Laws Pertaining to Teachers of Torah (part 1)
- Chazal tell us that the world exists because of the merit
of the children learning Torah with their Rebbe. From this we learn that the
spiritual reward for teaching children Torah is very great. The Shechina
dwells wherever children learn Torah with their Rebbe. Rebbe Shimeon Bar
Yochai once said, when going to visit a cheder, that he was going to see the
face of the Shechinah. (Zohar, Lech Lecha). And, indeed, it was the
custom of people who were dedicated to Torah to visit the cheder when they had
completed their work in order to see the face of the Shechinah. Anyone who
enters a cheder should be aware that he enters a place where the Shechinah
extends Her wings protectively over Her young. The Rebbe must keep this in
mind, apply himself faithfully to his sacred task and see to it that the
cheder is kept clean: “your camp should be holy.” Rebbes should be aware
that they are responsible for instilling faith in the young. - A Rebbe must prepare himself for class so that he can
answer questions correctly. The verse “cursed is he who does the work of G-d
with deceit” (Yermiah 48:10) applies to a Rebbe who doesn’t prepare
himself adequately and gives his talmidim wrong information. Moreover, the
time spent in teaching misinformation is time wasted which can never be
recovered, time in which the Rebbe actually prevents the talmidim from
learning Torah. - The verse “cursed is he who does the work of G-d with
deceit” (Yermiah 48:10) also applies to a Rebbe who comes late to class or
leaves the class in the middle of the lesson: he is depriving his talmidim of
the opportunity to learn Torah. For this reason, the Rama (Shulchan Oruch
Choshen Mishpat ח"ס ו"ש) writes that a
Rebbe should not stay up too late at night because it may impair his ability
to teach the next day. He should also avoid fasting, even in atonement of
averos he may have done, for this, too, may impair his teaching. A Rebbe who
was unable to daven before class should rather daven by himself during the
break than delay his class. Every minute of learning is precious to G-d. For
this reason, a person should avoid disrupting a class to speak to the Rebbe or
one of the talmidim unless it is about an urgent matter that must be addressed
before the break. - If any worker who is given an hourly wage is forbidden to
be late or to leave early, certainly a Rebbe, whose work is so important, must
be careful to avoid cutting his lessons short because he is late or leaves in
the middle of his class. According to the Zohar, the learning of the
children he teaches negates harmful decrees against the Jewish People. - Of course, if a Rebbe needs to pause to take a drink, etc.
in order to keep up his strength to teach, he is permitted to do so. He should
have no hesitations. Similarly, the break between classes and other things
which the children need in order to renew their ability to learn contribute to
the learning and are permitted.
