Rabbi Doniel Staum, LMSW
Rabbi, Kehillat New Hempstead
Rebbe/Guidance Counselor – ASHAR
Principal – Ohr Naftoli- New Windsor
לז''ן רחל בת יונה, וחיה
בת דוד ע'ה
STAM
TORAH
PARSHAS
BAMIDBAR 5775
“THE
ULTIMATE EDUCATOR”
“These are the offspring of Aharon and
Moshe on the day G-d spoke with Moshe at Mount Sinai .
These are the names of the sons of Aharon…”
On this verse Rashi comments, “It mentions
only the sons of Aharon yet they are called ‘offspring of Moshe’, because he
taught them Torah. It teaches us that whoever teaches his friend’s son Torah,
Scripture views him as if he had fathered him[1].”
The aforementioned quote is
one of the most well-known and oft-quoted in the world of chinuch (education). The
idea that devoted teachers of Torah take on a certain dimension of fatherhood
vis-à-vis their students is extremely fundamental and profound.
The commentators offer many beautiful ideas
to elucidate this concept[2].
I quote it as an introduction that segues into the following thoughts.
---------------------------------------------------
The following are my personal notes
from the address given by Harav Aharon Feldman shlita, Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivas
Ner Yisroel in Baltimore, at the Torah Umesorah Convention, Shabbos Kodesh
Behar-Bechukosai 5769, prior to Kabbolas Shabbos. I have sought to retain the
flavor of the Rosh Yeshiva’s delivery and so it is written in first-person dialect.
We have come here to improve ourselves and
become better mechanchim (educators). In order to do so we need to understand
what we are working on. What are our guiding principles? What character traits
must we develop within ourselves in order to have a greater effect on our
students?
The well-known gemara[3]
states - " אם דומה הרב למלאך ה' צבאות יבקש תורה מפיהו ואם לאו אל
יבקש תורה מפיהו". – One should only study Torah from a
teacher who is analogous to an angel of G-d.
The simple understanding of this injunction
is that a student must view his teacher as being on a very lofty level and have
a sense of awe and admiration for him so that he will be able and willing to
accept his teachings.
The Hafla’ah in his introduction offers an
alternative explanation. He explains that an angel has no self-interest when
performing its duties. Its objective and intent is solely to fulfill the Will
of its Creator. In a similar vein, a teacher of Torah must view teaching as his
mission, without ulterior motives.
A Rebbe once commented that he loves
teaching because through the give-and-take of the lessons with his students novel
ideas and interpretations always emerge. There is a great deal of truth in that
statement, as our Sages state, “And from my students (I have learned) more than
all of them (i.e. my teachers or peers).” However, that is a side benefit; the
essential focus of chinuch must only be in order to educate students and
help them grow.
It is for this reason that the Torah
states, “ושננתם
לבניך-
And you shall teach them (the words of the Torah) to your sons”, and not, “לתלמידיך –
to your students”. Chazal explain, "בניך"-אלו
תלמידיך –
“Your sons” refers to your students.” The reason why the verse refers to
students as sons is to impress upon every teacher that their approach to
education must be in the same vein as a father raises his son. A father does
not educate his son out of self-interest, but out of an altruistic desire that
his son become a good Jew and a productive member of Klal Yisroel. So too a
teacher must educate his/her students without self-interest or ulterior motives.
Rabbi Yitzchok Ruderman zt’l related that
on one occasion the Altar of Slobodka, Rabbi Nosson Tzvi Finkel zt’l, was
teaching Torah to a group of students. This was at the beginning of bain
hazmanim (“vacation”) and just then the Altar’s son, Rabbi Lazer Yudel, arrived
home from the Mirrer Yeshiva where he was studying. The Altar continued his
lecture and did not immediately stop to greet his son. Afterwards his Rebbitzin
was upset. She asked the Altar why he couldn’t interrupt his teaching for a
moment to at least greet his son who had been away for a prolonged period. The
Altar replied, “And these (students) are not also my sons?!”
How does a teacher reach such a level that
he truly views his students as sons?
The Tosefta[4]
discusses why of all the tribes, the Jewish monarchy descended from Yehuda?
Tosefta proceeds to offer a few reasons, and subsequently refutes the first
three, until it concludes with the fourth reason.
The four reasons offered are: Because he
was willing to admit and fess up to his involvement with his daughter-in-law
Tamar, because he saved Yosef from being killed when he suggested to his
brothers that they sell Yosef as a slave, because of his willingness to become
a slave in Binyamin’s stead when Binyamin was accused of espionage by the
Egyptian viceroy (Yosef), and because he sanctified the Name of G-d[5].
It is apparent from the Tosefta that there
are four requisite traits that a monarch must possess.[6]A
monarch must be able to admit to the truth even when it is humiliating to do
so, he must care and worry for the welfare of others, he must possess a deep
sense of inner humility, and he must live his life in a manner that brings
constant sanctification and glory to the Name of G-d.
