Teachers answering questions

[mysterious]

Ok I'm new here, I wanted to know if any of you guys come accross similar situations.
During alot of my Jewish classes, like Tanach for example, we learn all sorts of diferent views. All the time I question alot of these things that we are learning, mostly because they dont make sense to me, i dont understand them. However, I have this one teacher who just tells me that its not time to disuss it and it doesnt really have to do with what we are learning, when all I asked was a question on what we are learning! The way I figure it is that my teacher isnt a very good teacher and doesnt know how to answer me. However a decent person would just tell me they dont know, not tell me my question isnt appropriate, correct? So all I feel after class is not only annoyed that I didnt get my answers, but that my teacher feels that I am disrupting the class with my ridiculus questions. And I dont even know where to turn with my questions.
I know not all teachers are like this, but still. It really bothers me alot.

[kiyara]

wel most of the time when i or anyone asks questions the teacher will say something roundabout to the effect of "i dont know, but this is the curiculum, this is the torah, obey it, bc ur special, chosen nation, and ur gods beloved kids, and u need to strive to make kidush hashems and be holy in this world, and u can only do that by following these rules.
which is, of course, a very unsatisfactory answer, and makes me rooll my eyes.

[mysterious]

wel most of the time when i or anyone asks questions the teacher will say something roundabout to the effect of "i dont know, but this is the curiculum, this is the torah, obey it, bc ur special, chosen nation, and ur gods beloved kids, and u need to strive to make kidush hashems and be holy in this world, and u can only do that by following these rules.
which is, of course, a very unsatisfactory answer, and makes me rooll my eyes.
Lol. At least you got some sort of answer. But I'm not just talking about halacha and stuff like that, I am talking about like Tanach and stuff. If we would learn a certain mefaresh, and I disagreed or didn't understand, I was told pretty often that my questions were not right and had nothing to do with the class.
But that answer that you said is very unsatisfactory, and I would roll my eyes too. Why is it that those are the answers we get? We are holy, so what? Does that really mean that I'm so much better than the non-Jews around me? That seems to be the theme often. I feel often that these teachers try to show that we are so much better, when in reality we are all made in "tzelem Elokim."

[kiyara]

are we even all made betzelem elokim? who knows, there isnt really proof. but yeah , i hear u. i mean everyone is a person, its not our fault that we were born into a jewish mom, i mean you or i could just as easily been born in an african jungle wearing loincloths.
????? why put jews on a pedestal

[ShrinkingHead]

Please forgive the fact that I am going to respond to things out of order....

1) We put jews on a pedestal for one simple reason-- because otherwise we would not be able to see over everyone else's heads
[that was a 'jews are short' joke :p ]

2) I believe that we are all created in the image of god, and we [jews] are not inherently superior to anyone else; we simply have a better life-style and a more interesting history.

3) I know how frustrating it can be to ask a question and not get a satisfactory answer (i've been there too), it is especially irritating when rather than an answer you are told that your question is inappropriate or out of order.
the sad, but true, reason why this happens is that they just don't know, and they are embarrassed about that. they are embarrassed too, because not only do they have no answer for the question, but also you, a student, have asked a question that has likely never even occurred to the teacher.
the depressing truth is that many of the people who teach judaic subject in yeshiva high schools, have very little training on how to teach, and many of them are all indoctrinated with the same line of "this is the way it is, and no other way! if you ask questions you are a non-believer!!" -crap. not only do many of these teachers have not a single independent or original thought, many of them do not even understand what it is that they are saying.

The disturbing fact is that yeshiva high school teachers and 'rabbis' are beginning to resemble catholic school nuns-- if you ask questions you are naughty.

... i hope i have not offended anyone. if i have i would be interested to know why.

[mysterious]

3) I know how frustrating it can be to ask a question and not get a satisfactory answer (i've been there too), it is especially irritating when rather than an answer you are told that your question is inappropriate or out of order.
the sad, but true, reason why this happens is that they just don't know, and they are embarrassed about that. they are embarrassed too, because not only do they have no answer for the question, but also you, a student, have asked a question that has likely never even occurred to the teacher.
the depressing truth is that many of the people who teach judaic subject in yeshiva high schools, have very little training on how to teach, and many of them are all indoctrinated with the same line of "this is the way it is, and no other way! if you ask questions you are a non-believer!!" -crap. not only do many of these teachers have not a single independent or original thought, many of them do not even understand what it is that they are saying.

