More insights and thoughts on various aspects of chinuch
from a veteran Torah educator.
HaRav Einfeld explained the tremendous obligation that an
educator has toward his students. He is like a paid shomer
who is constantly on duty, like Noach who had to feed the animals
in the teivah night and day. R' Yeruchom compared it to the
poles of the Oron Hakodesh in the Mishkan: they had to constantly
be in their supportive role of the Oron, they must never be
removed.
No Excuses
Apparently we are asking for the impossible, something that only an
absolute tzaddik such as Noach could accomplish: sleeping
neither by day nor by night and furnishing the fitting "food" for
each individual so he can follow the Creator's ways. Would Noach
have been so blameworthy if, out of all the multitude of animals,
the thousands of species, he had unintentionally overlooked just
one species, no more? Furthermore, would he have been so culpable
if he had forgotten to feed an animal for only one day and no
more?
But Noach, the absolute tzaddik, not only did not neglect
any type of animal, no animal was forced to remain without food for
even one day. Only one time -- one time in an entire year -- "Noach
fed the lion later than usual" and therefore the "lion bit him and
made him lame." If that had been merely a physical punishment it
would have been sufficient, but it involved a non- assessable
spiritual punishment. "Noach was [thus] not fitting to offer a
korbon and his son offered the korbon instead of him"
(Tanchuma, Noach). This was the korbon eternally
mentioned in the Torah, about which is written, "Then shall the
offering of Yehuda and Yerushalayim be pleasant to Hashem as in the
days of old and as in former years" (Malachi 3:4) "that is
the korbon of Noach" (Vayikra Rabbah 7:8). Noach was
not zoche to offer that korbon.
Since there are no yissurim without cheit
(Shabbos 5a), what was Noach's cheit? He was
negligent about his duty just once in an entire year, when he fed
the lion late. Moreover, no animal can dominate a man unless the
man appears to it as an animal (Shabbos 151b). With this
negligence, which was a shogeig and nearly an ones,
Noah not only lost his entire level of being an absolute
tzaddik, he even lost the level of being a human being. An
animal was allowed to wound him and he became posul to be a
Cohen Godol!
This principle is explicitly mentioned in the Torah. Yaakov Ovinu
said to Lovon, "These twenty years I have been with you; your ewes
and your she-goats have never miscarried, and the rams of your
flock I have not eaten. That which was treifah I did not
bring to you; I bore the loss of it; of my hand did you require it,
whether stolen by day or stolen by night. Thus I was: in the day
the scorching heat consumed me, and the frost by night, and my
sleep departed from my eyes" (Bereishis 31:38-20). Although
Yaakov guarded Lovon's sheep meticulously he never excused himself
from his duty by claiming ones.
But is an educator required to be so devoted? Must
he insure that his success will be thorough and guaranteed, without
any irregularities and failures? Prominent Amoraim prayed that they
would not have an unworthy talmid (Brochos 17b). The
gemora (Yoma 18a) also tells us that Cohanim would
pass the animals needed for korbonos on Yom Kippur in front
of the Cohen Godol in order to accustom him to the avoda.
The gemora asks why they showed the Cohen Godol only bulls,
rams, and sheep, and not also he-goats, which are equally used for
a korbon. The gemora answers that since these he-
goats are used to atone for a cheit, the Cohen Godol would
be disheartened by seeing them. The gemora questions this
answer, since bulls too are shown to the Cohen Godol, although he
confesses over them the sins of the Cohanim, his brethren, while
doing semichah on the bulls. The gemora answers that
concerning other Cohanim, the Cohen Godol knows whether there are
any sinners among them and awakens them to do teshuvah, but
he is not acquainted with the sinners among all of Yisroel.
We see the gemora plainly understands that the Cohen Godol,
the head of all the Cohanim, is totally aware of what is going on
among his own group. He has surely aroused those who have sinned to
do teshuvah, the cheit has been rectified, and there
is no reason for him to lose heart.
