Many people, especially those with young children may find themselves on Shavuos night spending a significant amount of time teaching their children Aleph-Beis. Shavuos night is a night for learning, and some people may feel bad, spending their time teaching Aleph-Beis instead of learning. However, we will show below that teaching Aleph-Beis is considered talmud Torah, so if one has to spend his time teaching Aleph-Beis he shouldn’t feel bad.
The question of whether Aleph-Beis is considered talmud Torah has a number of practical differences: Is one allowed to teach/learn Aleph-Beis before birchas haTorah? is an avel allowed to learn Aleph-Beis? May one learn Aleph-Beis on Tishav B’Av? Can one learn Aleph-Beis in a dirty place? Etc.
The Divrei Yatziv at the chalakah [first haircut] of his grandson R’ Yechezkel Shragah Halberstam dealt with this question (see the sefer Shefa Kodesh, Seder Limud Ha’osiyos, perek 10, pg. 229). He spoke about whether teaching Aleph-Beis to a child fulfils the mitzvah of ושננתם לבנך – “you shall teach to your son”, or if perhaps teaching Aleph-Beis is simply giving a child the tools needed to learn, as if one can’t read he can’t learn, as the Gemara in Gittin 60b says, that one isn’t allowed to learn the written Torah off by heart. Moreover, Aleph-Beis is needed for reading books and other things which are not necessarily Torah, therefore, perhaps it’s not considered talmud Torah?
The Divrei Yatziv brought a rayah [proof] from the Chida (Shiyurei Berachah, Yoreh De’ah 146:4) who in turn quotes the Shu”t Devar Shmuel (75) who says that teaching even Aleph-Beis to a non-Jew is considered a big sin. If one is not allowed to teach a non-Jew Aleph-Beis, we see that Aleph-Beis is considered talmud Torah.
The Devar Shmuel discusses this at great length, he cites the Charedim (37) which says: מגיד דבריו ליעקב - “’It’s words (the Torah) shall be said over to Ya’akov’, however, to non-Jews not even one letter should be said over - teaching even one letter is a big sin. Moreover, a non-Jew who learns Torah is put to death”. We see clearly from the above, that even one letter of Torah is considered talmud Torah, and that’s why one can’t teach a non-Jew even one letter.
The Shelah (Shavuos, Perek Ner Mitzvah, s.k. 102) also writes: מגיד דבריו ליעקב - “’It’s words (the Torah) shall be said over to Ya’akov’, however, to the nations of the world, it’s forbidden to teach even one letter. Doing so is a big sin. A non-Jew who learns Torah is obligated to be put to death, and one who teaches him violates lifnei iver [placing a stumbling block in front of a blind person].
We can also bring a rayah from the Mishnah in Avos (Perek 6). The Mishnah says: If one learns from his friend one Perek, one halachah, one pasuk, one word, or even one letter, he must treat him with respect”. From that fact that one should show someone who teaches him even one letter respect, we see that even one letter is considered talmud Torah.
Proof can also be brought from the Gemara in Shabbos (31a). The Gemara relates that a certain non-Jew came to Hillel and said, “I want to convert, on condition that I am taught the Written Torah”. On the first day Hillel taught him Aleph-Beis, so we see that Aleph-Beis is considered Torah.
However, perhaps the reason he taught him Aleph-Beis was because otherwise he wouldn’t be able to learn, however, the Aleph-Beis in and of itself wasn’t considered Torah.
Correct Intention Is Also Needed
A slight difficulty I have with the above is, if we do in fact conclude that teaching a child Aleph-Beis is a mitzvah, then it would come out that if a non-frum Israeli Jew teaches his child Aleph-Beis so he can read non-Jewish books and the like, it would come out that he fulfils a mitzvah? Does this make sense?
What we have to say is: True, teaching Aleph-Beis is a mitzvah of talmud Torah, but it has to be done with Torah learning in mind. If one teaches Aleph-Beis to a child so that the child can learn then it’s a mitzvah of talmud Torah. If, however, one teaches his child Aleph-Beis for ulterior motives, then it is not considered talmud Torah.
The question is, however, what if a parent teaches his child Aleph-Beis in order for him to learn Torah and unfortunately, instead of using it for Torah he uses it to read books, or the opposite, a non-frum Jew teaches his child Aleph-Beis to be able to read books, and instead he learns Torah: Do we look at the intention of the parent teaching, or do we look at the reality of what it is used for? Practically, the matter needs more looking into.
