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"The Secret of the Pure Chinuch of Our Youngsters Lies in the Caliber of their Educators"
By Yechiel Sever
The secret of the effective and good chinuch of our young sheep, tinokos shel beis rabban, lies in the quality of their teachers. "This includes their yiras Shomayim and the way they pray — these are the visible signs that characterize a good educator and his piety." These were the words of HaRav Shteinman in a lengthy address before the rabbonim and heads of the Chinuch Conference which has convened this year for the sixth time, with the attendance of hundreds of Torah educators, mashgichim, cheder principals from all over the country, as he blessed the members of the Chinuch Conference that they succeed and create a Kiddush Hashem.
At the onset of the gathering, the mechanchim asked how one could inject yiras Shomayim in his students. The Rosh Yeshiva replied, "When one studies Torah, yiras Shomayim [is generated and] results by the very study of Torah in purity."
He went on to say, "Chinuch is arduous work demanding love for this work from those who are involved in it. The educator must be steeped in it 24 hours a day, as Rav Shmuel bar Shilat said, that educating Jewish children is not work one does as a job engaged in for the sake of livelihood but, rather, it is holy work, a mission, and only if the educator is totally caught up with the sense of holy mission can he succeed in molding the character of a student and construct his spiritual world." The greater a teacher is in Torah and yiras Shomayim, the greater will be his impact. Therefore, before one sets out to teach Jewish children, he must study Mussar and rise spiritually himself, for only thus can he have an influence upon their souls and imbue in the hearts of his tender flock the love for Torah and the geshmak in study.
"In the same manner, the parents must realize that they are also obligated to be a role model in the clear-cut path of a life of Torah and aspirations thereof, so that the children will know that this is the only way. When a child sees, G-d forbid, any contradiction by his parents in this area and its demands [of this lifestyle] and the daily course of his parents' life, it will surely cause grave damage. If a child sees by his parents or his educators ambitions and aspirations for materialism, he will not be impressed by their alleged rhetoric but will emulate what he sees in the practice. This, then, is the formula for successful chinuch."
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