Weekly Story: What Is The Mechanechs’ Goal?

by Rabbi Sholom DovBer Avtzon 

For the time being, this will be my final installment expressing my thoughts about the chinuch of our children. If these articles create a discussion and inspire some of our mechanchim it was well worth it.

As always, your feedback and comments are greatly appreciated and welcomed. 

The Gemorah states that from one thousand students only one hundred (that is only ten percent) would go on to master gemorah. From that one hundred only one would become a Rov.

So, the question becomes what was our goal with the other nine hundred and ninety-nine? Were we successful with them, and if yes how?

That question brings us to the title of this week’s post, What is the goal of every mechanech and mechaneches?

The honest answer is that the goal is that every single of our students should grow up to be an ehrliche Jew, one who is a yirei shomayim (G-d fearing). 

Obviously, one who is a yirei shomayim will be careful in every mitzvah, including having set times to learn Torah and therefore needs the tools and ability to learn. But that doesn’t mean, that if their marks are not at least a ninety or higher, they are a failure.

This is especially so, by those students that are somewhat academically challenged. 

This is the reason I mentioned last week that I would pick a student that put in tremendous effort to improve academically or in their conduct, as that is a demonstration of their yiras shomayim, and as mentioned that is our goal for every student. So yes, that student is a success and earned that recognition. I am sending the students the message that being an ehrliche Jew and Yirei shomayim, is a tremendous achievement and it is being acknowledged. 

The students that I would have a concern with, are those that have excellent intellectual abilities and don’t use it. My question is, are they simply bored and have to be challenged at their level, and therefore there is the need to inspire and acknowledge the high achievers. Or is it possible that they are simply not interested, and their thoughts may be wandering elsewhere. [To counter that possibility, I have to emphasize goal #3.]

So, this is not saying don’t grade a test with marks, or everyone must receive a trophy, etc. It is saying that we should acknowledge that the student that may be weak academically, may become one of the pillars of the community and devote their life to the ideals that we all wish to inspire in all of our Children and students with.

So now the question is what are the goals we should have, in order that each and every student will  accomplish this goal? {We are not discussing here the methods}

1. Every child should feel confident in their ability!

If a child feels confident, then they have a reason and a desire to succeed even more. However, when a child feels and especially when the child senses that the melamed or melamedes feels that they are not successful, the child is likely to say, I can’t succeed, and so why should I try. Or why should I try and fail, I will make believe I don’t care and fail. [This doesn’t only apply in the classroom, a child that knows how to swim or is good in any sport, will be the first one to join in that activity. But there are many children that don’t even want to go to the pool or a different activity, since they feel they are not good at it and are afraid they may be ridiculed. So as a defense they will say, I don’t like that activity.]

Yes, the counter argument is, but the student is only getting a thirty or forty on their test, so academically they are not succeeding, and therefore how can I reward them above a student that is doing better?.

 But as noted above, is Judaism only academic knowledge? Isn’t there much more to our beautiful heritage. Wasn’t one of the primary teachings and approaches of the Baal Shem Tov that Hashem loves and receives tremendous happiness from the mitzvos that a “simple” Jew fulfills with all their heart?!

So if I can’t reward them for their learning skills, does that mean I should not tell the student how beautiful and wonderful they daven and interact with their classmates? Is that not part of the chassidishe chinuch we are trying to impart to our students?

Furthermore, in the elementary grades, do we teach the students the entire chumash. And even if your school does, do they learn it with every Rashi? Obviously not.

So when we give a test and a child receives the perfect score of a 100, the hundred reflects only that the student mastered everything that was taught to them. But on things that they weren’t taught, there is a possibility they don’t know it at all.

So if a teacher recognizes that a student is weak academically, what is wrong with telling the student, that they can succeed on what is being taught to them personally. 

When it comes to homework, there is the debate of how much should be given. My 12- or 13-year-old students were in school from 730 until 530. That was a long day for them, in addition of being on the school bus for at least an additional hour. I made a point that their homework should not take longer than 15 or 20 minutes at a maximum. So I told many of them, if your parent signs that you worked on the homework for 15 minutes, I will mark it as if it was done, even though you missed half of the questions. Similarly when it came to a test, I told them, the test is on x amount of pesukim or lines in the gemorah. All you have to focus on is half of it, and you would be marked only on those lines. So instead of being responsible of answering all 15 questions you will be marked only on the first 7 questions. 

[Isn’t it better that the student participates in part of the class, instead of tuning out completely and then perhaps disturbing the other students?!]

This way the student knew they had a good chance of receiving a respectful mark and most of them put in the effort. After a while, when they saw that they have the capability to learn and understand the Rashi or gemorah they were being tested on, they were happy when their requirement percentage would be increased from time to time. They gained the confidence that they too are capable and are ready for the new challenge. 

2. Show the student at least three times a year, how much progress they had accomplished. Or in other words, show them that you believe in them!

I will explain it as follows, during the school year, our children are living at home. So while they are constantly growing we really don’t see it. But when they return home after being in a sleep away camp for two months, we all exclaim, Oh, how much had you grown, and we have to obtain for them clothing in a larger size.

