings 11:11.
וַיֹּ֨אמֶר יְהֹוָ֜ה לִשְׁלֹמֹ֗ה יַ֚עַן אֲשֶׁ֣ר הָֽיְתָה־זֹּ֣את עִמָּ֔ךְ וְלֹ֤א שָׁמַ֙רְתָּ֙ בְּרִיתִ֣י וְחֻקֹּתַ֔י אֲשֶׁ֥ר צִוִּ֖יתִי עָלֶ֑יךָ קָרֹ֨עַ אֶקְרַ֤ע אֶת־הַמַּמְלָכָה֙ מֵעָלֶ֔יךָ וּנְתַתִּ֖יהָ לְעַבְדֶּֽךָ׃ And the LORD said to Solomon, bLit. “This is with you.”“Because you are guilty of this-you have not kept My covenant and the laws which I enjoined upon you—I will tear the kingdom away from you and give it to one of your servants.
Obviously, when God tells Solomon that the kingdom will be given to one of his servants, it could be understood to refer to any member of the kingdom. They are all his servants. But there is something delicious about it being his literal servant, and this information explains why Jeroboam is introduced as he is.
Then we have to parse out what the Millo is (it’s been mentioned before) and what Peretz David (the breach of the city) is.
So we go back to I Kings 9:15 and look at this verse (which we’ve already learned, but in case they don’t remember).
וְזֶ֨ה דְבַר־הַמַּ֜ס אֲשֶֽׁר־הֶעֱלָ֣ה ׀ הַמֶּ֣לֶךְ שְׁלֹמֹ֗ה לִבְנוֹת֩ אֶת־בֵּ֨ית יְהֹוָ֤ה וְאֶת־בֵּיתוֹ֙ וְאֶת־הַמִּלּ֔וֹא וְאֵ֖ת חוֹמַ֣ת יְרוּשָׁלָ֑͏ִם וְאֶת־חָצֹ֥ר וְאֶת־מְגִדּ֖וֹ וְאֶת־גָּֽזֶר׃ This was the purpose of the forced labor which Solomon imposed: It was to build the House of the LORD, his own palace, the Millo and the wall of Jerusalem, and [to fortify] Hazor, Megiddo, and Gezer.
Then we look at Metzudat David there.
ואת המלוא. כי דוד הניח סמוך להחומה מקום פנוי להתאסף בו אנשים כמו שנאמר (שמואל ב ט):
So we determine that the Millo was a large space that was used for the public and by the public. It was their gathering space.
This is where I pause and make this relatable to them by referencing Central Park (and I pull up pictures of Central Park on the board). Sometimes I also use Millennium Park. I ask them whether they’ve been to either of these parks or know what they are- they all say yes.
Then I challenge them- how would you feel if the governor of New York took public property (Central Park) and decided to build it up in order to create housing for his staff?
They immediately get into it.
“That wouldn’t be fair!”
“That’s a misuse of public property!”
“I would be angry!”
Then I ask- remember what King Solomon has done for the nation. They are living in a golden time because of him. It’s a time of prosperity, security and wealth for the nation. Do you think anyone will share these feelings of upset or frustration with him?
Their responses are immediate.
“No.”
“Of course not.”
“You’d need to be really brave to do that.”
After determining what the Millo was, we go back to our current set of verses to examine what Peretz David is (we look at Metzudat David at this juncture).
וזה הדבר. רצה לומד: בדבר הזה מרד במלך, אשר גינה מעשיו בפרסום, ואמר שלמה בנה את המלוא, ודוד הלא הניחו פנוי, להתאסף בו לעת הצורך:
and closed up – that is to say, from the beginning the wall of the city of David was breached in order that people could go in and out in order to bring their complaints to the king. And now see, Shlomo closed up the breach as if he has no concern for administering justice to the people.
I challenge the students again to consider how they would feel about this. We compare the lack of access now being granted to the people to the open access in Chapter 3 that allowed prostitutes to come have their disputes judged by the king.
At this point, the students are well aware of the issues that the nation might have with King Solomon’s choices. This prepares them to look into what exactly Jeroboam did.
I ask the students to analyze Jeroboam’s character at this stage. A lowly servant, he dared to rebel against the king! So the students suggest he has an internal moral compass, is a man of integrity, dares to speak truth to power, and other positive characteristics. He is a voice for the voiceless, a man of the people!
We delineate Solomon’s possible responses. I make the students figure them out, and list them on the board as they come up with them. We typically end up with the take that Solomon can:
accept Jeroboam’s position and make changes/ try to make amends
attempt to get rid of Jeroboam (exile him/ kill him)
ignore Jeroboam completely
Then we examine Chazal’s statement that Jeroboam critiqued Solomon in public. I let the students figure out which reaction they think Solomon will have to the critique (based on the possibilities they came up with prior to this). The students come to the realization on their own that Solomon is going to want to save face and not allow a lowly servant to push him around.
We read the rest of the narrative, including Jeroboam’s appointment to tax collector and his meeting with Ahijah. We underscore that Jeroboam’s dynasty will be conditional, just as Solomon’s was. (I tell them to highlight/ underline those verses in their text.)
