by
Daniel D. Stuhlman
November 2000
from Chadashot, published by the Chicago Rabbinical Council
and http://people.delphi.com/ddstuhlman/liblob.htm
Heroes of Learning part two
Last month after I finished writing my column I learned that a Chicago Rabbinical Council member, Shmuel Jablon, just had his first book published. My criteria for heroes of learning state that the person should have an influence far beyond their original time and place. Rabbi Shmuel Jablon is a future hero. Through his writings and teaching his influence is reaching a large audience. Professor George Foot Moore made significant contributions to Jewish scholarship and helped non-Jews better understand the Tannaic age of Judaism. The last example, Aaron Copland, was not an academic hero, but a musician, composer, teacher of music and conductor. Aaron Copland, who was one of the definers of American symphonic music, donated his papers to the Library of Congress. Now we can learn more about this musical genius through a digital on-line collection.
Rabbi Shmuel Jablon
I first met Shmuel when he was a simicha (rabbinical) student and taught American history in the high school affiliated with his yeshiva. He impressed me as a teacher who cared not only for academics, but also for the relationships between students and history. When he said, "Remember you are B'nai Torah,"(1) he was talking about their behavior and how the outside world perceived them. Several of his former students remembered that his method of teaching demanded original thinking. He prepared them for learning at a college level. One assignment was a constitutional convention with students taking the roles of each of the thirteen states. The assignment taught the students about history and the human interaction required to make agreements. Another assignment was a term paper on an aspect of American history. Usually students of this age have a hard time figuring out the scope of a research paper. Shmuel was able to guide the student to do some original historical research. Several of the students wrote about family members and their contributions to the Jewish community. These papers shed light on the institutions' history that was not in any history books. These students later donated copies of their papers to the library.
After receiving his simicha (rabbinical ordination) he became the director of the Sephardic Hebrew Day School (Skokie, IL). He was recruited to be the associate headmaster of South Peninsula Hebrew Day School (Sunnyvale, CA) and since September 2000 is the head of the lower school (grades N-5) of the Fuchs Mizrachi School (Cleveland, OH).
His new book, Jewish Answers,
is published by iUniverse and Writers' Club Press (iUniverse.com
ISBN: 0-595-12231-0). The book is a compilation of answers he has
given as one of the rabbis on "Ask a Rabbi" panel on
Jewish.com. The questions range from everyday issues to holidays
and religious Zionism. Some questions require a halakhic
(according to Jewish law) response while others require the
compassion and understanding of a teacher or social worker.
(Shmuel refers difficult legal questions to others who are more
qualified to answer.) His answers demonstrate an unusual ability
to understand the motivation of the questioner and give a
sensitive, compassionate, modern Orthodox answer. You may read
sample pages on the Internet before deciding to purchase. The
book is aimed at two audiences, the person seeking to learn more
about Judaism and experts such as rabbis, who may want help when
they receive similar questions. For more information on his book
go to his personal web site www.rabbijablon.com.