The same thing is by a student. Let us begin with the younger grades and every teacher can adapt this to their class level.

We have twenty-two letters in the Aleph –  Beis, plus 5 final letters and five dotted  letters. I never taught Pre1a, so I don’t know on average, how long it should take a child to read all of the letters. I was told it should be under or around two minutes.

Now let us say that for some children it takes them an extra minute and a half. The child realizes that he or she is slower than most of the children. So you encourage the student to practice, and after two weeks of daily practice, you show the child that they are reading it twenty-five seconds faster, don’t you think that that would encourage the student to continue practicing and improving, as they feel success and acknowledgement. This would be especially so, if the child is also informed that not only are they becoming more fluent in their reading, but they are reading with less mistakes. However, if you informed them on a daily basis the improvement would not be so great, and they might not feel that sense of accomplishment. 

However, that doesn’t mean that we should accept that this academic weakness is their real level. Sometimes we have to push them to realize they can succeed on a much higher level.

I taught seventh grade. A few months into the school year, normally before Chanukah, I demanded that every student read and translate a certain amount of pesukim as well as lines from the gemorah.

Yes, the more capable students successfully completed it in the first few days. But some students were petrified and stated that I am asking and demanding the impossible from them. [To many of them I allowed them to divide it into two or three parts.]

A few months ago, I was davening in a shul that I barely go to, and a former student of almost thirty years ago came over to me and said, Rabbi Avtzon I am so happy I am meeting you today. Today is my yom holedes and I want to give you a brocha.

After he blessed me he explained, when you demanded that I say those pesukim and lines of gemorah, I was furious at you. I knew I couldn’t do it and I didn’t try to do it. But you persisted and finally as I saw other weak boys do it and you let them pass even though they made some mistakes I made the plunge and did it.

I have to tell you, that was the first time a teacher said to me, I believe you are as capable as the best boy in the class. From then on, once I saw that I was indeed capable of learning, I began trying to learn more, and I wasn’t ashamed to bring my test home..

I truly believe that is why I am frum and chassidish today. I no longer felt I was a failure. In mesivta my grades were average and that convinced me that I am part of the system. My friends who dropped out did so, because they felt they are failures and are not part of the system. 

[I must point out that I am specifically using  the word of feeling capable, and not the term of being happy. While a child should and must be happy in school, but they also must know that they are learning and accomplishing something. Just feeling happy about the nosh and extra recess does not always help, sometimes it does the opposite.]

3. Every Jewish child should and must have pride in being a Jew. In our system that means, pride to be a Lubavitcher chossid and understand what being a Lubavitcher means.

A person may think I am an individual, what I do is not affecting anyone else, and therefore it is none of your concern. 

However, when a person realizes that they are not living in a vacuum but are an integral part of a community and represent something much larger than them themselves, they may have a different perspective. 

I was taught this on a Friday afternoon over forty years ago when I entered a store to speak with the Jewish store keeper and offer him the opportunity to put on tefillin. He noticed that when I entered, I held the door open for one of his customers. He said, with you I will speak with, but not your friend that comes to my other store.

Seeing my baffled look he said, I noticed you holding the door for a customer of mine. That person doesn’t know you, but knows that you and I are Jewish.

If you didn’t hold the door for her, she might have thought Jews are rude or selfish. So not only would she harbor those thoughts about you who she might never see again, but also about me, and may decide to shop elsewhere. However, now that you helped her by keeping the door open, she has a positive opinion about Jews, me included.

The same thing is with us. We are chassidim and as the camp cheer goes, wherever we go people want to know who we are; and they know we are Lubavitchers, regardless of if you are wearing the pinch in the back of the hat or not, (or other identifying aspects). Our Lubavitch persona stands out no matter what.

So if a student is infused with the pride of being the Rebbe’s chossid, they will realize that in the eyes of the world they indeed represent the Rebbe. Wouldn’t that create a different perspective as well as a different internal discussion.

A Taste of Chassidus 

Ani L’dodi 5733 Shabbos mevorchim Chodesh Elul

In Likkutei Torah the Alter Rebbe notes that our sages inform us that the forty days from Rosh Chodesh Elul through Yom Kippur are auspicious days. He then explains that the reason this is so, is because during these days something special happens, Hashem reveals upon us the thirteen attributes of compassion, which are higher than nature.

The Alter Rebbe continues, so therefore one may ask, being that we are meriting such an exalted revelation of G-dliness, why are these days not holidays? (Rosh Hashanah and yom Kippur are the holiest days, as then there is a revelation of those thirteen attributes.)

On this the Alter Rebbe answers with his famous parable of a King who is going to his capital and the townspeople go out to greet him in the field.

[There are numerous maamorim and sichos where the Rebbe explains various aspects of this parable, and in this maamar he is focusing mainly on three aspects.]

 First of all, why does he specify that the people went to greet the king in the field. Why did they not greet him when he was in the wilderness, before he arrived in the field?

