I have learned to fear my students \u2013 their unknown past and what might inhabit\ntheir present is worrying me. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
My love of teaching is under assault.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A year ago, I taught a lecture course on religion and magic to about\n120 first-semester and transfer students at UNC Charlotte. Our lecture hall was\ndark, without windows. The entrance was at one end of the long room, opposite\nthe stage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The subject of gun rights came up early in the semester. A student introduced\nthe issue during a lecture on the term \u201creligion.\u201d He wanted to compare the challenges\nof definition I described to the difficulty he faced defending gun rights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I tried to return us to our lecture topic. Another student raised his\nhand and made a second comment about protecting gun rights. Most Americans misunderstand\nthe nature of an assault rifle, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was a strange, disconcerting moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A couple of months later, on October 29, I walked into class both\nfragile and fearful. It was just two days after eleven people were murdered at\nthe Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh. The shooter\u2019s social media profiles\nincluded an account description that read: \u201cThe Jews are the children of Satan\u201d\n(John: 8:44). <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I was to lecture on how magic had become associated with the devil in\nmedieval Christian thought. The lecture would explain how the depiction of Jews\nas the devil\u2019s offspring had led to labeling Jews as evil magicians and\nsorcerers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I mentioned the shooting. Then, I looked across a dark lecture hall\nfilled with people I didn\u2019t know. \u201cI am afraid of you,\u201d I said. \u201cI am afraid to\ngive this lecture.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Though we spoke about those fears together for a few minutes, I never\nwent into the classroom again without anxiety. My students knew I was Jewish.\nSome knew I was a rabbi. I\u2019d walk up the stairs to the stage and think wryly\nwhat an easy target I could be. I tried to stand behind the podium instead of\npacing across the stage, as I usually do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That fear never went away. Exactly seven months later, on April 29, I\nwent to teach just days after the Poway Synagogue shooting in San Diego. I\nwondered on the drive to campus: Was I putting my students at risk by teaching\na course on the history of European antisemitism? Would a student look up\ncourses on Jewish history and pick up an assault rifle?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Two hours later UNCC was put on lockdown. A shooter killed two of our\nstudents and injured four others. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
There is no evidence that the shooter harbored any antisemitic views.\nBut he showed how easy it was to bring a gun on campus and to murder people.\nSimple, really.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This fall, a student in my online course on Hebrew Scriptures (read:\nTanakh) wrote me an email suggesting that dropping the course might be necessary.\nThe student wanted to make sure it wasn\u2019t \u201cJewish-based.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was the week Donald Trump called Jews ignorant and disloyal if they voted\nfor Democrats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Had I been searched online? Had the student discovered I was an\nordained rabbi? What kinds of websites did my correspondent like to frequent?\nWhere did the student come from? <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I was afraid to provoke by asking what was meant by the comment. I was\nafraid to do anything more than I did, which was to write explaining that the\nclass material was taught in a secular, academic environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For the first time in my life I have gained a semblance of\nunderstanding for the kind of courage teaching can require. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I want to thank the teachers of this broken world. I am certain that\nmost of us only want to bring good things into this world. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dear students: Here, with us, you can learn that the world is\nbeautiful, complex, extraordinary and precious. Here, with us, you can find\nthat humanity can create literature that lasts millenia, art that transcends\nits time, music that can move each and every soul. Your classrooms are\nplaygrounds for your minds, for your hearts, for your future. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
You can learn to love your world and find humanity in our classrooms.\nIf you do, there will be no reason for fear.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I have learned to fear my students \u2013 their unknown past and what might inhabit their present is worrying me. My love of teaching is under assault. A year ago, I taught a lecture course on religion and magic to about 120 first-semester and transfer students at UNC Charlotte. Our lecture hall was dark, without … <\/p>\n