All four of these traits involve a sense of
-
התבטלותself-abnegation and
self-renunciation. Being able to admit to wrongdoing requires
mental/psychological abnegation; helping others requires a measure of self-abnegation
in order to focus on the other person’s needs; humility requires abnegation and
domination over one’s negative characteristics; and sanctifying G-d’s Name
requires abnegation over all of one’s personal interests and desires.
A rebbe/teacher who aspires to become “K’malach
Hashem – like an angel of G-d” must develop within himself these qualities.
He must be ready to accept responsibility and admit to his mistakes, he must
care deeply for the welfare and growth of his students, he must be humble (i.e.
he can’t be too demanding of his own honor), and he must be willing to make
sacrifices for the fulfillment of Torah and mitzvos.
There is an incredible story that took
place in Yerushalayim about thirty-five years ago, that demonstrates the concept
of a rebbe being “K’malach Hashem”:
There was a young man who had learned and
taught in various yeshivos and developed into a master educator. He had only
informal training but he was a natural educator with an uncanny ability to
teach and understand students. He founded a cheder (school) in Yerushalayim in
which he incorporated the best techniques and approaches of the ‘old system’,
and added many innovations that he learned from successful teachers in other
institutions. He trained a cadre of teachers according to all of his ideas and
methods and he ran the school in the most optimal manner possible. The school
quickly gained a reputation as a reputable and wonderful institution.
There was a teacher in the school who had
undergone all of the training and had proven to be an outstanding teacher. The
Principal promoted that teacher to become his Vice Principal. The Vice
Principal was very jealous of his supervisor and he began a terrible campaign
to malign the Principal and to advocate against him. He blamed every problem
and issue that surfaced on the Principal’s poor leadership skills and
incompetence.
The Vice Principal kept working to garner
more backing, until one morning the Principal walked into his office to find
the Vice Principal sitting in his chair in his office. Ten years of ceaseless blood,
toil, and sweat was now being usurped by someone he himself had trained and
built up. Incredibly, the Principal turned around and went home!
I was a parent in the school and, along
with a group of other parents, was very upset by the egregious injustice that
had been committed. We convened and decided that we were going to protest. We
knew that we could rally enough support to push the Vice Principal out. Prior
to doing so we went to the Principal to tell him about our intentions and of
our unyielding support for him. He immediately asked us to cease and desist. He
explained, “My job is to be mechanech children in Torah and Yiras Shamayim
(Fear of Heaven). If there is a situation of disharmony and dispute amongst the
staff of the school that objective will be impossible to accomplish. Children
exposed to virulent disagreement will be damaged for the rest of their lives
because of the distrust fostered amongst the staff.” When we asked him about
his job he replied, “It is better to be a taxi driver than to distort young
minds.”
That Principal was a master educator who
understood that there is nothing more damaging for a child’s education than to
be exposed to dispute. It is the polar opposite of “K’malach Hashem”.
That Principal never came back to the
school. Only we, the few parents who wanted to help him, even knew the true
story about what had occurred. He founded another school, and today is around
eighty years old and still spreading and teaching Torah in Yerushalayim.
The Vice Principal on the other hand, was
thrown out of the school around ten years later because of misappropriated
funds. Seven years later he died at a relatively young age. [I presume he did
teshuva.]
This incredible story demonstrates how a
mechanech was able to embody the four essential traits necessary for an
educator – complete self-abnegation on all levels, and all for the sake of the
education and growth of his disciples.
Educational techniques, classroom
management, and all the other various procedures and methods are all helpful
and important, but they are not the defining and essential factors for chinuch.
Having letters before and after one’s name is very impressive, but all the
techniques in the world are only tools, and with tools alone one doesn’t become
an effective teacher.
It is analogous to an individual who has a
stethoscope. If he has the skills and knowledge necessary to practice medicine,
the stethoscope can help him do his job. However it is only a tool and the
stethoscope alone will not make him a doctor.
They don’t teach how to become K’malach
Hashem in University; in fact they teach the opposite!
May we all merit reaching these great
levels, and through them to הרמת קרן התורה throughout the world!
[1] Sanhedrin
19b
[2]
Malbim writes that the sons of Aharon are attributed to Moshe because Moshe
prayed on their behalf. In fact it was in the merit of Moshe’s prayers that
Elazar and Isamar, the latter two sons of Aharon, did not die as did their
older brothers, Nadav and Avihu. This is itself a powerful lesson: It is
incumbent on all teachers to pray for Divine assistance and particularly for
the growth of their students.
[3] Chagiga 16b
[4] Berachos
4:16
[5] This was when
the Jews were stationed at the foot of the Sea of the Reeds with the Egyptians
in fierce pursuit. It was the tribe of Yehuda who plunged into the sea first
[6] Although
the Tosefta refutes the first three reasons, from the fact that they were
offered as potential reasons it is clear that they are integral character
traits that every king must possess.
0 comments:
Post a Comment