Introduction
Jewish tradition is replete with obligations to study Torah on one's own, and for a parent to teach their child Torah. But nowadays, especially in North America, much of Jewish education takes place outside of the home with the guidance of teachers.
In an article for eJewishPhilanthropy, veteran Jewish educator and administrator Barbara Sheklin Davis cites the Alvin Schiff's work“Fortifying and Restoring Jewish Behavior: the interaction of home and school,” to suggest that a formal Jewish education is not only a great supplement to one's individual or family-oriented learning. Rather, it's a necessary component. Schiff writes:
"A comprehensive, enduring Jewish education program is critical for continuance of Jewish identity for the generations to come. It strengthens their Jewish observance patterns, encourages involvement in Jewish communal activity...Jewish day school education helps graduates retain Jewish attitudes and behaviors experienced during their upbringing. It reduces the negative attitudes about Jewish behavior, Jewish identity, and Jewish life they may have acquired in the larger environment. And Jewish education motivates graduates to be positively inclined toward Jewish values and observances."
As educators, we are very familiar with the impact we can have on our students, as well as the difficulty in doing so!
Such impact and difficulties in Jewish education did not suddenly appear in 20th or 21st century America, of course. Even back in the Talmudic times, the Sages sought to develop a more formal structure - a Jewish day school, if you will - to ensure that Jewish traditions, literature, and values would continue to exist and develop.
We now turn to the Talmudic innovator of Jewish day school education, a High Priest by the name of Yehoshua ben Gamla. We will approach this text with a new chavruta, keeping in mind the conversations we’ve had throughout the convening.
What was this ordinance of Rabbi Yehoshua ben Gamla? As Rav Yehuda says that Rav says: Truly, that man is remembered for the good, and his name is Yehoshua ben Gamla. If not for him the Torah would have been forgotten from the Jewish people. Initially, whoever had a parent would have their parent teach them Torah, and whoever did not have a parent would not learn Torah at all.
The Gemara explains: What verse did they interpret homiletically that allowed them to conduct themselves in this manner? They interpreted the verse that states: “And you shall teach them [otam] to your children” (Deuteronomy 11:19), to mean: And you yourselves [atem] shall teach, i.e., you parents shall teach your children. When the Sages saw that not everyone was capable of teaching their children and Torah study was declining, they instituted an ordinance that teachers of children should be established in Jerusalem.
The Gemara explains: What verse did they interpret homiletically that enabled them to do this? They interpreted the verse: “For Torah emerges from Zion” (Isaiah 2:3). But still, whoever had a parent, their parent ascended with them to Jerusalem and had them taught, but whoever did not have a parent, they did not ascend and learn.
Therefore, the Sages instituted an ordinance that teachers of children should be established in one city in each and every region [pelekh]. And they brought the students in at the age of sixteen and at the age of seventeen. But as the students were old and had not yet had any formal education, a student whose teacher grew angry at them would rebel against them and leave. It was impossible to hold the youths there against their will.
This state of affairs continued until Yehoshua ben Gamla came and instituted an ordinance that teachers of children should be established in each and every province and in each and every town, and they would bring the children in to learn at the age of six and at the age of seven. [With regard to the matter at hand, since this system was established for the masses, the neighbors cannot prevent a scholar from teaching Torah in the courtyard.]
Guiding Questions
- What problem(s) or challenge(s) did Yehoshua ben Gamla solve that the Sages could not?
- As far as we know, Yehoshua ben Gamla was not a "rabbi" or a formal educator himself, yet he solved a problem in education that even the great Sages could not tackle. What might this story teach us about hierarchies, formal qualifications, and innovation in Jewish education and learning?
- In Jewish education today, what do you see as the barriers to entry or access? What impedes your students' learning, or interferes with them entering the classroom in the first place?
Yehoshua ben Gamla entered the priesthood by marrying a wealthy woman named Marta bar Baitos. In the next two sources, note the context in which the two of them lived. We will want to explore how that background might have influenced him:
ומעשה ביהושע בן גמלא שקדש את מרתא בת ביתוס ומנהו המלך להיות כה"ג וכנסה...
And there was an incident with Yehoshua ben Gamla, who betrothed Marta bat Baitos, a widow, and the king subsequently appointed him to be High Priest, and he nevertheless married her...
הוו בהו הנהו בריוני אמרו להו רבנן ניפוק ונעביד שלמא בהדייהו לא שבקינהו אמרו להו ניפוק ונעביד קרבא בהדייהו אמרו להו רבנן לא מסתייעא מילתא קמו קלנהו להנהו אמברי דחיטי ושערי והוה כפנא מרתא בת בייתוס עתירתא דירושלים הויא...
There were certain zealots among the people of Jerusalem. The Sages said to them: Let us go out and make peace with the Romans. But the zealots did not allow them to do this. The zealots said to the Sages: Let us go out and engage in battle against the Romans. But the Sages said to them: You will not be successful. It would be better for you to wait until the siege is broken. In order to force the residents of the city to engage in battle, the zealots arose and burned down these storehouses [ambarei] of wheat and barley, and there was a general famine. With regard to this famine it is related that Marta bat Baitos was one of the wealthy women of Jerusalem....
Guiding Questions
- Taken together, what do these texts suggest about the context in which Yehoshua ben Gamla lived?
- How might that context have created a need for his alternative approach to Jewish education?
- In what ways have the recent 'unprecedented' crises' necessitated innovations in the classroom?
- Yehoshua ben Gamla's innovations have stayed with us for generations. What is one new thing you tried with your students over the past year and a half you want to bring with you as we transition back into in-person learning?
In closing, note Maimonides' codification of Yehoshua ben Gamla's innovation - highlighting the necessary and essential work that you are doing as teachers. His words are echoed through generations of legal codes, from the 12th century until today.
Thank you for all you do.
It is mandatory to appoint school teachers for small children in each and every state, in each and every province, and in each and every city. Any city wherein there are no children flocking to a master's house, the inhabitants thereof should be excommunicated until they do appoint teachers for the school children, if they then make no such appointment an excommunication should be pronounced against the city itself; for the world cannot endure except through the fervent recitation of school children in the house of their teachers.
Curious to learn more about Yehoshua ben Gamla and how he came to his influential position? Check out Mishnah Yevamot 6:4, Yoma 61a:8, Yoma 18a:10, Mishnah Yoma 3:9, and Gershon Bader's The Jewish Spiritual Heroes, Volume I; The Creators of the Mishna, Rabbi Chanina, Deputy of the High Priest, and His Contemporaries 21-24.
