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When Rabbi Mordecai M. Kaplan taught homiletics at the Jewish Theological Seminary, his practice was to explain the portion of the week on a Monday in a sermonic manner. On Wednesday, a senior student would present his version of the same biblical text. Dr. Kaplan was a very demanding and critical instructor, and the students dreaded the ordeal. Once in our class, a student took down verbatim what Dr. Kaplan said on Monday. When it came the student's turn to explain the passage on Wednesday, he repeated Kaplan's Monday interpretation word for word. At the end of the presentation, Dr. Kaplan said, "That's a terrible exposition." 'The student then complained, "But, Prof. Kaplan, that's exactly what you said Monday. And Kaplan replied, "Young man, I have grown since then."

 

Rabbi Bernard K. Raskas Heart of Wisdom