There is no excuse for not encouraging chotim to do
teshuvah. The Torah writes, "Then shall the father of the
girl and her mother take and bring forth the tokens of the girl's
virginity to the elders of the city in the gate" (Devorim
22:15). Rashi (ibid.) explains that this is done so that
"the one who raised the evil sprouts will be humiliated by them."
Let us picture for ourselves that those parents have twelve
children and it is a year of famine. The parents are totally taken
up with providing for their family and insuring their livelihood.
Eleven children grew up to be truly outstanding Jews, but one
disobeyed his parents and deviated from the teachings of Judaism.
Can these parents be blamed? The answer is that there are no
excuses. Even holy parents like Avrohom and Yitzchok were censured
because of Yishmoel and Eisav.
An Educator Receives the Necessary Tools
How can this be? A person is only a human being, and among the
seven things that are hidden from people is what is in another's
heart, which one cannot know (Pesochim 54b). "Just as their
faces are different, so are their views dissimilar" (Brochos
58a). How can it be demanded of an educator who is responsible for
many children to be conscious of each talmid's state of mind
and to know how to reach each one, especially when they come to him
already mature and for a limited amount of time?
The educator -- the father or teacher -- receives from HaKodosh
Boruch Hu the ability to fulfill his task fully and perfectly.
Maran HaRav Yeruchom Levovitz of Yeshivas Mir writes at length (in
Daas Torah, Bamidbar 11:22) that bnei Yisroel
demanded of Moshe, "Give us meat that we may eat" (v. 13), just as
they cried out to Moshe when the Egyptians were chasing after them,
and at Moroh when they demanded from Moshe bread and water. Moshe
did not answer them as Yaakov answered Rochel, "Am I in the place
of Elokim?" (Bereishis 30:2), because after Hashem had
appointed Moshe to lead bnei Yisroel Hashem surely furnished
him with the strength to satisfy all their needs and to "carry them
in your bosom as a nursing father carries the sucking child"
(Bamidbar 11:12).
The above is implied in what is told of the Kotzker Rebbe
(Hutzak Chen, 11). When people told him that R' M. of Vorkah
zt'l had begun leading a community and some three thousand
Jews came to him for Shavuos, the Kotzker asked whether the Vorker
Rebbe had greeted each one with a handshake. After they answered in
the affirmative, he said: "If three thousand people pressed his
hand and he did not get an infection, he is indeed a Rebbe."
A leader receives strength to lead klal Yisroel, and when
these powers are evident there is no greater semichah,
ordination from Hashem, than that.
In Beis Rebbe (pg. 111) it is told that the Tzemach Tzedek
zt'l refused to accept the position of his community's
nosi. He said: "How can I be Rebbe? To be a Rebbe one must
know the Torah's secrets!" His uncle R' Chaim Avrohom zt'l
answered: "The Mishnah (Ovos ch. 6) says that first a
person is given kingship and only afterward `the secrets of the
Torah are revealed to him.' A person receives from Heaven the
powers he needs."
The gemora (Avoda Zorah 35b) explicitly writes about
the posuk, "Your ointments are fragrant, for your flowing
oil you are renowned; therefore do the virgins love you" (Shir
HaShirim 1:3) that a talmid chochom is similar to a
flask of perfume. When opened, its fragrance spreads, and when
closed, the fragrance does not spread. Moreover, hidden matters are
revealed to the talmid chochom, as is written, "therefore
the virgins (alomos) love you." Do not read alomos
but alumos (secrets). When the talmid chochom is
"open" and pours out his Torah to his talmidim, Heaven
reveals to him all that he needs to give over to them, which
includes matters hitherto concealed from him.
The Chut HaMeshulosh (Introduction) writes that HaGaon R'
Hillel zt'l of Horodna, the son-in-law of R' Chaim of
Volozhin, said a shiur in Volozhin Yeshiva for ten
consecutive years. Every shiur had in it a chidush.
He never wrote down the chidushim nor did he repeat them in
public addresses. R' Hillel said that Hashem had been
mezakeh him with chidushim that were more than he was
worthy to have, for the sake of the many; and therefore he did not
want to take pride in them.
