Rabbi Michi, I think the question was a principled one: why educate through fear? Not only is there no benefit in it, but there may even be a situation—very rare, admittedly—of trauma. Are we lacking educational tools?

If someone doesn’t think this is appropriate, then he shouldn’t do it. There is absolutely no obligation to tell children these stories. Personally, I don’t see any special problem with it.

I also grew up on horror stories about microscopic viruses that cause those who are infected with them extremely serious damage, such as “polio,” which causes paralysis, and “AIDS” and “corona,” which can cause death. A truly frightening world…

Best regards, Penika

By the way, a substantial part of the punishment stories are about righteous people, with whom the Holy One, blessed be He, is exacting to a hair’s breadth, so it seems to me that you can relax 🙂

As for the nazirite who saw his reflection in the water and feared the impulse of pride, he imposed naziriteship on himself—not lifelong naziriteship, but ordinary naziriteship, in which he shaves his hair after thirty days.

And the updated version of the story of “Little Red Riding Hood”

The wolf went out to visit his grandmother. Mother Wolf warned little Wolfie: “Under no circumstances should you go near Little Red Riding Hood. The reds carry the corona virus, and you must be careful not to infect Grandma, who because of her age is in an ‘at-risk group.’”

So Wolfie goes along, and on the way he meets Little Red Riding Hood, who asks him: “Wolfie, where is your big mouth?” Wolfie answers: “I’m hiding my mouth behind the mask so I won’t infect Grandma.” But Little Red Riding Hood takes off her mask out of dismissiveness.

Wolfie continues and arrives at Grandma’s house, and sees that she is wearing a mask, and asks her: “Why do you have such a big mask?” And she answers: “So that I won’t get infected—I’m in the at-risk group, and I’m also not hugging and kissing you, dear Wolfie.”

And then Home Front Command people arrive, who through tracking Wolfie’s cellphone discover that he had been near Little Red Riding Hood, and they take Wolfie and Grandma to the corona hotels. And thus everyone is saved from the terrible virus.

With the blessing of “This too is for the good,” Zigmod Heinrich Greminger

Paragraph 4, line 1
…who tracked, by means of Wolfie’s cellphone

As should be said, your words are a wonder in my eyes (and a light to my path). This is explicit “Monsters, Inc.” after all (for we are indeed concerned about that tiny thing called “boo”)..

And this is what we say: “and let them rest ‘in her,’” “and let them rest ‘in him,’” and “and let them profit ‘Inc.’”

You’ve lost your mind. Apparently you committed a sin.

Shai,
Maybe it’s worth starting with remembering that these are educational stories and they don’t concern you. For example: the story about Rabbi and the mice. In reality, we don’t see that this happens.

I have no idea how old Shai is. And it really is interesting whether he still has trauma from those stories.
I actually remember traumas from “Karius and Baktus.” And not to mention stories from before the Holocaust, about which there are researchers (look, A. is already jumping out of his seat) who think that as part of German culture they influenced people’s psyche, such as “Max and Moritz”—that little human pair supposedly pulling cruel pranks. And toward the end the baker rolls them into dough and puts them in the oven to bake. Sound familiar? The crematoria…
“Grimm’s Fairy Tales” are full of stories about witches with brooms and without brooms. Tom and Jerry is a series packed with horrifying violence!! And I don’t have time now to write all the critiques…

But the easiest and most enjoyable thing is to bash the literature of the Sages and complain about Jewish education.

In any case, back to you, Shai. There’s a nice method today called 3-dimensional therapy, and it will remove all your fears and put only joy into you.
This is only a recommendation. (Personally, I also treat people with this method.)

With God’s help, 19 Elul 5780

To H – greetings,

The depth of the accountability attached to every negative act should also teach us the principle that “the measure of good is greater”: every positive act of ours is precious and important beyond compare in God’s eyes, especially when it was achieved with effort and toil. As the poet (Natan Alterman) said: “One must see the evil in order to fight it. One must preserve the good in order to take comfort in it.”

