Janusz Korczak ideas in practice

Setting up a children's court was a challenging task,to say the least. The boys had no concept of what a legal suit entailed or its being more perilous than punching one's opponent in the nose.Chosing judges was random and the boys had not the patience to wait for Korczak. The judges were eventually chosen ,note the pinecone case where the judges were not so lenient.Children's courts in Poland had early experiments at the end of the eighteenth century:

• The National Commission of Education (the first such ministry in Europe) had recommended "Courts of Arbitration" in which students could settle their own arguments - punishments included not being allowed to wear one´s sword with a senior uniform during holy days - but the courts were in operation for only a short period after the partitions. (QUOTE)

Courts of Arbitration were rediscovered by Bronislaw Trentowski and predicated their success on judgment by one's equals.Korczak's court had not made much progress by the end of the camp.

He also tried out a system in which, once a week, the boys were to grade
their own and each other>> s conduct, rather than being graded by their
counselor. When Korczak asked everyone what grades they thought they deserved-on
a scale from one to five-some tried to be honest, but Mort, who had thrown
stones at the camp"s dog, demanded a five. The other boys decided he could get a
five only if the dog forgave him. But how could they know?
"The dog is on a
chain, so Mort should go up to him with a piece of meat," one said. "If the dog
takes the meat instead of biting him, it means he is willing to forgive and
forget."
Everyone agreed it was a fine plan. Luckily for Mort, the dog was
in a "wonderful" mood. it wagged its tail as he approached, and took the meat
from him. Satisfied that the dog had forgiven him, the boys gave Mort a five.
But Mort felt guilty.. The next day he asked for a lower number.
Setting up
a children´s court was to prove a more difficult challenge. While still a child,
Korczak may well have imagined himself going off to court to defend
workers>> rights, as his father had; he may have heard his father complain
about the injustices of the legal system. Now he had a chance to create a
children>>s court in which there would be true justice: a boy who was
pestered by a bully could sue him, and other boys, acting as judges, would
decide the case. He expected the campers to be as enthusiastic as he was about
their court of peers, but it didn´t turn out that way. They couldn´t grasp the
concept that suing someone was more effective than punching him in the nose, and
they didn>>t like tattling on each other. It wasn´t until Korczak himself
sued some rule breakers that the court could begin to function.
Choosing
judges was a random process at first. Korczak announced that anyone who wanted
to be a judge should meet on the veranda at 1 p.m. He was deliberately half an
hour late, and most of the boys had wandered off by the time he arrived. The
ones who had the patience to remain became the judges.
Civil and criminal
cases were heard once a week on the veranda or in a clearing in the forest. One
counselor acted as prosecutor, another as defense lawyer, and three campers as
judges. The most serious infractions were: going alone into the woods
("Forbidden because a bull might attack you") and not responding to bells ("We
cannot go out and drag everyone by the nose to the table´").
In the Case of
Picking Flowers, two boys charged with being late to breakfast after they
wandered off to pick flowers, were acquitted because it was taken into account
that they did not have such an opportunity in the city, and it was their first
offense. The judges were not so lenient in the Pinecone Case because Fishbein
showed no remorse over throwing pinecones with small stones in them at another
boy. The prosecutor had a difficult time getting him to admit his motive."Why
did you do it?""Because i had a lot of pinecones and didn´t know what to do with
them.""Why didn´t you throw them away?""Because it would have been
wasteful."This got a laugh from the spectators. "Are you sure there weren´t
small stones among the pinecones?" "I don´t know."Because Fishbein was one of
the younger boys, he was sentenced to only ten minutes of detention.
Korczak
carefully recorded the trials and the children´s response. He was improvising as
he went along, though he must have been familiar with the early experiments in
children´s courts in Poland at the end of the eighteenth century. The National
Commission of Education (the first such ministry in Europe) had recommended
"Courts of Arbitration" in which students could settle their own arguments -
punishments included not being allowed to wear one´s sword with a senior uniform
during holy days - but the courts were in operation for only a short period
after the partitions. It took a half century before the famous educator
Bronislaw Trentowski rediscovered them: "If any one of your students breaks the
rules, get some pupils of his own age to judge him. Everyone wants to be judged
by his equals. Kings by kings, scientists by scientists, and children by
children. The verdict will infuriate him less than if it comes from you, and
will exert a greater influence." Trentowski´s court was short-lived like those
earlier ones, and, in truth, Korczak´s court had not made much progress by the
end of the camp season