The basis of this question is two-fold. In this maamar itself the Alter Rebbe notes that the King also helps his citizens who happen to be in the wilderness. Additionally, we see that before the Jewish people entered Eretz Yisroel, they and the mishkan were in the wilderness. So we see, that the King is with His nation in the wilderness as well. Furthermore, the Baal Shem Tov teaches us that just as the Jewish nation traveled and settled on forty-two destinations in the wilderness. So too every Jew will have forty-two stages in their life. So we see that we are connected to the wilderness. Additionally, we see that the Jewish people settled in those places, which means that they transformed the uninhabitable wilderness to into a liveable place, so we should also do so.

The second question is, the possuk of Ani L’dodi concludes with the words Horoeh Bashoshanim – the King who pastures His flock among the roses. Why does the possuk compare the Jewish people as Hashem’s flock and not as His children? Aren’t children more connected to their parents, than a flocks’ connection to their shepherd.

Thirdly, why does the shepherd feed the flock the petals of the roses, and not grass?

The explanation is; there is a tremendous difference between a wilderness and a field. The possuk states that a wilderness is a place where a person cannot live. It is uninhabitable as there are snakes and scorpions there. 

While a field, although [as the Torah notes by the cities of the Levites, that] the fields were outside of the city, in which they lived, nevertheless, a person and even the king cannot survive without fields. From where else are they going to receive the produce they eat?

And the reason the Jewish people were in the wilderness was that they should transform even the wilderness into a habitable place. As the midrash states that if Adam had not eaten from the tree of knowledge, there wouldn’t be a place called a wilderness.

So in essence a wilderness represents an opposition to G-dliness, and therefore a person doesn’t belong there. Hashem (the king) went there (and kept us there for forty years) to battle and conquer His adversaries, but not to be greeted there by His citizens. As His citizens wouldn’t be there i.e. acting against His interest.

However, as noted, that even a King needs to come on to the field and therefore the people greet Him there, stating Your majesty the king, we are ready and willing to do whatever is necessary for you to accomplish or obtain from the field. 

Furthermore, the essence of the month of Elul is that we are drawing ourselves closer to Hashem.  So while we may have acted in a manner that is against His will, and rebelled, and therefore in a sense we are in the wilderness. Yet our sages teach us that a Jew, even at the moment they sin, nevertheless at that time, their essence is still connected to Hashem. So in reality, while the person’s actions are in the wilderness,  the person himself is not settling in the wilderness. He is either in the city or the field. So we rush to greet him in the field, a place that we belong.

Concerning the second question, there is a great difference between the connection between a [grown] child and a parent, versus the connection between a flock of sheep and their shepherd. 

The connection between a parent and a child is one of love. The Hebrew word for love is Ahava, whose first and third letter spell the word AV – father. If you also add the final letter you have the word EVA which means He wants. 

This expresses that the sentiment of the father’s want and desire is to have a loving connection with his children, and that love is an essential one.

While the Hebrew word for shepherd is Roeh, and if one changes the order of these four Hebrew letters you have the Aramaic word Rahva, which means his will.

This tells us, the way to attain this level of will is by humbling yourself (as Aramaic is a secondary language, it is below the original language of Loshon Hakodesh), and then you can attain the connection that exists between a shepherd and his flock.

A flock of sheep is totally dependent upon and also completely obedient to its shepherd. Therefore, this connection can never have an interruption, and in that sense it is higher or greater than the regular connection of a parent and child, which sometimes although the love is always there, it may not always be apparent.

Therefore, the midrash in Shir Hashirim (as well as in the song key uhnoo ah’mehcha v’atah….) notes, first the Jews say to Hashem, He is our father and we are His children, and then they say [we wish to attain a higher level of] He is our shepherd and we are His flock.

To answer the third question, one has to understand the essential difference between feeding an animal grass (pasturing them in a field) and allowing them to nibble on the pedals of a rose.

Grass is essentially their food, while a pedal of a flower is not food, but rather contains some herbs that may have some medicinal benefits. In other words, it is used only when needed for healing.

So being that the month of Elul is the time when a Jew returns to Hashem with their entire heart, so in essence that is a spiritual healing process. Therefore, the shepherd (Hashem) is providing His flock these pedals to assist us in our repentance. 

Additionally, a rose has thirteen pedals, which represent the thirteen attributes of compassion. Although we say the thirteen attributes throughout the year, that reflects the lower level of those attributes which is to sustain the individual, or in chassidic terminology the chitzoniyous of malchus. While the attributes that are revealed in Elul are the middle level which is to heal, (and in Chassidic terminology that is pniminous of malchus.) Yet it is still not a holiday like Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, as then the highest level of the attributes are revealed (or in chassidic terminology that is the way they manifest themselves in kesser. Therefore, as great as these forty days are, they are not considered a holiday.

This week’s article is in the zechus of Reb Yosef Shlomo ben Risha, may he among all Jews merit a speedy and complete recovery.

Rabbi Avtzon is a veteran mechanech and the author of numerous books on the Rebbeiim and their chassidim. He is available to farbreng in your community and can be reached at avtzonbooks@gmail.com