The educator, whether a father, a mother, or a teacher, is
zoche to receive the tools he needs to understand his
talmidim and aid them in their specific needs. If he does
not utilize his tools he will be considered a shoteh,
someone who throws away what is given to him, and will be denounced
for such carelessness.
Bikur HaChamoh (pg. 162) writes that HaRav Boruch Toledano
zt'l once needed to punish a child. He put him in a room and
hit his toes, as was the custom, and the son cried with pain. The
Rebbetzin was later walking nearby and heard crying and blows from
the room. She opened the door and saw R' Boruch hitting himself on
his toes and crying bitterly. She asked in fright: "What are you
doing?" He answered: "I just finished punishing my son, but
actually I am chiefly to blame, since if I had educated him
properly he would not have had to be punished. I am therefore the
one who needs to be hit, and not he."
Honoring Your Talmidim
Even when an educator is constantly on guard, even if he realizes
the needs of each talmid, still another factor is necessary.
He must engage in this avoda of chinuch with genuine
love. We cited this point above in the names of Maran the Chazon
Ish and HaRav Yechezkel Sarna, the rosh yeshiva of Yeshivas
Chevron.
The need to delve into chinuch with sincere love is further
illuminated in Daas Torah (Shemos 20:2). The author
explains Rashi's statement that HaKodosh Boruch Hu revealed
Himself on Mt. Sinai like an elderly man full of pity as indicating
that teaching Torah can only be done with tremendous
rachamim. The brocho of Ahavoh Rabboh, which
is the bircas haTorah (Brochos 11b), concludes with
"who chooses His nation Yisroel with love," and furthermore the
Anshei Knesses Hagedola laid down a fixed tefillah
with the words "Return us, our Father, to Your Torah," since one
needs great rachamim from our Father to bequeath the Torah
to others. It must be done by seeing "talmidim like one's
own children" and by remembering that "someone who teaches another
person's child Torah is as if he gave birth to him"
(Sanhedrin 19b).
"On her tongue is a Torah of chesed" (Mishlei 31:26).
The gemora (Sukkah 49b) learns from this posuk
that teaching Torah is a Torah of chesed. The gemora
does not mean to be mechadesh that teaching Torah is an act
of chesed. That is quite obvious. The gemora intends
to say that one can neither effectively teach Torah nor implant it
in someone's heart if he is not motivated with a great desire to
help and an overflowing love -- "for with the light of Your
countenance You gave us, Hashem, our Elokim, a Torah of life and
the love of kindness" (Shemoneh Esrei).
Nachalas Ovos (4:2:18) copies an anecdote from a manuscript
written in Tunisia more than a hundred and fifty years ago: Before
Pesach a melamed called Yaakov Chadad was walking outside
when he saw his talmid, R' Naftali Cohen, chained and being
led away by a policeman. Someone had falsely accused R' Naftali of
having stolen a silver plate from a Moslem mosque. R' Yaakov ran
over to rescue his talmid but the policeman fought with him.
The judge happened to pass by while riding his horse and saw the
crowd.
He commanded the policemen to bring R' Yaakov before him and asked
him why he had intervened. R' Yaakov answered: "I am his teacher
and I vouch for him being innocent of stealing anything. I could
not bear seeing him chained up since he is as dear to me as my own
soul. That is the reason I ran over to help. I wanted to release
him from his chains and instead place them on myself."
The judge asked: "Are you saying this sincerely?"
R' Yaakov answered: "Certainly so!"
The judge said: "We will honor his request. Put the chains on
him!"
The talmid fell before the judge's legs and cried out: "No,
my master, although I am innocent I am prepared to be chained my
whole life as long as my teacher will not be chained."
While they were arguing, the stolen plate was found in the
possession of an Arab. The judge decreed that the Arab pay a fine,
the cost of the silver plate, which would be divided between the
talmid and the melamed. This was R' Yaakov's reward
for fulfilling the Mishnah (Ovos 4:12) "Let the honor
of your talmid be as precious to you as your own."