Mischlei (Proverbs 22:6) and its esoteric meaning according to Tanya

"According to his way" is not the path of perfect truth but that followed by the child. Hence what is the merit of his not deviating from this path? The opposite should be the case, as he matures he should forsake this path for the mature one he has chosen. So there is merit as stated in these esoteric verses in the proverbs.wherein lay this merit? And that is the question implied in the Tanya.The logical and esoteric arguments of the Tanya are as follows:

• Fear(awe) and the love of G-d are the roots and foundations of divine service


• One's love and fear of G-d are rooted in the performance of Torah and Mitzvot. This performance comprises thought speech and deed from the lesser to greater importance.


• The awe of G-d are rooted in the prohibitive commandments while the love of Him makes possible for the Jew to perform the positive commandments with inner feeling.


• The distinction between roots and foundations is in chapter 4 part one of Tanya,


• From the love of G-d, the positive commands emanate,and without them, the commands have no enduring substance.

7“Educate
the child according to his way: even as he grows old he will not depart from
it.”
הנה מדכתיב: על פי דרכו, משמע שאינה דרך האמת לאמיתו
Since the verse
writes “according to his way,” this implies that it is not the path of perfect
truth, but merely a path to be followed by the child;
ואם כן מאי מעליותא שגם
כי יזקין לא יסור ממנה
hence of what merit is it that “even as he grows old he
will not depart from it”?
Indeed, it would seem that the very opposite should
be the case: when the child matures he should forsake his childish path in favor
of the path of truth. What possible merit could there be in not departing from
it?
אך הנה מודעת זאת כי שרשי עבודת ה׳ ויסודותיה הן דחילו ורחימו
Now it is
well known that the awe (lit., “fear”) and the love of G‑d are the roots and
foundations8
of divine service.
The performance of Torah and mitzvot in thought, speech
and deed is rooted in and founded upon one’s love and fear of G‑d. The awe of
G‑d enables the Jew to properly observe the prohibitive commandments, while the
love of Him makes it possible for the Jew to perform the positive commandments
with inner feeling,9
as the Alter Rebbe now goes on to explain.

7.
Mishlei 22:6.
8.
The Rebbe here distinguishes between these two terms, as follows. “Roots” refers to the original source from which one’s divine service ultimately emanates; “foundations” suggests the ongoing support of one’s present service (recalling the foundations upon which a building actually stands).The Rebbe goes on to remark that this distinction is reflected in ch. 4 of the first part of Tanya: “from [the love of G‑d the positive commands] issue forth, and without it they have no true (i.e., enduring) substance.”
9.
Note of the Rebbe: “As above, ch. 4 [of Part I].”

Poco Little Dog Lost

http://www.kiddiematinee.com/p-poco.htm

A slice of plot shows clearly Poco's precognition and sensitivities and that supposedly haphazard happenings are anything but haphazard. Chill Wills gives an unforgettable performance. He finds his way home as it was foreordained to be.

Back to the dog in the desert. After several days of no food and likely no
water, it is not looking good for poor Poco. She lays down on the desert floor
to call it quits, but fate is on her side. A cockatiel belonging to an old
prospector, played by veteran western actor Chill Wills, guides the old geezer
to the dying dog just in the nick of time. A vulture is waiting for the
prospective carcass, but life is for living, and Poco is nursed back to health
by the loving elderly man.
Kim and her parents begin their five trips to the
California desert to look for Poco, who has found a caring, temporary home with
the prospector. The desert dweller introduces the mutt to his sidekicks Senator,
a mule, and Congressman, the cockatiel, who saved her life. Well, the prospector
has to go find his pot of gold, and leaves Poco behind under the protective
wings of the Congressman. A rattlesnake suddenly shows up, and the roped dog
breaks free to escape the poisonous reptile.
The prospector returns home to
Poco, and although upset, he begins to speak loving words about his former
friend while the film shows the dog continuing his desert journey. The adventure
in the heat, however, is short lived, as Poco makes it to the high altitude pine
forests of Yosemite National Park where she has a stinky run in with a skunk,
but enjoys swimming in the creeks and streams to be found in the lush landscape.
A park ranger crosses paths with the cute canine and brings her to his
girlfriend who is preparing a picnic. Then, the film has the ranger giving the
dog away to the pound, but stating Poco will find a good home. Her home is with
Kim, and she is shown praying to the Lord asking for Poco’s safety and to be
reunited with him. That will happen...shortly. l

