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:
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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).
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
vachomer”
we
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 two
“ordinary”
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?
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.”
Shabbat
Shalom
