We work so hard everyday to make good grades, have privileges, and be accepted in to college. If you think about it we are all the עמל in high school sometimes
As the עמל finally makes his exit out of Kohelet, he starts to change his viewpoint again. His new viewpoint is that if one ends up with nothing, what was the point in trying in the first place? What was the point of all the "toil?" In high school, I think think we can all agree that there have been times when we have studied endlessly for a test, and aced it. But, there are also time when we studied for a test and something went wrong and we failed or did poorly on. I know this has happened to me and when I get a grade back that is less than wonderful, I always think about why was there even a point in studying if I failed anyways.
People always complain about our hebrew classes at school and how much work we have in them. I hear often, "what's the point of taking these Hebrew/Judaic classes if I am not going to need them when I go to college?" This sounds exactly like the עמל because he questioned what's the point of all of his toil if he couldn't take it with him when he died anyways. The viewpoint of some of our students is the same way. I believe though, that we will always use our Judaic studies in some way because after all, we are all Jewish.
Although this is bad, we must pick ourselves back up and maybe listen to the יראי אלוקים. The יראי אלוקים says that everything is about the journey and not about the goal. When we get one bad test grade we must not let that get us down, because there will always be more good grades on the road to success. Our journey in a dual-curriculum school is so important because it is what shapes our Jewish identity. From all the Navi to the chumash, to the ivrit classes, I have found values in each and every one of them to take with me in life.
Way to bring in the Chizuk, Soph! I think it's awesome how you brought the Amal into our everyday lives- you are absolutely correct. We should never say "what's the point of..."- because there is a point to things and to doing things. (I still don't think there's a point for mosquitoes, though. I don't care if bats eat them or whatever. They're pesky!)
ReplyDeleteThis is definitely an important point that needed to be said, Sophie, and you expressed it well. If there were no point to doing anything that a person failed at, important lessons would never be learned and future successes would be avoided. To learn anything, one must go on a journey, and that journey is just as important, if not more important, than the end result.
ReplyDeleteThanks for building up my spirits! This is extremely important to keep in mind. But you also have to have a balance. If you worry too much about your grades and are upset if you get a 93 instead of an 100 that could also be a problem for your health and your state of mind.
ReplyDeleteYay! I loved how you incorporated the point of Judaic Studies! Thought we may not realize it now, learning about Jewish history and values can have a huge impact on us later in life. Just because it may seem like there's not a point now doesn't mean there never will be.
ReplyDeleteWow Sophie. This is really inspirational. You have some really good points and you are finally fighting back which is good. We are all Jewish, truth, and we should all at least get some Jewish education in us, especially if you won't get it later in a different school after high school.
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