'George' the movie and the career of Marshall Thompson

http://www.marshall-thompson.com/movies/70/george.htm

Plot description of the movie on this link

This movie was merely a backdrop for the actor who became passionate for all the world's animals and became an active conservationist. This film 'George' was an animal odyssey concerning the St Bernard dog and his adventures and escapades.

Born, James Marshall Thompson, November 27, 1925, Peoria, Illinois.
• Died,
May 18, 1992, Congestive Heart Failure.
• Survived by his wife Barbara,
daughter Janet, and grandson Jackson.
• Direct descendent of the first Chief
Justice of the Supreme Court, John Marshall.
• Educated at Fairburn
Elementary, Emerson Junior High, University High School, and
Occidental College (his major was Pre-Med), all in the Los Angeles
area.
• At Occidental he was a member of the Phi Gamma Delta Fraternity, The
Occidental Players, and the Cross Country Team.
• Height: 6 feet
1 inches.
• Weight: A consistent 175 pounds.
• Features: Brownish/Blond
hair and blue eyes.
• He married Barbara Long, January 21, 1949.
•
Recreations: He loved sailing, horse back riding, tennis, archaeology, and
playing the guitar.
• He was an avid Photographer.
• Favorite Food:
His mom's beef and noodles, his wife's fried chicken, tuna casserole,
sardines, any pasta dish, escargot, Japanese cuisine.
• Favorite
Los Angeles Restaurants: Casa Escobar, Yamato's, Bob Burns, Chasen's.
•
Ambitions: To Write, To direct, and lastly, to act.
• His Passion: Africa -
and virtually all the animals in the world; to be an active
conservationist which he began in earnest after his television
series, Daktari ended.
• He studied World Affairs and Military History.
•
Most admired: General Douglas MacArthur, Dwight D. Eisenhower, and Ronald
Reagan.
• Favorite Sports Teams: The Los Angeles Dodgers, The Dallas
Cowboys.
• Inaccuracies from other biographies: He was a man who carried his
church in his heart and never aspired to become a minister. His wife
is very much alive. He enjoyed cocktail parties and
social gatherings. He was never a "cow puncher" in high schoo. He did,
however, visit a cattle ranch once and learned to ride horses while
the cattle watched. Hedda Hopper would disagree that he was an
"unassuming player both on and off the screen and that he failed to
stand out in a crowd".
• What he was: A voracious writer, a
natural mimic and comedian, a focused man whose love of nature,
travel, exploration and wildlife outweighed his interest in pursuing
"stardom", though he was proud of his acting talents. He
spoke fluent French, German, and Swahili. He taught himself to
play the guitar. His favorite song for guitar was "Blood on the
Saddle".
• What you might not know: He was fearless would go
anywhere and try anything, from mountain-climbing, safaris,
deep sea diving, beriberi to chocolate covered ants. He always
did all of his own stunts, and he gave Elizabeth Taylor her
first off-screen kiss though the real relationship was much more an
MGM concoction than a real romance. They were, however, great
friends.
• Favorites: His MG with its leopard skin dashboard; his jaguar;
Sherman Cigarettes; Land Rovers; fireplaces, horse back riding in
Palm Springs; foreign films; his zebra skin rug; African
sculpture; his guitar; his dog Cappy; Bushveldt Shirts; the lions of the Matopi
Rocks; and Sailing.
• Memorable moments: Riding in the Pace
Car for the Indianapolis 500 with Mario Andretti; meeting Richard
Burton who told him "Ah, so you are Marshall - the one who keeps my wife
up late at night watching your films"; being chased by a white rhino
and living to tell about it; witnessing the Serengeti
migration.
• Regrets (very few): He was a member of his school militia,
before there was an ROTC, and regretted that his flat feet kept him
from enlisting during World war II.

.

