"Abba! I can't reach that bag. Can you get it for me?"
Abba can react in one of two ways. He can reach up and take
it down from the shelf. Or he can say, "You know, it's quite
high for me as well. How do you think I can get to it?"
After thinking for a few minutes, the son might come up with
a few suggestions.
"Shall I fetch a chair for you? Or shall I get the ladder?
Perhaps you can take the broom and pull it down?"
*
"Rebbi, I don't understand this piece of
gemora. Can you tell me what it's talking about?"
The rebbi can react in one of two ways. He can explain
the topic clearly. Or he can say, "You know, I had problems
with this sugya, too. Let's see if we can work it
through. What do you think is the first point the
gemora is making?"
*
For reasons of expediency, the father and the rebbi
might choose to take the first option. But if they do so, the
son or talmid remains untrained in the skill of
knowing how to deal with problems.
If they take the second option and they `walk' the youngster
through the steps of problem-solving, they are providing him
with skills which will help him overcome future problems.
The classic way for a rebbi to prepare for a
shiur is for him to learn through the material
thoroughly and to look up all the commentaries so that he
understands the material perfectly and is able to impart
total clarity and is able to answer any question on the
topic.
Such a preparation is essential for a regular lesson.
However, to help a student learn how is to learn, the
rebbi needs to show him how is attaining his clarity
and getting his answers. Therefore, if the rebbi just
produces explanations and answers, he is like a magician
pulling rabbits out of a hat -- the student might marvel at
the feat, but he might not relate to it as something he can
emulate. On the contrary, he might think to himself that only
a genius and tzaddik like his rebbi can do such
a thing -- but a regular kid like himself will never be able
to get such answers. And he might despair of even being able
to learn by himself.
Some rebbeim are able to pretend that they do not
understand the text and work through it, step by step, as if
they were at the very lowest level of ability. It is said
that the Chasam Sofer appeared to stumble over words like a
beginner when he gave a shiur in his yeshiva and when
Rabbi Akiva Eiger gave a shiur, some people thought he
was barely able to learn.
Therefore, it might be advantageous for the rebbi not
to prepare for a shiur at all but to genuinely work
through the text, not really knowing the full explanation. He
must be prepared to say that he does not know and to go to
others for help. All this is excellent training for the
talmid.
