במעלת מלמדי תורה
וְאֵלֶּה תּוֹלְדֹת אַהֲרֹן וּמשֶּה בְיוֹם דִּבֶּר ה' אֶּת משֶּה בְהַר סִּינָי: (ג:א)
These are the offspring of Aharon and Moshe on the day Hashem spoke with Moshe at Mount Sinai. (3:1)
Rashi explains: They are called ‘offspring of Moshe’ because he taught them Torah. It teaches us that whoever teaches his friend’s son Torah the Torah views him as if he fathered him. On the day Hashem spoke with Moshe these sons of Aharon became Moshe’s offspring, because he taught them what he had learned from the mouth of the Almighty.
These words must awaken us to the value of those who teach children in yeshiva ketana and the work that they do, for aside their merit of being designated ‘mezakei d’rabbim’ – ‘benefitting the public’, and to teach Torah and musar to Jewish children who have never tasted the taste of sin, they also merit to give birth to new children in the world. Every child that they promote to Torah or teach Torah, it is as if they gave fathered them, and just as the birth of a child brings great joy to his father who gave birth to him, so it is incumbent on him to rejoice over every child he educates.
If so, his joy must be doubled for if the birth of one boy each year arouses joy to his father and mother, then more so to the teacher to have 20 boys or more in his class every year...
Although this can be said of others who also spread Torah, those who give shiur to older boys or young men, and Roshei Kollel who help those learning Torah elevate. Nevertheless, teachers of schoolchildren have an additional zchus [merit], as Chazal say in the Gemara (Shabbos 21b) and in the Mishna (Avos 4:20), ‘One who studies Torah as a child, to what can he be likened? To ink written on fresh paper.’ That is, just as the writing on a new piece of paper is clear and illuminating, so too is the little boy who is taught by his Rebbe, and it is etched well in his mind. This is the clear Torah that is implanted well in his heart, and we call this ‘girsa d’yenukesa’ – ‘the learning of youth’, and this Torah remains with him his entire life.
Additionally, these years are the main formative years, when they begin taking their first steps and if they are set on the right course at the outset of their journey it becomes the foundation for all their journeys through life, for although most of their lives they will have to strengthen the clarification of their midos [traits], and perhaps they will need many influencers who will align their minds and their ways in midos. Still, the ‘preparation’ to accept all the encouragement is very dependent on the chinuch they get at the beginning of their journey. If they merit then to walk in the correct paths, then they will also be able to continue with other teachers and influencers to guide their hearts. But, if from the outset they are not trained properly, it is very difficult to change their ways and correct these midos.
Still, every step of chinuch taken at a tender age, prepares hi for his entire life, for whatever he can add to his Torah and Yiras Shamayim [Fear of Heaven] while young will extend for his entire life from the power of the chinuch that he received at the beginning of his journey.
It is possible that when the Rebbe comes to the World Above, he will also see even all the generations after the student that he taught, they will be treated as if they are his children, for even the chinuch of the children of his students and his students’ students are very dependent on the chinuch they received from the students themselves. That chinuch that they received they passed on to their children and their students, and they will also pass on their training, and he is like the person who gives birth to children, for all the generations from his sons onward are linked to his merit.
More than this! Sometimes their merit in this that they establish students has greater merit for them than actually having children for having children is also dependent on personal intentions that are not dependent on a mitzvah. The child, aside from the mitzvah to have children, everyone has the personal desire to raise a family and to be a father to children and a grandfather to grandchildren. This is not so with a teacher who establishes students who has no mundane and eternal pleasure. He only has the good will to establish students and to merit to set them on the right paths, and this is a greater zchus for the person.
It is not just the higher kavanah that the Rebbe has over the father, but even regarding actions as we see in Chazal (Bava Metzia 33a) that teaches that Reuven’s son who is also Shimon’s student must hold dear Shimon his rebbe than Reuven his father. ‘If one sees his father’s lost object and his Rav’s lost object, his Rav’s object takes precedence, for his father brought him into this world, whereas his Rav who taught him wisdom brings him to the World to Come.’ That is, the father who gave birth to the son is just the conduit for his purpose in the world, and surely one the son reaches his purpose and recognizes his Creator and serves Him, his mitzvos will be linked for the benefit of the father, for ultimately, he is the conduit for all these mitzvos. However, so long as there is no one to teach the boy Torah and yirah, then the father is not sure that he did hid part right, for the choice is up to the son. Just the one who taught his Torah and yirah, aside from complementing the work of the father and turning him to good, he does the ‘main’ job of bringing the boy to his purpose, since he helps the boy understand that the true good is the best choice.
If we consider these teachers, we se how they benefit the children and exert themselves to put them on the correct path. Even when the students have a hard time learning, the teachers understand how to speak to them in a way the students accept. Even if the students do not act properly, the teachers do not give in to their feelings, without first considering how it will help the students. Sometimes when a boy does something wrong, he wants to rebuke him or hit him or punish him body or soul, he thinks that if the boy sees that he will suffer he will not do it again. But sometimes, this is not ‘chinuch’, because the boy will not understand the severity of his actions. It is better to explain to him calmly what he did wrong, until he will not do it again on his own. Now, his Rav will have the merit of setting him on the right path for the rest of his life.
This is the place to also arouse the students, that they should understand how important their rebbeim are, whether present or past, for they have instilled in them much Torah and good midos, and they bring them to the World to Come. They are more important than their fathers who gave birth to them, and so it is incumbent on them to honor and respect them properly.
