Fate and Free Will: A Freshman Integrated Day
of Learning
One of my responsibilities as Coordinator of
Interdisciplinary Studies at The Frisch School is to create integrated days of
learning for the grades, based on their curriculum and the integrated theme
we’ve chosen for each grade. The ninth grade theme is identity, as freshmen
confront who they are in high school in new and complex ways. Over the course
of Chanukah week, we had a chance to have discussions about religious identity
by tying the ninth graders’ studies in ancient Greek history and literature to
their understanding of what it means to live in such a Hellenized-type world
today.
On March 5, we once again had a chance had
freshmen contemplate their identities, particularly how their choices in life
form who they are, by having them participate in a day-long program of
integrated learning centered around the theme of fate and free will.
The Inspiration for the Day: The
theme of the day arises from the students’ Biology and English classes. Students
have just finished a unit on Genetics and in English spend second semester
occupied with works that question how much of our behavior is destined and how
much is of our own making. Thus, coming into the day, freshmen have already
been thinking about how their genes contribute to their personalities and
behavior and how individual choices shape them as well.
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| Freshmen use their iPads to take a designer baby survey |
The Day’s “Curriculum”: Since
we have a 1:1 iPad program for the ninth graders, we began the day by having
students hold up their iPads to a QR code displayed on our auditorium
projector. The QR code led them to a designer baby survey where the students
chose physical traits and artistic, athletic or academic abilities that then
led them to have “children” with differing genetic mutations.
After taking the survey, English teacher Doug
Dunton introduced the genre of science fiction, and the students watched Gattaca,
a dystopic film about a society in which one can succeed only by having been
genetically engineered at birth. The main character describes the “genoism” that permeates his world: “Society has turned ‘discrimination’ into a science.” However, the main character of the film discovers that
“there is no gene for the human spirit.” He rises above society’s expectations
and prejudice and becomes, even with his genetic deficiencies, one of the elite
of his world.
Over the course of the rest of the day, students attended
various classes having to do with fate and free will. In English class,
students discussed the film and considered whether they’d make the same choices
if they took their designer baby surveys again, and in Biology lab the students
created their own baby bots. In History, since students spend the year studying
ancient civilizations and Jewish history, they learned about ancient Greek and
Christian attitudes towards fate and free will and compared them with Jewish
ones.
The Talmud lesson of the day, created by the school's mashgiach ruchani*, Rabbi Josh Wald, is always a favorite. Students
learn about technologies that solve problems with infertility and genetic
diseases: pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) and in-vitro fertilization
(IVF), and then analyze whether it is halakhically
acceptable to utilize those technologies. The lesson is a fascinating one, as
the Talmud teachers demonstrate how Torah is a living, dynamic entity, constantly
adapting and growing to meet new realities. Given the prevalence of Tay-Sachs
and other Ashkenazic and Sephardic genetic diseases, it’s important for
students to realize that there are medical solutions to these problems that are
halakhically acceptable to use.
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| A wall painting from the Egyptian New Kingdom shows Ramses II beating slaves from different regions of the ancient world |
Prepared by the head of the Jewish Philosophy
Department, Dr. Shira Weiss, the lesson on the Jewish approach to fate and free
will began with the question of whether the hardening of Pharaoh's heart in Sefer Shemot or of
the hearts of the Jewish People in Sefer Yeshayahu is
incompatible with free will. The presentation includes Rambam's, Rav Joseph Albo's, Prof. Nechama Leibowitz's and the Rav's views of fate and free will and ends with
the Rav's message that though
man may be inclined towards indulging his negative traits, he must learn to use
his destructive tendencies in service of his constructive ones.
This lesson obviously was a good one to learn
right before Pesach: though Pharaoh seems to have all the power in Egypt and is
in fact in control of his own people and slave peoples such as B’nai Yisrael, he in fact is just as
imprisoned as anyone he rules over, because he doesn’t have the ability to
change his actions. By becoming a free people, B’nai Yisrael are given the opportunity to serve not a despotic,
mercurial ruler, but one who wants them to tame their basic instincts by being
holy and good and therefore a positive force in the world.
Wrap-up: The day's lessons ended with a wrap-up that included a clip from Harry
Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. It is in the second story of the Harry
Potter series that Harry realizes he shares many of the same traits as
Voldemort, the darkest evil wizard of the magical world. However, Professor
Dumbledore tells the young hero that it is not the similar characteristics that
Harry shares with Voldemort that are important; it is the actions that Harry
chooses to take in the world that will distinguish him from his malevolent
nemesis. Harry learns that though he was endowed with physical and personality
traits that he cannot control, he does have control over his actions and the
person he wants to become.
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| Freshmen working on their wrap-up projects |
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| One freshman created this finely rendered line drawing |
Making Use of 1:1 for Freshman Integration Day
For the last two periods of the day, the students
had to use three ideas they’d learned over the course of the day, connect them
in a significant manner and then represent them artistically with the
Educreation app. Because Educreation also allows you to narrate your work,
students were asked to explain their artwork and how it reflected three of the
key ideas they’d learned about fate and free will.
The students enjoyed the break from regular
classes and, since we grouped them randomly for the day, the chance to mix with
different students than the ones they normally attend classes with. Most
importantly for their emotional and religious development, the freshmen
discovered that Judaism doesn’t give you a free pass to behave any way you want
to. You cannot say “it’s in my genes to be lazy” or “my parents are to blame
for all my faults.” Rather, Judaism asks each one of us to take responsibility
for our own actions and to work to change our negative qualities so we can
better serve God and humanity.
As the ninth graders read in the letters we
gave them at the start of the day, “Life is like a game of cards. The hand you are dealt is
determinism; the way you play it is free will.” -- Jawaharlal Nehru
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* a mashgiach ruchani is a spiritual advisor
* a mashgiach ruchani is a spiritual advisor
