After a long saga of false hopes and a rapid indoctrination to the underside of Israeli building contractors, I finally entered my quaint apartment. Now, the work really begins, and I am not referring to the daunting task of finding a place for each of my items, nor to screwing in toilet paper holders, light fixtures, or finding missing pairs to all of my socks. But I have to educate my house properly. Which begs the question, ‘how can I educate a house’? This question is not based on strategy, meaning, how can I best educate my house, rather it is a literal question, which is probably how most of you took it, on how is education related to an inanimate object such as a house?
Based on the Lockian view of the human being, that we are a tabula rasa, and the purpose of education is to put ideas in our head, then the question still stands. How can a house receive an education? But according to the Jewish view and even the Greek one[1], education is not about what one puts in to a person, rather, it is a process of drawing out potential. The Hebrew word for an education is ‘chincuh’, which is defined succinctly by Rashi as ‘a language of beginning, and the entrance of a person or object to the craft for which it will stand in the future’.[2] In other words, we have a unique potential, latently awaiting expression in the future, and an education is the process of bringing about that future goal. Therefore, the Jewish custom of having a ‘chanuchat Habayit’ or an inauguration ceremony is exactly that, the house is receiving its first class on how its potential is supposed to be used.[3] A housed used only to keep out the elements is not a proper use of space. A house used as place to welcome guests, and teach children the proper values that are not found in the ‘street’ is what a house is able to provide. Therefore, the Jewish home starts with a night of guests and a night of study, as the house is given a vision for what it is meant to be.
Perhaps, the most important value in our home will be the following idea.[4] A person who, G-d forbid, loses an arm or a leg becomes a fundamentally different person. He receives a handicapped sticker and the first impression he gives is forever altered. It will be nearly impossible for any stranger he meets to look past the imperfection at first glance. Those initial few seconds will always be drawn to the imperfection and only after will a stranger realize that there is a person beyond the injury. The Hebrew language has different words to describe a person without a hand or a leg. Even an inanimate object such as a shirt with a slight tear is no longer called a ‘shirt’, but a ‘torn shirt’. What people don’t realize, though, is that character traits work the same way. Blemishes in character are also blinding and a deficit in even one trait changes the whole make up of a person and puts them into a different category. It takes tremendous efforts to be just a ‘person’ and not an ‘angry person’ or ‘arrogant person’ or ‘insecure person’ or ‘lustful person’ or ‘selfish person’ or ‘self absorbed person’. Throughout childhood we acquire blemishes, we literally lose hands and legs. Luckily, unlike a hand or a foot, character can be rebuilt and perfected.
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