EDUCATION
A GREAT
TEACHER?
Adapted excerpts from a speech by Rabbi
Yissocher Frand, a Rosh Yeshiva at Baltimore’s
Yeshivas Ner Israel, delivered at the 2010 Torah
Umesorah Convention
GO THE EXTRA MILE
Based on an unusual phrasing in the Torah,
our Sages explain that a teacher is like a parent. The Torah says1: “These are the descendants of Aharon and Moshe…”, but then
only names the sons of Aharon. Rashi2
takes note of this peculiarity and says Aharon’s children are called the descendants of
Moshe because Moshe taught them Torah,
explaining that our Sages derive from this
that one who teaches another’s child Torah
is considered “ke’ilu yeldo” (like he gave
birth to that child).
Moshe taught Torah to the entire nation of Israel, yet the Torah doesn’t say
anywhere that Moshe is considered the father of the entire nation. So, the famous
Maharal of Prague asks what makes
Moshe Rabbeinu the parent of Aharon’s
children by virtue of the fact that he
taught them. Moshe taught everybody! So
62 JEWISH LIFE ■ ISSUE 85
let everybody be considered Moshe’s
child… The Maharal answers that, yes,
Moshe taught everybody, but what he
taught to Aharon’s children was special
because Moshe taught them more than he
had to – because he went the extra mile.
The Maharal is telling us a chiddush (a
novel interpretation): the mere fact that
we have a student in our class does not, in
and of itself, make us like a parent to that
student. For that to be the case, we must
go the extra mile! Because that’s what p