The first part is from Rabbi Avraham Bukspan, author of several excellent Parsha works, whose Frand-like style begins with likkut but ultimately creates something special and uniquely his.
This is followed by a video by Rabbi Sendy Shulman. Rabbi Shulman is one of the new Musmachim at my son's kollel, KHA, Kollel Horaah of America, in Marlboro New Jersey. They just successfully concluded a fund-raising campaign, and in his well-crafted speech Rabbi Shulman used an insight from Harav Shmuel Brudny to express the feelings of the Yungeleit.
A moment's thought will reveal that the two divrei Torah are contradictory. Rabbi Bukspan says that a Rebbi has to consciously abandon his focus on personal growth in favor of his Talmidim, while Rabbi Shulman says that the path to one's greatest growth in Gadlus BaTorah comes from dedicating your life to your talmidim!
Of course, it is not a stirah at all.
מתלמידי יותר מכולם!!!!
After the bechina, my son told the musmachim that the Rabbi Heinemann they saw is not the same as the Rabbi Heinemann of fifty years ago. His dedication to the tzibur has resulted in growth in gadlus far greater than focus on himself. As Reb Chiya said to Reb Chanina (BM 85b), his dedication to his talmidim resulted in his Torah being greater and truer than Reb Chanina's, who was far more talented than him. בהדי דידי קא מינצית?
כי הוו מינצו ר' חנינא ור' חייא אמר ליה ר' חנינא לר' חייא בהדי דידי קא מינצית ח"ו אי משתכחא תורה מישראל מהדרנא לה מפילפולי אמר ליה ר' חייא לר' חנינא בהדי דידי קא מינצית דעבדי לתורה דלא תשתכח מישראל מאי עבידנא אזלינא ושדינא כיתנא וגדילנא נישבי וציידנא טבי ומאכילנא בשרייהו ליתמי ואריכנא מגילתא וכתבנא חמשה חומשי וסליקנא למתא ומקרינא חמשה ינוקי בחמשה חומשי ומתנינא שיתא ינוקי שיתא סדרי ואמרנא להו עד דהדרנא ואתינא אקרו אהדדי ואתנו אהדדי ועבדי לה לתורה דלא תשתכח מישראל היינו דאמר רבי כמה גדולים מעשי חייא
Vayeilech 1 — Standing or Walking?
ועתה כתבו לכם את השירה הזאת ולמדה את בני ישראל שימה בפיהם למען תהיה לי השירה הזאת לעד בבני ישראל
So now, write this song for yourselves, and teach it to the Children of Israel, place it in their mouth, so that this song shall be for Me a witness against the Children of Israel (Devarim 31:19).
From the phrase, “Ve’simah be’fihem — Place it in their mouth,” the Gemara (Eruvin 54b) concludes that a rebbi must present his lessons to his students: “ad she’tehei sedurah be’fihem — until it is organized in their mouth.” Torah must be taught in a clear manner, allowing for the talmid to absorb and internalize the information properly, without any confusion.
In HaKsav VeHaKabbalah, Rav Yaakov Mecklenburg says that the Gemara learns this from the Torah’s use of the root ש.י.מ. for putting or placing, as opposed to the verb נ.ת.נ.. While נ.ת.נ. denotes any kind of placement, ש.י.מ. refers to a careful, deliberate, and methodical arrangement.
We see this from the mitzvah for the Kohen to take the ashes from the korbanos that are on top of the Mizbe’ach and place them alongside it: “Ve’samo eitzel haMizbe’ach” (Vayikra 6:3). In Toras Kohanim (Tzav 2:4), Chazal define the word “ve’samo” as calmly placing, in a way that the ashes do not scatter. Thus, the shoresh of ש.י.מ. implies placement in an unhurried and careful manner.
HaKsav VeHaKabbalah uses this definition to explain “Ve’simah be’fihem.” Torah needs to be taught in an organized and calculated fashion, guaranteeing that the information is not scattered in the students’ minds, but is neatly arranged. At times, a rebbi may need to give his talmidim large amounts of information. But if the material is transmitted in a disorganized or an unsystematic way, the students become overwhelmed and find it difficult to integrate the lesson in their minds, to understand how the various pieces of information fit together. By use of the word “simah,” which implies a more measured and purposeful method, Chazal associate the preferred procedure of teaching Torah to the careful placement of the ash in a neatly arranged and organized pile. All teachers are thereby urged to put forth their best effort at presenting the material in a slow, patient, and organized manner. This way, all the critical information can be properly and precisely understood and put into its proper context.
Rav Yaakov Kamenetsky discusses the ideal rebbi described by our Chazal. In Malachi (2:7), we are taught: “Ki sifsei Kohen yishmeru daas ve’Sorah yevakshu mi’pihu ki malach Hashem Tzevakos hu — For the lips of the Kohen should safeguard knowledge, and people should seek Torah from his mouth; for he is a malach of Hashem, Master of Legions.” Based on this verse, the Gemara (Chagigah 15b) tells us that if a rebbi is “domeh le’malach Hashem,” similar to an angel of G-d, we should learn Torah from him. If not, we should not.
What exactly does a malach look like? How can we recognize the rebbi we are looking for? Rav Yaakov explains that a malach is an omeid, a stationary being. It does not grow or evolve, but always stays the same. A human, however, is a mehalech, with the capacity to move, to grow and evolve (see Zecharyahu 3:7); he is, hopefully, in a constant state of forward progress. (See Tetzaveh, Staying Alive, on this subject.) A rebbi, though, explains Rav Yaakov, must be like a malach, where he is not concerned about his own growth and development, but the growth and development of his students.
A true rebbi is only focused on the proper presentation of the appropriate material, and when needed, presents it in a simplified fashion. His role is to see that his students are the ones going places; they are the ones who need to grow as they learn, digest, and retain the material. Such a rebbi is like a malach, for his only ambition is to see his talmidim progress.
“Nitzavim or Vayeilech?” Standing or going? From a play on words on these two parashiyos, we have a question every person must ask himself. Am I standing still or am I going and growing?
Every rebbi must ask the same question in a slightly modified form: “Nitzavim or Vayeilech?” Am I willing to stand still, putting aside an aspect of my personal growth, so that my talmidim can move forward and develop as they should?
Ahd kahn divrei Rabbi Bukspan.
And now Rabbi Shulman's speech.
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