The disturbing fact is that yeshiva high school teachers and 'rabbis' are beginning to resemble catholic school nuns-- if you ask questions you are naughty.

... i hope i have not offended anyone. if i have i would be interested to know why.
I think you hit just about everything perfectly right. I know it was that my teacher simply didnt know, I didn't think of what you said about her never having even thought of the question though. Obviosly though she didn't know and was embarrased. However, she never told me I was a non-believer (I am actually a believer) which is probably why she couldn't understand where my questions were coming from. This specific teacher, while I actually did like her (as a person) was probably the worst teacher I've ever had in my life. While I have realized that not all teachers teach like this and I can find answers in other place and I know it is ok to question, I hope others also realize, that even if their teacher doesnt exactly know what s/he is talking about, not to give up. We aren't "naught" for asking.
Regard to everyone being made in G-d's image, I don't know how much better our story is, I never learned the other stories (are we even allowed to? I know the new testament is out, but what about like the koran?) And how is our life "better"?

[ElectricMayhem]

In response to your last point, Rambam says in Hilchos Avodah Zarah 2:3 (click here to see for yourself (http://mechon-mamre.org/i/1402.htm)) that not only is it asur to read books of other religions, it's even asur to look at other religions' images. (Of course, he's not saying you can't look at someone who's wearing a cross, but I think most Poskim say it's not allowed to learn about Christian religious art.)

And about asking questions and not getting answers- first of all, it may be that the teacher does have a point (anything's possible) in that you may be without realizing it asking questions that are not totally related. Or the teacher might just be trying to move on with the class because she has a certain amount of material she wants to cover so she's trying to push you off because of that (happens to me all the time). So the only way to figure out if she has a good reason or not is to go over to her after class and ask the question again (but this time say maybe it's not related, but it's still bothering you and you would like to discuss it). And if she's just pushing you off because she can't think of a good answer, remember that not everyone is like her, and if you can find a better person to ask, then by all means do so.

And kiyara, RE your original post, even though I understand why you are annoyed at your teacher, he/she still has a point in that in Judaism, whenever we ask questions, we have to first understand that there is an answer somewhere, whether or not we can figure it out now or not. (That might not apply to a halachic opinion or a meforash, of course, but if you're questioning something really important, a hashkafic thing, it's critical to know before you ask that there is an answer, even if it might be too complicated for you to understand right now and even if you can't find it right away.) However, it's still wrong to just say "there must be an answer, so why should I look for one?" - knowing the truth will strengthen your faith.

One more thing - if anyone is giving back the "only sinners ask" answer, don't be angry at them, feel bad for them - they probably got that when they were young and don't know what else to say. :D

[mysterious]

Actually, Rambam is talking about avodah zara, Islam is not actually avodah zara...
Second, I will admit it, at times I did ask questions that may not have been so relevant to the class, but I would also say that 80 percent of the time they were very relevant. By the way, why would I want to go up to a teacher after class who just embarrased me in front of the whole class telling my question was inappropriate?

[ElectricMayhem]

Actually, Rambam is talking about avodah zara, Islam is not actually avodah zara...Ooh, key point. However, even if it's not technically Assur, it's not necessarily the best idea in any case - not everything that you're allowed to do is something you should be doing. (This is especially true here, since I think Rambam derives everything from Kedoshim Tihyu, which is all about following not just the letter of the law but the spirit of the law.)

Second, I will admit it, at times I did ask questions that may not have been so relevant to the class, but I would also say that 80 percent of the time they were very relevant. By the way, why would I want to go up to a teacher after class who just embarrased me in front of the whole class telling my question was inappropriate?I can't really judge since I've never seen your situation firsthand, but it's very likely that either you're overamplifying the negativity of your teacher's comments (no one is immune to exaggeration) or your teacher is acting more negatively than she intends to. The only way to come to an unbiased conclusion is to confront her about it.
By the way, could you give us an example of a question you asked that was shouted down, so we know the kind of thing your teacher reacts to?

[lamamakara?]

And I dont even know where to turn with my questions.
.mysterious, for you and for all other members, Rabbi Ely is here exactly for that

reason; to provide answers to your questions!

Every question is relevant!!

Check it out:

http://www.thelockers.net/forum/showthread.php?t=789 (http://www.thelockers.net/forum/showthread.php?t=789).