What are the obligations of a teacher of the Torah to his students. Or what are the laws that a teacher, rebbe, Rav must follow.
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One such obligation is to go very easy with corporal punishment.
In the Talmud, Rav ordered Shmuel ben Shilat to deal tenderly with students, to refrain from corporal punishment, or at most to use a shoe-strap in correcting pupils for inattention. He added:
And if a student does not pay attention, put him next to a diligent student.
[Bava Batra 21a]
While there is no blanket ban on hitting one’s child, Jewish law over the centuries has substantially reduced its practice. The Shulḥan Arukh severely limits instances when a teacher can hit a student. [Shulḥan Arukh, Yoreh Deah, Hilchot Melamdim, Siman 245:10] It also says that a parent should not be too demanding of his child [240:19] and must not hit his adult child [240:20].
The Ritva recommends that a parent verbally reprimand rather than hit. [Ritva on Moed Katan 17a] The Meiri calls for dismissing teachers who hit students [Meiri on Bava Batra 21a]. He even calls this abuse a peshia, or “major offense”. Contemporary Rabbi Rabinovitz states that a parent or teacher who hits out of anger, and not for educational purposes, or who hits his child harshly even for educational purposes has sinned, and one is required by Jewish law to report him to the police. [Sefer Halacha u'Refuah 1, p. 336]
answered May 10, 2023 at 17:12
Here's a few...
1) A teacher must be a ירא שמים
The Gemara in Moed Katan 17a writes as follows:
"א"ל הכי א"ר יוחנן מאי דכתיב כי שפתי כהן ישמרו דעת ותורה יבקשו מפיהו כי מלאך ה' צבאות הוא אם דומה הרב למלאך ה' יבקשו תורה מפיו ואם לאו אל יבקשו תורה מפיו"
“He said to him, so says R’ Yochanan: What does the following text mean; “For the lips of the Kohen should safeguard knowledge, and people should seek to ask (i.e. learn) from his mouth for he is an angel of Hashem, Master of Legions”, (it means, that) if a Rebbi is like an angel of Hashem he should seek Torah from his mouth, and if not, he should not seek Torah from his mouth.”
This chazal would appear to be slightly cryptic. How is it possible for a Rebbi to be on the level of an angel? Surely it is impossible for a man that is essentially ‘earthly’ in form, to draw parallels with a celestially-rooted malach? The answer is that just as a malach has no personal aspirations but rather is driven purely to satisfy the will of Hashem, so too a Rebbi must be focused entirely on fuelling the success of his talmidim.1 Thus, a Rebbi must be consistent with his appointed title. This means that he must not be deficient in the traits necessary for a mechanech. If a teacher is lacking in his level of observance, character or learning it will serve to hamper his personal example. Failure to be a true role model will abjectly impact on his students. The fact that we liken our Rebbeim to angels is a testament to the high regard with which we view them. They serve to mould and fashion our children into ovdei Hashem, and for this alone, we must endeavour to ensure that our children receive the correct level of teaching. Indeed, Rabbi Moshe Shternbach shlita notes that one must be quick to ascertain that their children have a Rebbe who is a yarei shamayim and this means seeing him with your own eyes to verify if he will provide a good example.2
2) Conclusive Explanations
A teacher must always endeavour, providing it is relevant, to try to fully explain the topic being taught. To merely shrug questions off, will leave students frustrated and may even teach them that it is not worthwhile exploring a matter further. Obviously, there is not always time to answer every question, and the questioning may indeed deviate from the subject, but a teacher should never completely avoid answering, and must try to make time to quench the ever insatiable curiosity of children.
This matter is expressed quite clearly in Eiruvin 54b:
"ר"ע אומר מניין שחייב אדם לשנות לתלמידו עד שילמדנו שנאמר ולמדה את בני ישראל ומניין עד שתהא סדורה בפיהם שנאמר שימה בפיהם ומניין שחייב להראות לו פנים שנאמר ואלה המשפטים אשר תשים לפניהם"
“Rabbi Akiva says, from where do we know that a person is obligated to teach his students until he has mastered the subject? Since it says, ‘And teach it to the Children of Israel’. And from where do we know that it must be taught until he is well versed in it? Since it says, ‘Put in their mouths’. And from where do we know that a person is obligated to explain to him the reasons? As it says, ‘Now these are the ordinances that you shall place before them’.”
