Thursday, March 14, 2019

Parshat Vayikra 5779 - The Great Communicator

Parsha Paragraphs
Rabbi Naftali Moshe Kassorla

Parshat Vayikra 5779

The Great Communicator

The D’var Torah for this week is kindly dedicated by R’ Reuven and Shera Gaisin in honor of the 20th yahrtzeit of his maternal grandmother:
Necha Gittel Bas Avrom Zalman ז״ל
If you are interested in sponsoring a D’var Torah in honor or in memory of someone, or for any occasion, please email: ParshaParagraphs@gmail.com

This week’s parsha welcomes us to a new Sefer and the world of Korbanot. The parsha begins: וַיִּקְרָ֖א אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֑ה וַיְדַבֵּ֤ר ה׳ אֵלָ֔יו מֵאֹ֥הֶל מוֹעֵ֖ד לֵאמֹֽר - He called out to Moshe, and Hashem spoke to him from the Tent of Meeting, saying” (Vayikra 1:1). Rashi explains that ויקרא, which appears superfluous, comes to teach us a rule – that every statement, saying, and command from G-d to Moshe is preceded with a קריאה (a “calling”) which is a language of endearment, the same language that the ministering angels use.

In communicating with this endearment, G-d does so only with Moshe. The rest of the nation could not hear. Meaning, that this was a prophecy to which only Moshe was privy. Rashi says:
The voice [of G-d] would go, and reach Moshe’s ears, and all of Israel could not hear it. One might have thought that there was a ‘calling’ at breaks (i.e. the breaks in the text indicated by blank spaces).

One might have thought that a break indicates the beginning of a new and distinct prophecy which would be preceded with a new קריאה. The Torah teaches us that no, only when G-d actually speaks is it a new prophecy, but the breaks in-and-of-themselves do not indicate a new prophecy. (Explanation is based on the Mizrachi, as translated by Artscroll.)

Now, if the breaks in the text did not serve the purpose of indicating a new and distinct prophecy, what purpose did they serve? Rashi continues:
To give Moshe the time for contemplation of one Parsha and the next, and between one topic to another. קל וחומר (all the more so) that time between subjects is necessary for a הדיוט (an ordinary person) who learns from another הדיוט.

Rashi, quoting the Torat Kohanim (1:9), explains that G-d gave Moshe the time to contemplate and to understand the subject, and from the rule of “kal vachomerwe learn that ordinary people must also give – and be given – that time to contemplate.

However, there is a glaring question that arises when analyzing this Midrash. What is the logic behind this kal vachomer? It makes sense that while Moshe was the greatest prophet to have ever risen, and was master of all wisdoms, perhaps even he needed that time to contemplate when learning from G-d Himself. For when learning the Torah from G-d – Whose wisdom cannot be fathomed, Whose essence cannot be grasped, and Whose grandiosity cannot be comprehended – of course if even Moshe would need the time to properly digest the concepts, an ordinary person would as well. But who is to say that in the case of twoordinary” people, where both are on the same level, that time must be given for the other to comprehend? The Midrash’s conclusion, bringing a kal vachomer from Hashem and Moshe to two ordinary people, seems completely incongruent. How can the logic of this Midrash be explained?

To answer this question we must first take a step back and ask a fundamental question: What is the true intention of the Torat Kohanim, what overall message does it convey? Is it trying to tell us that due to the “lack” of the student we must give the רווח (space) to understand? Or perhaps it is telling us that when a teacher teaches (whether or not the student is lacking) he must be careful to teach in a way that the student has the ability to comprehend.

If the need to give time and space stems from the lack on the part of the student, then our original question stands, for as we spoke out earlier, of course even Moshe in comparison to Hashem is considered lacking. However, if the Torat Kohanim is giving a lesson about the mark of a good teacher – that a teacher is lacking if he does not giving ample time for students of any kind to comprehend – then we have our answer.

From the fact that G-d [the greatest of teachers] allows Moshe [the most wise and humble of the prophets] the time to contemplate, we can learn that in our dealings, as “ordinary teachers” we too must present our ideas in a way for them to be comprehended. Bottom line: the Midrash is giving us a lesson about the method of teaching – on the part of the teacher – regardless of the level of the student. A good teacher presents his ideas with clarity in all situations.

This idea can be helpful in a myriad of aspects of teaching, including how loud one projects, how slowly one speaks, or a hundred other pedagogical methods which can aid the clarity of the message and comprehension of the student. But this is also a powerful lesson regarding the most basic underpinning of teaching: the teacher’s mindset and motivation.

A Rebbe is not there for himself; his objectives in teaching should be based solely on the comprehension of the students. And, barring other factors, if the student is not understanding, then he has failed his mission. For if students are not walking away with more clarity and understanding, what then is being accomplished?! That the Rebbe himself said a good shiur? That he felt honored? That he understood the subject? Of course his endeavors are worthless so long as the student is left clueless.

I was once conversing with a friend who had a thirteen-year-old son in a “top tier” Yeshiva Ketana in Eretz Yisrael, and he was decrying the amount of sources and analytical approaches the teacher was “cramming” into the students. Rather than just explain the material in an easily digestible form, instead the teacher was overwhelming the class with more and more material. My friend felt his son was not understanding. This father, who himself is a Rosh Kollel, told me that he was not the only one; other parents had also expressed frustration that their children were not following shiur. When the parents finally gathered the courage to, as a group, confront the Rebbe and express their concerns, they were shocked by his response, the Rebbe said: “I teach the students on the level where I am holding. I was the top of my class, and I want them to witness what is true scholarship.”

When I heard this, I was blown away. How is it possible for someone, who has been entrusted with the holy task of חינוך (education) to think in such selfish terms? How could he get it so wrong? I believe the the truth is that this “Rebbe” is teaching for all the wrong reasons. He is not teaching with the aim of התבוננות and הבנה of his students, which would lead anyone to the natural conclusion that he must lower the level of the shiur.

I once heard from a very prominent Rabbi, that a teacher who is purely focused on himself is included in the prohibition of being המתכבד בקלון חברו - putting down others to raise up your own honor; such a person is punished with losing his share in Olam Habah (Yerushalmi Chagigah 10a, Rambam Hilchos Deos 6:3). For a teacher who neglects the progress of the students, while using them to honor himself, is the same as one who actively degrades them. This teacher is involved in a nihilistic and self-serving pursuit under the guise of virtue, all the while using the students as his footstool to raise up his own honor. That is when torah stops from being a סם החיים, and instead becomes a סם המוות (Yoma 72b).

One of my most favorite quotes that I’ve heard is in the name of Rabbi Yosef Dov Halevi Soloveitchik זצ״ל. He would often remark that his favorite title was not Rav, Rosh Yeshiva, or Posek (halachic expert); rather it was מלמד, just a simple teacher. Rabbi Soloveitchik felt that this was really the greatest praise, for G-d Himself is called teacher: המלמד תורה לעמו ישראל. Rabbi Soloveitchik felt that the highest calling, that which emulates G-d himself, is that of מלמד. And we learn from Hashem, in giving that “space” to Moshe to contemplate and comprehend, a demonstration of the proper way to accomplish the holiest of tasks – teaching Torah, with the holiest goal: to better the student.


Shabbat Shalom



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