Timeless Torah

They tell a story of a fellow who visited the Yeshiva to find a suitable match for his daughter….
“Oh,” said the dean, “He is my Yankele….That is my Dovid’l.…My Avrohom, My Meir, and My Chaim’l.”
“Are all these students your family?” he asked. The dean smiled, “Everyone who is in my Yeshiva is a dear child. That is the only way I will have it.”

As the Bible opens its fourth Book, Moses is commanded to count each tribe and tally the numbers. This detailed census follows tribal and even family groupings. This passion for exactitude for population figures occurs once again, this time, near the end of the Book. No wonder then that the Midrash appropriately named this, The Book of Numbers. The tribe of Levi, however, chosen to be the teachers of Israel as well as those who guard the sanctity of the Sanctuary merit their own separate counting. But just before the Torah counts the members of the Levitical tribe, it enumerates a subdivision of that group, the four children of Aaron who were designated as Kohanim.

Unlike the rest of the masses these four are mentioned by name. That particular verse deserves our attention. “These are the offspring of Aaron and Moses on the day that Hashem spoke to Moshe on Mount Sinai. These are the names of Aaron’s children: Nadav, Avihu, Elazar, and Isamar.”
An obvious question arises: the four children are identified (in addition to the fact that they are the biological sons of Aaron), as the children of Moses. But in fact, they were not. So while the physical offspring of Moses are not mentioned in this section at all, his nephews are! Another point also needs to be onsidered. Moses’ mention as a forbearer of Aaron’s children is in the context of a phrase that is seemingly out of place. Let us read arefully. “These are the offspring of Aaron and Moses on the day that Hashem spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai.” What does speaking to Moses at Mount Sinai have to do with his relationship to his nephews?

The Talmud in Sanhedrin (quoted by Rashi) derives from this verse that if one teaches someone else’s children Torah it is as if he bore them. Thus, it is understandable that the Torah considers the children of Aaron Moses’ offspring, in connection to “The day that Hashem spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai.” One item still troubles me. Why is Moses, considered a parent because he taught the youngsters Torah? Is that the most worthy reason for the adulation that is due the greatest leader the Jews ever had? What about all the other wondrous accomplishments that Moses had given his brethren? He led the Jews, his nephews included, from bondage; in his merit they were served their daily portion of manna, and it was he who saved them from heavenly retribution time and time again. So why is he considered as a parent only because of his role as an educator? Why isn’t Moses, as their patron and savior, the one who literally gave them a second lease on life, viewed “As if he bore them”?

They tell a story of a fellow who visited the Yeshiva to find a suitable match for his daughter. The man pointed to a boy steeped in his studies and inquired about him. “Oh,” said the dean of the school, “He is my Yankele. He is one of the most brilliant students in the Yeshiva.”

The man assumed it was the Rabbi’s son and figured the Rabbi probably had plans for his own child. Turning toward another student, he asked, “What about this one?” The Rabbi replied, “That is my Dovid’l. He has an extremely fine character.” The man was puzzled until he kept hearing from the Rav a description of each boy preceded with the words, “my” as in “My Avrohom. My Meir. And My Chaim’l.”
“Are all these students your family?” he asked. The dean smiled, “Everyone who is in my Yeshiva is a dear child. That is the only way I will have it.” The Torah is not telling those being taught Torah to, “Consider your teacher as if he were your father.”

Rather, the Torah is telling a message to the teacher of Torah. It is impossible to mold a student and teach him the greatness of Torah unless you love him and treat him as if he were your child. A teacher was asked, “Rabbi, how are your children?” In all sincerity he replied, “Do you mean the ones I see at night or the ones I see by day?”

Moshe is identified as a forbearer of Aaron’s children in a very specific context: when he showed parental love for them. That love is not a vital prerequisite when he saved them, but it was when he taught them Torah. If you don’t love your student as your own child, you may have read to him. You may have lectured him. But you certainly did not teach him.