How do you go about dealing with the adult nature of the beginning of the Parsha Pinchas to kids aged 12 or 13?
Any on-line material you suggest, suitable for kids this young, on that part of the parsha?
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2Doesn't this apply to anyone (of that age) studying the parasha, not just those whose birthday is that week? Or am I perhaps missing something?– msh210 ♦Commented Feb 5, 2015 at 0:45
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1Yes, of course. However, the bar/bat mitzva kid has the parsha thrust on them more than other kids.– Yehuda WCommented Feb 5, 2015 at 2:18
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Bar/Bat-Mitzvah isn't such a young child anymore. Why don't you just learn the pshat? I did at that age.– ScimonsterCommented Feb 5, 2015 at 6:29
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Not all kids of that age are the same. Some are more mature than others in their outlook on life. Some are more adult and some more childlike.– Yehuda WCommented Feb 5, 2015 at 14:33
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1 Answer
Many kids aged 12/13 have already heard about sex and very often have been told specific things about sex. The information they receive could be true, false, true but expressed in a non-ideal way, etc. etc. The point being that kids talk about this stuff and they will hear about sexuality sooner than a lot of people would expect.
That being said, my Rabbi told me once that explaining to a child the concepts of sexuality within the context of learning first of all allows you to form the concept for him. This is much better than a reactionary after the fact explanation once the child has already heard idea's from other sources. Additionally, explaining sexuality to a child through the Torah allows for the idea that sex has a place within the mitzvos/Torah.
Of course you need to know the child and understand how to teach the child these topics, but isn't that true with the education of a child for everything?
I'll end off with a question that, I believe, drives home the point: What better way is there to teach a child about sexuality than through and in the context of the parts of the Torah that talk about them?
