The Bracha for Torah Study: Baruch Atah Ado--nai Elo--henu Melech Ha'Olam, asher kidshanu be'mitzvotav ve'tzivanu, la'asok bi'divray Torah. Blessings to You, Ado-nai, Our God, Sovereign of the Universe, who made us holy with the commandments and instructed us to study words of Torah.
Parker J. Palmer, The Courage to Teach
"The power of our mentors is...in their capacity to awaken a truth within us, a truth we can reclaim years later by recalling the impact on our lives...." (p. 21)
"In the face of the apparent judgment of the young, teachers must turn toward students, not away from them, saying, in effect, 'There are great gaps between us. But no matter how wide and perilous they may be, I am committed to bridging them-not only because you need me to help you on your way but also because I need your insight and energy to help renew my own life.'" (p. 49)
"To teach is to create a space in which the community of truth is practiced." (p. 90)
(26) And it shall come to pass, when your children shall say unto you: What does this service mean to you?
(21) The wicked one, what does he say? "What is this service to you?!" He says `to you,' but not to him! By thus excluding himself from the community he has denied that which is fundamental. You, therefore, blunt his teeth and say to him: "It is because of this that the Lord did for me when I left Egypt"; `for me' - but not for him! If he had been there, he would not have been redeemed!"
Ritba - Avot 104, Rabbi Yom Tom Ishbili (13th-14th c.)
"...and his teeth are blunted": He will see others eat but he will not eat with them.
Sefer HaRokeach, 283, Rabbi Eleazar Rokeach of Worms (12th-13th c.)
"What does this service mean to you? [The wicked one says] What is this burden that you all place on us every year, holding up our meal and mucking up the happiness of the festival? The wicked one in his haughtiness will not learn."
Malbim Haggadah, 64, Rabbi Meir Loeb b. Yechiel Michael (19th c.)
"Just as blunted teeth come from what a person eats, so answer him with a tough answer that is similar to what he said."
(ז) וְשִׁנַּנְתָּ֣ם לְבָנֶ֔יךָ וְדִבַּרְתָּ֖ בָּ֑ם בְּשִׁבְתְּךָ֤ בְּבֵיתֶ֙ךָ֙ וּבְלֶכְתְּךָ֣ בַדֶּ֔רֶךְ וּֽבְשָׁכְבְּךָ֖ וּבְקוּמֶֽךָ׃
(7) and you shall teach them diligently unto your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when thou lie down, and when you rise up.
Recanati (Commentary to Deut. 6:7), Menachem b. Binyamin Recanati (13th-14th c.)
...When a person studies Torah, an angel and an advocate are created for him/her, and for this reason we learn 'Study of Torah is equivalent to all other (mitzvoth)'."
(ב) כשם שחייב אדם ללמד את בנו כך הוא חייב ללמד את בן בנו שנאמר והודעתם לבניך ולבני בניך ולא בנו ובן בנו בלבד אלא מצוה על כל חכם וחכם מישראל ללמד את כל התלמידים אף על פי שאינן בניו שנאמר ושננתם לבניך מפי השמועה למדו בניך אלו תלמידיך שהתלמידים קרויין בנים שנאמר ויצאו בני הנביאים אם כן למה נצטוה על בנו ועל בן בנו להקדים בנו לבן בנו ובן בנו לבן חבירו.
Maimonides (12th-13th c.)
(2) And not just his son and his grandson: rather, there is a command upon each and every wise person in Israel to teach all students, even though they are not his children. As it says, "And you shall tutor them to your children" (Deut 6:7) - from an [Oral] Tradition they learned that "your children" [here] refers to your students, for students can be called children, as in "And the children of the prophets left" (I Kings 2:3).
(ב) לבניך. אלו התלמידים מצינו בכל מקום שהתלמידים קרויים בנים, שנאמר (דברים יד, א) בנים אתם לה' אלהיכם, ואומר (מלכים ב' ב, ג) בני הנביאים אשר בבית אל, וכן בחזקיהו שלמד תורה לכל ישראל וקראם בנים שנאמר (ד''ה ב' כט, יא) בני עתה אל תשלו. וכשם שהתלמידים קרויים בנים, שנאמר בנים אתם לה' אלהיכם, כך הרב קרוי אב, שנאמר (מלכים ב' ב) אבי אבי רכב ישראל וגו' :
Rabbi Shlomo Yitzhaki (11th c.)