And then we’re ready to tackle the Radak. I tell them the Radak is going to have an alternate take on the timeline, divide them into chavruta pairings, and have them learn it. Here it is.
וירם יד במלך. מרד בו שדבר בו ולא ירא ממנו וכבר הפקיד אותו שלמה לכל סבל בית יוסף לקבל המס ממנשה ואפרים כי ראה כי עושה מלאכה כלומר ראהו זריז במלאכתו ובעת ההוא קודם שהרים יד במלך מצא אותו אחיה השילוני ובשרהו במלכות על כן על הפקידות שהיה לו מתחילה ועל בשורת המלכות שאמר לו אחיה גבה לבו ודבר מה שדבר בשלמה ושלמה כאשר הוגד לו בקש להמיתו וברח למצרים כן הוא סדר הענין הזה אבל בין וירם יד במלך ובין ויבקש שלמה להמית את ירבעם הושמו הדברים למה גבה לבו להרים יד במלך:
They have to answer questions on this on their own. I walk around the room to assist them if they’re stuck or don’t know the vocabulary.
When they’re done, I ask them to consider how the Radak’s timeline of events changes how we understand the character of Jeroboam. Sometimes they give me blank looks, so I restate, cajole and provide examples until they catch my drift. We end up with this:
(If you’re on an iPad or phone, pinch and embiggen the photo to see everything they figure out.)
What they come to realize is that it’s very different to speak truth to power when you have no guarantee of success…as opposed to when you’re certain that you will become king!
I ask them to connect the Radak’s rendering of Jeroboam’s journey to a famous work of English literature. If it’s a year where they’ve read it, they get it instantly. It is, of course, Macbeth.
MACBETH
Speak, if you can: what are you?
First Witch
All hail, Macbeth! hail to thee, thane of Glamis!
Second Witch
All hail, Macbeth, hail to thee, thane of Cawdor!
Third Witch
All hail, Macbeth, thou shalt be king hereafter!
Why do I do this? For several reasons. First, I want them to realize that anything they love- in movies, books, literature and so on- the Tanakh had first. Second, often they are reading or have read Macbeth in their English class, and so it’s good for them to see the parallels and get excited about what they know and applying their knowledge.
But here’s the other piece- the fundamental question at the heart of Macbeth is this- would he have been king if he had done nothing? The third witch hailed him as king, after all. Or does he only become king because he (really his wife) chooses to intervene? How does this reflect back on Jeroboam? When he goes up against Solomon, does he do it because he believes in the cause, or does he do it because he’s assured he cannot lose? His motivations matter, because they will inform the trajectory he travels. (There is a huge difference between a Jeroboam who begins as a moral, well-intentioned voice of the people and later devolves into a king who must preserve power at all costs, and one who was self-serving from the get-go. There is also a difference in the kind of man he is- is he someone with guts, willing to go against the status quo when he might personally lose out, or is he someone who will only fight when he knows he has nothing to lose?)
We then make sure to parse Radak’s understanding of what the Peretz David was. Unlike Metzudat David, he believes that it was actually an escape route through which the kings would flee if the people rose up against them. The fact that Solomon was willing to close it suggests he had no fear of the people, which is not a good quality in a ruler.
At this juncture, I show them this clip from the animated cartoon version of Anastasia. See if you can figure out why.
(The answer is that Dmitri saves Anya and the Romanov grandmother by taking them through the servants’ quarters- an illustration of what Radak is talking about. Showing then this visual breaks up class, makes learning sticky, and helps them think of the material through yet another lens.)
All of this sets the students up for a deep exploration of Jeroboam’s journey- and ultimately his downfall. Best of all, it prepares them to take multiple perspectives. By the time they are done, they should be able to argue different versions of Jeroboam- one who begins with so much promise and loses it, and one who was self-serving from the very beginning. I will ask students to reflect on this in writing (sometimes an essay, but sometimes something less formal) later on. They will have to back up everything they say using evidence from the verses and the commentaries.
So here’s what I’m really teaching them:
Critical thinking
Forecasting/ making predictions
Analysis
Intertextuality
Finding evidence/ using evidence to support their points
Comfort with ambiguity (who *was* Jeroboam? There’s no one right answer).
Personal relevance (whether in terms of thinking about what they would have done in those situations, how this connects to society now, or how it connects to great works of literature or contemporary films).
I think that’s an excellent use of my English Lit degree, don’t you? ;)
Note: This happened to be a particularly good class. Some days I wake up and just listen to “My Life” by Imagine Dragons on repeat. If you’re a teacher and your class doesn’t flow like this (and you wish it would), that’s okay. You’ll get there!
(This is ‘Musings with Chana,’ my newsletter for items that don’t belong in ‘Parsha with Chana.’ ‘Parsha with Chana’ is a weekly publication, while ‘Musings with Chana’ will appear more frequently. If you would like to unsubscribe because you prefer to only receive the weekly newsletter, please feel free to do so by clicking the unsubscribe button below.)