Once, Reb Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld zt'l had to remove a melamed from his position. The melamed asked, "What will I eat?" Reb Yosef Chaim replied, "Is it better to eat children?" In other words, he needed a job to support his family, but since he wasn’t suitable for the job, keeping him would be an injustice to the children.
Your Students Are Your Children
It states in this week's parashah (6:7) ושננתם לבניך, "Teach Torah to your children." Rashi writes that לבניך refers to one’s students. The obligation to teach Torah is to one's children and one's students. Tzaddikim say that the Torah calls students בניך, "your children" to teach us that a Rebbe must consider his students like his own children. He should love his students like he loves his own children. He should desire their successes as he desires the successes of his own children.
Chazal (Sanhedrin 19:) say, "Whoever teaches Torah to his fellow man's son, the Torah gives him credit as if he gave birth to him." This is another source for considering his students as his own children. When educators consider this, they will invest in the success of all their students.
The Brisker Rav zt'l said that, generally, a Rebbe is interested in the good students, those who understand what he is teaching. He doesn't have much patience for the students who are less successful in their studies. Therefore, Chazal say אלו לבניך ושננתם התלמידים, that a person should consider each of his students as though they were his only child. This will make him interested in advancing the growth of the weaker students and helping them so that they, too, should grow in Torah.
Reb Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld zt'l, the Rav of Yerushalayim, said: When a person enters a shoemaker's store, he treads on the leather skins lying on the floor. (The shoemaker placed them there, so people would walk on it and work out the leather.) And when one enters a carpentry, he treads on the leftover scraps of wood lying on the floor. And when one enters a cheder, he might tread on holy neshamos! A Rebbe must be very cautious!
A Rebbe should consider the cheder to be a goldsmith's workplace. He wouldn’t tread on gold. There are no scraps of gold on the floor. Similarly, he should consider his students holy neshamos, being extremely cautious not to tread on them.
The Riyatz (Igros Kodesh vol.3 p.309-310) writes, "When it was time for the Alter Rebbe, the Baal HaTanya, to bring his son (the 'Mittele Rebbe') to a melamed, he chose one of the students of the Magid of Mezritch to be the melamed. He told him... 'Before you begin teaching a student, think and realize that you are working with נפשות דיני, the lives of the students. The spiritual life of the student, which is so much more important than life and death in this world, are in your hands. If you do your job correctly and truthfully, you will merit all the good deeds of these children and the children that will be born from them forever. And, the opposite is also true. Know, that everything is in man's hands. When a person puts his heart and soul into it, Hashem will help him establish good students. Your portion will be with those who are הרבים מזכה, and you will merit the good light."
Rebbe Shlomke of Zvhil zt'l said, "All melamdim have to know that they are doing mileches hakodesh, holy work." He added that he isn't referring solely to the melamdim who teach Gemara to older children. Also the melamdim who teach young children, like the Rebbes in kindergarten, they are doing avodas hakodesh, a very sacred mission. The same applies to the teachers in girl schools. All educators, for younger and older girls, must know they are performing a great and holy mission. It is mileches hakodesh.
It states (Bamidbar 27:18) את לך קח משה אל 'ה ויאמר בו רוח אשר איש נון בן יהושע, "Hashem said to Moshe, "Take to yourself Yehoshua bin Nun..." Yehoshua was taken and chosen to serve as the leader of Bnei Yisrael after Moshe's demise. He was taken with words. Rashi writes, "Take him with words. [Tell him] 'Ashrecha, you are fortunate that you have the merit to lead Hashem's children.'" Rebbe Shlomke said that a bas kol says these words to every melamed- אשריך, you are fortunate, because you do the holy service to guide and to teach Hashem's children. And there are some teachers who receive this message twice every day!
The bas kol is heard in their hearts. They are encouraged, because they are performing this exalted service.
Love Your Children
The word קשורה, bound, is written twice in Tanach (as the Baal HaTurim on Bereishis 44:30) points out to us. Once is when it says(Bereishis ibid.) בנפשו קשורה ונפשו, "His soul is so bound up with his soul," referring to Yaakov Avinu's love for Binyamin. And it states (Mishlei 22:15) נער בלב קשורה אולת, 'Foolishness is bound in the heat of youth." There is a connection between these two pasukim. The Baal HaTurim writes, קשורה נפשו שתהא צריך בו קשורה שאולתו מפני לחנכו אביו של בנפשו, "Since foolishness is bound in the heart [of youths], it needs to be that the father love his son immensely so that he can educate him."
Chazal (Brachos 59:) say, "Thunder was created to straighten out the crookedness of the heart." Thunder is like rebuke that straightens out a person's heart. But before the rebuke, there needs to be love. The parent must show how much he loves the child. This is hinted at by the lightning's bright light before the thunder. The light of lightning represents the light of the parent's face, פנים הארת. You must first show your children that you love them, and then you can rebuke them.
