Silence and Teaching

What is more difficult? To be a lecturer or a mime?

I feel qualified to give an answer to this question as I have had the privilege of studying both pantomime as well as public speaking during my life. There’s absolutely no doubt in my mind that communicating a message without using words is much harder than doing it with words. Maybe this is why there are only 14 half-hour Mr. Bean episodes vs. the countless episodes of TV that actually involve speaking and dialogue. I remember that it took me hours to plan every minute of my mime show, but when I would speak to an audience all I needed was an idea. Since I learned how to speak publically, I was pretty much always able to improvise and just “go with the flow.” This is something that you can never do in mime since every second must be choreographed to be in sync with the music that is playing in the background.

There were several moments connected to the ideas of speech and silence that actually changed my life. The first was in the third grade when I actually saw my very first mime show performed by Ofer Goren. I remember being completely mesmerized by the fact that he was able to perform (and communicate!) for over an hour without saying a single word. Finally, at the very end of the show he suddenly said the words ‘תודה רבה’ (thank you very much), and the audience burst into applause. It was just so cool to finally see that this guy could talk after all. For several years of my life, I studied the art of mime and performed shows in which I was proud of simply not saying a word.

At a later stage in my life, while I was in yeshiva, I learned that Judaism also promotes the idea of silence. While we need to use our speech in order to daven, learn Torah, sing and communicate, but nevertheless, there is a tremendous value in simply being quiet while learning and growing in this world of many words. Kohelet, of course, teaches us that there is “a time to be silent and a time to speak.” As in every aspect of life, there must be a balance.

The second moment that changed my life happened at the beginning of grade 10 when I saw a magician take a 50 Shekel bill and float it into the air. I still remember that my mother lent me 600 Shekels and off I was on a bus to Tel Aviv heading towards the magic store on Alenbi 138. To be honest, it was too easy. All I did was purchase some cool tricks, and before I knew it I was performing as a magician. In fact, several years later I happened to be at a lecture by one of the world’s top magicians, entitled “The Intolerable Effortless Way of Becoming a Magician.” This was a title that could never be used to describe the world of mime. Think about it: there are many more singers than there are magicians and there are even more magicians than mime artists. Seriously. I mean, when was the last time you saw a mime show? In summary, mime is much harder and challenging than magic or any other type of performance that uses words.

The world of magic also led me to learn how to speak in front of a live audience, as this is something that a magician has to know. After spending several years in yeshiva, I realized that I needed to channel these skills foremost into my Torah teaching. Today as an educator I invest a lot of my time thinking of the best ways for me to communicate effectively. While I do need to talk in order to present my thoughts, I also need to be engaged and present in other ways too. I really need to be able to hear out my students while being silent.

In the end, the best teaching results from knowing when and when not to speak. According to a recent study published in the Journal of Advances in Medical Education & Professionalism, the more teachers stressed verbal and non-verbal approaches to communicating and listening, the more effective their teaching was.

Under non-verbal communication, some other patterns were used. For example, emotive, team work, supportive, imaginative, purposive, and balanced communication using speech, body, and pictures all have been effective in students’ learning and academic success. The teachers’ attention to the students’ non-verbal reactions and arranging the syllabus considering the students’ mood and readiness have been emphasized in the studies reviewed. (Shokurpour, 2017)

The arts of pantomime and magic, require the ability not only to communicate to people, but to be able to communicate with an audience in an intimate and authentic way. This involves more than anything else the ability to understand what an audience is experiencing as well as the ability to translate this awareness into choices that enrich their experiences. I have learned that it is the same for teaching. To make an impact as a teacher, I need to think about how my students experience me as a person. This is just as important as the skills and ideas I am trying to impart.