(“The Education of the Child”) Tanya

"Educate the child -Its esoteric meaning in explication in Tanya

The verse explicated in Torah “Educate the child according to his way: even as he grows old he will not depart from it.” is related to the child's initial intellectual discovery of the love of G-d as experienced by the understanding of the unity of G-d. These teachings derive from inspiration,sacred books and heavenly teachers whose souls are in Eden. I suspect those teachers are Tzaddikim among other heavenly sources and the books refer to the works of the Maharal and the Shelah and the teachers allude to the Baal Shem Tov and the Maggid of Mezritch. Based on the first paragraph of the recitation of the Shema and the sentence beginning 'Baruch shem'. The significance of the Shema is explained in Zohar 6 and allude respectively to yichuda ila‘ah (the higher level of perception of G‑d’s Unity) and yichuda tata’ah (the lower level of perception of G‑d’s Unity). (QUOTE) Part two of Tanya revolves around this theme.

All of this material is germane in deciphering the esotericism of the education of the child.

Likutei Amarim (“A Compilation of Teachings”) Part Two [whose introduction
hereunder is] entitled1
Chinuch Katan (“The Education of the Child”)
Compiled from sacred
books and from teachers of heavenly saintliness,
whose souls are in Eden;
This mention of his sources echoes the words of the
Alter Rebbe in the title page to Part One of Tanya. The Previous Rebbe, the
Rebbe Rayatz, of blessed memory, notes in one of his talks that “books” here
traditionally refers to the works of the Maharal and the Shelah, and “teachers”,
to the Baal Shem Tov and the Maggid of Mezritch.
based on the first
paragraph2
of the Recitation of the Shema:3
This first paragraph contains both the verse beginning4
Shema Yisrael and the sentence beginning5
Baruch shem. As explained in the Zohar,6
these quotations refer respectively to yichuda ila‘ah (the higher level of
perception of G‑d’s Unity) and yichuda tata’ah (the lower level of perception of
G‑d’s Unity). It is around this theme that Part Two of Tanya revolves.
* *
*
חנוך לנער על פי דרכו, גם כי יזקין לא יסור ממנה
7“Educate the child according to
his way: even as he grows old he will not depart from it.”

Death and Life mere chimaeras?

http://majorityoftwo.blogspot.com/2009/06/our-little-lives.html

The surrealism and unreality of the corporeal life is necessarily that, when the soul is not connected to G-d in its earthly sojourn, an odyssey wherein we are tested to search and find that cleaving and m,any have claimed to have secured that cleaving among the saints in finding the reality behind the facade.The rest is the sleep and the unreality and the dreams that Gurdjieff writes of. The false temples mankind has so magnificently erected over the millenniums.

Our revels now are ended. These our actors,As I foretold you, were all
spirits, andAre melted into air, into thin air:And like the baseless fabric of
this vision,The cloud-capp'd tow'rs, the gorgeous palaces,The solemn temples,
the great globe itself,Yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve,And, like this
insubstantial pageant faded,Leave not a rack behind. We are such stuffAs dreams
are made on; and our little lifeIs rounded with a sleep.... Prospero, "The
Tempest", by William Shakespeare

Enjoy your lives, cherish your family and
friends, appreciate all the things you have -- no matter what their value. And
remember to value yourself too, because you really are unique -- one of a
kind.

“Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.”... Oscar Wilde

Korczak -naively romantic about children?

http://korczak.com/Biography/kap-7.htm

Ten year old boys have sharp ears and discerning senses to ferret out thwe "ring of a ciounterfeit coin" and could smell misplaced idealism. No more of bnaive romanticism about children.He was helpless at camp despite his reading those numerous books on child psychology.Note the descriptions of the most unlikely emerging boys. Note the variety of their characters and life situations illustrated by their descriptions.The most unlikely emerged as leaders,and the unruly were considerate of others.Note the gentle 12 year old Kruk,prince among the boys.A wholesome environment and the children blossomed. Look at these Jewish bastard boys more carefully, Korczak thought as the Polish peasant offered him his field to eat their meal. They are not the children you think they are. They are Jewish bastards who are not allowed to play in the city parks. Coachmen hit them with their whips, pedestrians push them off the sidewalks, superintendents chase them from their courtyards with brooms. These are not children, these are Moshkis- little Jews, yes. And not only aren´t you chasing them from under your trees, you are inviting them into your field." QUOTE The countryside brought out the poetry of the Polish and Yiddish languages as the city brought out the curses of both languages.janusz Korczak had the ifrst chance to test the effectiveness of a children's newspaper.