With blessings, S.Tz.

My dear learned friends, I was delighted by your comparing the legends of the Sages to Grimm’s Fairy Tales, Walt Disney films, various microbiology books, etc…. You did the Sages a great service by exposing to all eyes their greatness in horror screenplays—so much so that all those mentioned above learned their educational method and even adopted it for educating the children of their own nations and religions.

With God’s help, 19 Elul 5780

To B.G. – greetings,

From biology books we learn that there is order in the world, and that even a tiny creature can cause terrible harm. Therefore a person bears great responsibility to be careful not to deviate right or left from caution regarding the laws of nature.

The Torah too presents divine laws, and does not hide the fact that deviating from them may cause harm. Adam, who ate the fruit that had been forbidden to him, was expelled from the Garden of Eden; and Moses our Rabbi, who struck the rock instead of speaking to it, was denied entry into the Land. We live in a world that places heavy responsibility upon us.

On the other hand, we are comforted and strengthened by the knowledge—also emphasized in the Torah and in the words of the Sages—that the reward for every good deed is also very great, and no good thing is ever lost. We are further strengthened by the knowledge that the Creator granted us the kindness of the possibility of repentance, by which a change of will can uproot the bad deed retroactively, and turn intentional sins into unwitting ones (through repentance from fear), and even into merits (through repentance from love).

With the blessing: may it be a less anti year, S.Tz.

My dear learned one,
I was very happy that you publicly revealed your foolishness. As usual, you understood nothing of what was written. And nobody compared the Sages to Walt Disney.

I’ll try to simplify it a bit for you before I tell you a story from the Talmudic Sages and adapt it to your level.
There are stories among the words of the Sages that need to be told correctly and adapted to the age of the student. And that is certainly something that depends on the storyteller, or let’s call him the educator. But of course there is nothing to compare between the moral lesson in stories of the Sages and the moral lesson of Tom and Jerry.

To people like you, who come complaining and supposedly claiming the lowliness of Jewish religious education, we answer in the spirit of “answer a fool according to his folly.” For it is obvious to such people that one may watch all the above garbage.

And now I’ll tell you from tractate Sukkah about Sasson and Simchah. Have you heard of them?
There were two heretics: one was named Sasson, and one was named Simchah.
Sasson said to Simchah: I am better than you, since it is written, “Sasson and simchah shall overtake them” [Sasson comes first in the verse].
Simchah said to Sasson: I am better than you, since it is written, “Simchah and sasson for the Jews.”
Sasson said to Simchah: One day they will leave you and make you a messenger, as it is written, “For with simchah shall you go out.”
Simchah said to Sasson: One day they will leave you and draw water with you, as it is written, “And you shall draw water with sasson.”
That heretic whose name was Sasson said to Rabbi Abbahu: In the future, in the World to Come, you will draw water for me, as it is written, “And you shall draw water with Sasson.”
He said to him [Rabbi Abbahu to Sasson]: If it had said “for Sasson,” then the meaning would have been as you said. But now that it says “with Sasson,” the meaning is that with the skin of a person called Sasson a wineskin will be made and water will be filled into it.

Homework:
Try to think how the story is connected to you. Good luck!

With God’s help, 20 Elul 5780

To Tzachi – greetings,

The heretic Sasson reads the verse as though it said: “And you shall draw water for sasson.” In his view, sasson—joy or happiness—is the ultimate end toward which one should strive, and Judaism does not agree with that.

The purpose of the Torah is to do what is true because it is true, and what is good because it is good. But simchah, joy, is a “messenger” by means of which the striving toward truth and goodness is carried out with energy, and sasson, gladness, is a “vessel” that eases for a person the effort of drawing the water—the waters of knowledge and kindness—from the treasures of the Torah.

With the blessing of “calm to you” in spreading the wellsprings of Torah, S.Tz.