Published on Jewcy.com (http://www.jewcy.com)
When in doubt, dumb it down!
By Laurel Snyder
Created 01/18/2007 - 14:13

Remember these guys from Hebrew school?Remember these guys from Hebrew school?Often, when I want to learn about a subject, I go to the library, or a website, or I rent a documentary... and I find that there's already so much I DON'T know that I'm lost in the introduction.  Maybe you're so brilliant that this has never happened to you, but I doubt it.

And while Chaos Theory may be, by its very definition HARD, Jewish history, culture, and religious thinking should NOT be that hard.  So if you crack a "smart" book and find youself lost, you just need to dumb it down.  Which is where kiddie books (and movies too) can be helpful.

I want to offer that books intended for kids are often incredibly accesible, but surprisingly complete.  So you shouldn't be afraid to visit the children's section of the library, or the big evil bookstore.  Whether you want to learn about how to pray, bible stories, Jewish trivia, holidays... or whatever.

In fact, my very (smart and) gentile husband recently read a kiddie-book about Jewish history without any prompting  from me. If he can do it...



Source URL (retrieved on 12/01/2008 - 21:36): http://www.jewcy.com/faithhacker/when_in_doubt_dumb_it_down

Links:
[1] http://www.amazon.com/Chaos-Making-Science-James-Gleick/dp/0140092501/sr=8-1/qid=1169147060/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/105-5273457-8720445?ie=UTF8&s=books
[2] http://www.artscroll.com/cgi-bin/getitem?SIDCH
[3] http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/093387314X/ref=pd_cp_b_title/105-5273457-8720445
[4] http://www.amazon.com/Essential-Jewish-Trivia-Book-Kids/dp/0943706297/sr=8-5/qid=1169147222/ref=sr_1_5/105-5273457-8720445?ie=UTF8&s=books
[5] http://www.amazon.com/Kids-Catalog-Jewish-Holidays/dp/0827605811/sr=1-2/qid=1169147611/ref=sr_1_2/105-5273457-8720445?ie=UTF8&s=books