This demonstrates that it is crucial for Rebbes / mechanchim to go to great lengths to ensure that their students understand what they have been learning. It is not enough to gloss over something and to be concerned with covering ground above and beyond one’s student’s overall clarity of the topic. Patience when teaching, and providing comprehensive explanations is in fact supported in Halach. The Shulchan Aruch, YD 246:10 writes:
"הרב שלימד ולא הבינו התלמידים לא יכעוס עליהם אלא שונה וחוזר הדבר כמה פעמים עד שיבינו עומק ההלכה"
“A Rov who teaches and his students do not understand, he should not get angry with them, rather he should teach and return to the matter many times until they understand the depth of the law.”
Rabbi Baruch HaLevi Epstein zt"l in his Torah Temimah further reiterates this point. Looking at the opening line of parshas Mishpatim (which is quoted the above stated gemara), the verse concludes "אשר תשים לפניהם" – “that you shall place before them”. He understands this to mean that a teacher must fully provide reasons for everything that he says. He should not explain something as being merely due to the fact that it is a fixed law, and must never respond, “This is how I heard it, now understand it on your own!”3 Whilst there are occasions when a teacher should encourage his students to seek the answer, he should in no way leave them without any sort of guidance. Ultimately, a מחנך should try to present the subject material in a clear and well-structured way. The מכילתא on the same פסוק elucidates this point, commenting, "הלשון ערכם לפניהם כשלחן ערוך" – “Spread out (the teaching) before them like a set table.”4
1) Accurate teaching materials
The Gemara in Pesachim 112a relates how Rabbi Akiva taught Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai five things during the former’s incarceration. One of these points of advice was as follows:
"וכשאתה מלמד את בנך למדהו בספר מוגה מאי היא אמר רבא ואיתימא רב משרשיא בחדתא שבשתא כיון דעל דעל"
“And when you teach your son, teach from a corrected book. What is this? Rava says, and some say it was in fact Rav Mesharsheya that it refers to a new book, since once an error has entered, it remains.”
This chazal provides a very important message for parents and teachers alike. One must take pains to ensure that information be relayed in an accurate fashion. When incorrect facts are communicated, it is very hard to later rectify them. As has been mentioned on a number of occasions, the minds of children are particularly incisive, and so it is in their youth that one must take advantage of this mental astuteness. The Gemara in Shabbos 21b states, “נפקא מינה לגירסא דינקותא” – “The practical difference is: that which one learns when he is young is not easily forgotten”. For this reason, one must be all the more careful to ensure that a child receives accurate information because it is likely to remain embedded in their memory.
More to follow...
1 HaRav Michel Yehuda Lefkowitz זצ"ל in קונטרוס יסודות החינוך מרבותינו גדולי ישראל שליט"א: דברים שנאמרו בכינוס מאות מחנכים ומנהלים רוחניים, כסלו תשע"א, 'הרב הדומה למלאך שכל כוונתו תועלת התלמיד', עמוד 5
2 ספר אורחות הבית, חלק ראשון, פרק ששה עשר, אות ז', עמוד קכב. He writes, "והיו עיניך רואות את מוריך היאך הוא מתנהג באורחות חייו וכשהוא מתפלל שיהא לדוגמא ומופת לתלמידיו" – “And your eyes themselves should see your teacher, how he acts in his daily life and when he davens he should be an example and source of wonder to his students”. In a similar vein, the חפץ חיים adds: "מאד מאד יתחזק האדם לראות שבנו ישיג חינוך טהור בידיעת התורה והמצות וכמו שנהגו אבותינו מלפנים בדרך החינוך ללמד את בניהם חומש ורש"י שיהיו עי"ז יהודי נאמן לד' ותורתו" – “It is highly important for a person to see that his child receive a pure chinuch with Torah knowledge and Mitzvos, and like our fathers before them were accustomed in the ways of chinuch to teach their children Chumash and Rashi, and through this, a Jew will believe in Hashem and His Torah”. As written in בית ישראל, מאמר לכלל ישראל
