TIDBITS – Ruth Bengio – Towards the NLSCongress 2019

Teaching –
An Impossible Case
in Permanent Emergency

Ruth Bengio
 

Tafsan in Hebrew means the catcher, the heart catcher. This Tafsan catcher has two faces: that catching the adolescent and that of clinging to one’s desire and not giving ground on one’s desire to catch the teenager who is falling. It is about a knowing-how to do in emergency, in urgency, to go to the encounter of the teenager, of the student’s symptom, to say yes and no at the same time. Tafsan is a place on the way that comes to meet the one who wanders in his path.
 
Exile in the language of S
 
S. 13, goes to a French-Arab-Israeli junior high school. In Hebrew class, he continually repeats that he is not good in Hebrew, that he does not know how to speak this language well, but on the other hand he is very good in English. He likes to speak English. S. decided to do nothing in Hebrew. He did not work, he did not do anything. He was friendly and at the same time annoying, making conversation with his friends in English and Arabic during Hebrew class. I did not understand why he kept talking about not knowing Hebrew when he actually spoke it fluently.
 
One day during class work, I look at him, wondering how is he going to hold on for one and a half hours without doing anything. It is the urgency of an intervention that arises in me, an invention that allows him to subsequently find his response to the study of Hebrew. I called him over and said, "You will do this assignment in English.” He began to stammer: "But we're in Hebrew class! How come?" I replied, "You do not know Hebrew, do you? But do you know English?” He says yes with pride and I continue saying, "Then you will read the text in Hebrew and you will write the answers in English.” S. went to work without saying a word. The next day I meet him and said to him: "So, since you did a good job, you can prepare your next presentation in English if you want.” He answers happily: "No! I'll write it in Hebrew, I'll bring it to you tomorrow."
 
Translation: Florencia F. C. Shanahan