It was his lowest moment: "I was not a novice in the educational field; I
had been tutoring for years and had read numerous books on child psychology. Yet
there I was helpless" confounded bv the mvstery of the šberschHE HE
eries."collective soul of a child´ s community." He had come filled with
"ideals," but the boys´ sharp ears had caught the "ring of a counterfeit coin."
Conspiracy, rebellion, teachtery, reprisals were life´s reply to his "reveries."
As he struggled to win the confidence of the campers, he knew he would never
again be naively romantic about children.
By the end of the first week, the
most unlikely boys had emerged as leaders and the most unruly ones began to show
consideration for others. Aaron, who had weak lungs and lived with his mother, a
factory worker, was in his glory recounting the fairy tales he had heard while
convalescing in the courtyard of his tenement. Weintraub, who lost a leg after
being shot on the street, had learned to play checkers in the hospital and
organized some tournaments. Chaim, the biggest troublemaker, always defended
Mordko, who had sad black eyes, was awkward at games, and conversed with a
cuckoo in the woods. Ugly Anzel came to be accepted as someone who had become
nasty and fat because of the mean way he had been treated by other children. And
the gentle nature of twelve- year-old Kruk, who already worked in a factory and
looked after his incorrigible eight-year-old brother at camp, won him the title
of Prince among the boys.
"In life there are two kingdoms," Korczak wrote.
"There is the kingdom of pleasure, balls, salons, and beautiful clothes, where
for centuries the richest, happiest, and laziest have been called princes. But
there is also that other kingdom of hunger, troubles, and hard work. its princes
know from early childhood how much a pound of bread costs, how to take care of
younger brothers and sisters, how to work. Kruk and his friends are princes in
the kingdom of sad thoughts and black bread-hereditary princes."
Korczak was
gratified to see how rapidly his young princes blossomed in that wholesome
environment: "Yesterday-a caveman; today-a good sport. Yesterday-timid, fearful,
solemn; a week later-bold, lively, bursting with initiative and song."
One
morning, as the children were on their way to a distant forest, they stopped to
eat by a railroad track. The cinders stirred up by the wind fell into their
breakfast. A peasant passing by said: "Children, don´t sit where it´s so dusty.
My field is much nicer."
"But if we walk on your land, we´ll trample
whatever is growing there," one child replied."Oh, how much harm can you do if
you´re barefoot? Go along. It´s my field, I give you permission."Korczak, the
counselor, was moved by the offer. He was thinking:"Oh, Polish peasant, look at
those boye more closely. They are not the children you think they are. They are
Jewish bastards who are not allowed to play in the city parks. Coachmen hit them
with their whips, pedestrians push them off the sidewalks, superintendents chase
them from their courtyards with brooms. These are not children, these are
Moshkis- little Jews, yes. And not only aren´t you chasing them from under your
trees, you are inviting them into your field."
"What kind of things do you
do in Warsaw?" the peasant asked the boys. And he told them where they could
find the best berries.
Such encounters helped the young campers´ Polish as
well as their spirits. They may have heard only Polish curses in Warsaw-"Jewish
bastards!" "Drop dead!" -but in the country, Korczak wrote, "the Polish language
smiles at the children with the greenness of the trees and the gold of the
wheat. It is mixed with birdsong, starlight, and fresh river breezes. Polish
words, like wild flowers, rearrange themselves into meadows."The same was true
for Yiddish-"so noisy and full of curses on the streets of Warsaw"-which became
softer, even poetic, as the children played together in the countryside.
The
campers were amazed when a W arsaw newspaper arrived with news about them on the
first page: "Mamelok climbed up to the window and looked into the kitchen;
Hawelkie and Szekielewski don>>t want to eat kasha; Boruch had a fight
with his brother Mordko; Butterman forgave Yemen for hitting him; the new dog
escaped his chain, but Franek grabbed him." There were also articles about the
joys of going barefoot in the country, and the history of summer camps.
The
older boys caught on that the counselors had written the paper, but the little
ones were very impressed that their activities were being reported in Warsaw.
And Janusz Korczak, whose idea it was, had his first chance to test the
effectiveness of a children"s newspaper.