The gemara tells us that originally fathers taught their sons Torah (there were no yeshivos) and מי שאין לו אב, one who didn’t have a father (i.e., orphans) would not learn Torah... R' Baba Basra 21a. Yehoshua ben Gamla enacted that teachers of children should be installed in every district and town, and children should be taught by these teachers.
The words מי שאין לו אב can also be understood more broadly. That is, not only as someone whose father has passed away, but also as someone whose father is unavailable. This includes one whose father is unlearned due to a lack of Torah upbringing, a father estranged from the family or a father simply overwhelmed by the demands of earning a livelihood and unable to dedicate time to his son’s Torah study.
No child should be left behind in their spiritual growth—not only orphans, but also those whose parents, for any number of reasons, cannot provide a Torah education.