'To your children': These are the students. We find in every place that students are referred to as children.(Debt. 14:1) "You are children of Ado-nai Your God", and (2 Kings 2:3) "The children of the prophets in the House of God." And similarly, Hezekiah, who taught Torah to all of Israel and called them children, as it says (2 Chronicles 29:11) "My children do not be negligent [for the Lord has chosen you to stand before him, to serve him...]". And just as students are called 'children'...so the teacher is called 'Parent', as it says, (2 Kings 2:12) "My Father, my father, the Chariot of Israel."
Rabbi Jay M. Stein - Teshuvah, Committee on Jewish Law and Standards, 2009, Yoreh Deah 245:3
dta el dxeby `dzy cr enr cnll ecinlz itn dkld rpeny y"fe dta el dxeby dzidy cr dxezdy eizea` zlgpn elfeb ixd ecnll el `"`e jkl ie`xe oebd cinlz oi`y axd xne`y itl mipken ziy`xa ini zyyn mrahe mze`ixa itlc l"x ziy`xa ini zyyn l`xyi lkl dyxen dxez cenll l`xyi lk
(As if he stole etc.)He wants to say that one who does not learn with his student like R.’Pereida, who had to teach 400 times until it was fluent in his student’s mouth, and he who says that they will withhold law from his student until what he has taught is fluid in his mouth, as it states, a teacher who does not have an understanding student deserves him. And if he does not teach him, it is as if he has stolen his heritage from him. For the Almighty has prepared each Jew his/her individual his/her access to Torah since the six days of creation.
Maharsha (Rabeinu Shlomo Aderet, 11th Century, Spain), commenting on Sanhedrin 91b, reiterates the importance of teaching Torah to all types of students.
"If one sees a great crowd, one should thank God for not having made them all of one mind. For just as each person's face is different from another, so is each person's mind different from any other mind" (Talmud, Berakhot 58a).
(א)...אבל אם היה הולך בדרך לא טובה מחזירין אותו למוטב ומנהיגין אותו בדרך ישרה ובודקין אותו ואח"כ מכניסין אותו לבית המדרש ומלמדין אותו...
...But if the student did not act appropriately, we must turn the student to the good and straight path, evaluate, and then bring him/her into the Beit Midrash and teach him/her...
(3) [Ben Azai] would say: Do not disparage any person, and do not shun any thing. For you have no person who does not have [his] hour, and you have no thing which does not have a place.
(יב) רבי אלעזר בן שמוע אומר, יהי כבוד תלמידך חביב עליך כשלך...
(12) Rabbi Elazar son of Shamua said: Let the honor of your students be as your own...
(ו) גדולה תורה יותר מן הכהונה ומן המלכות, שהמלכות נקנית בשלשים מעלות, והכהנה בעשרים וארבע, והתורה נקנית בארבעים ושמונה דברים.ואלו הן... ומכריעו לכף זכות, ומעמידו על האמת, ומעמידו על השלום...
(6) Greater is Torah than priesthood and kingship, for monarchy is obtained with thirty levels, and priesthood with twenty-four, and Torah is obtained with forty-eight things. And they are these:...influencing one's fellows to virtue; setting them on the path of truth; showing them the path to peace...
(א) בן זומא אומר:איזהו חכם? הלומד מכל אדם, שנאמר: (תהלים קיט צט): "מכל מלמדי השכלתי כי עדותיך שיחה לי"...
(1) Ben Zoma says: Who is the wise one? He who learns from all people, as it says, "I have acquired understanding from all my teachers" (Psalms 119:99)...
והיינו דאמר ר' חנינא הרבה למדתי מרבותי ומחבירי יותר מרבותי ומתלמידי יותר מכולן
Rabbi Chanina said: I have learned a great deal from my masters, but I have learned much more from my colleagues, and above all I have learned from my students."
Solomon Shechter, From his Seminary graduation address, June 2, 1907
"One of the most important characteristics of the synagogue was its democratic constitution, placing everybody under the law and making the knowledge of the law accessible to all...In the synagogue, everybody taught, everybody learned, everybody contributed his or her share in its building up, in its aspect as a collection of institutions making for the sanctification of life in its various manifestations."