Abstract
The author argues that one biblical story has the potential, in the hands of the creative and skillful teacher, to
address all of the substantial pedagogic goals and challenges in teaching Bible and to provide a platform for the
best possible teaching: the account of Sennacherib’s siege of Jerusalem in the late eighth century BCE. While there
is any number of passages of greater theological or halakhic import than this one, and/or more deserving of
attention as the basis of contemporary religious life, the author explores in detail how this single text makes
possible the meeting of the entire range of pedagogic goals in the teaching of Bible.