Talmud Torah: The Mitzva of Torah Study -
Lesson 26
Unfit Teachers of Torah
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One of the more difficult areas of the mitzva of talmud Torah concerns disgraced teachers. Tragically, the question of studying the works of fallen teachers has become all too common in our generation. Instead of focusing on its practical aspect, an important issue but tangential to the purposes of this series, we will consider the underlying reason for the rabbinical objection to this practice.
The Gemara (Chagiga 15b) teaches:
And Rabbi Meir, how could he learn Torah from the mouth of Acher? Did not Rabba bar bar Chana say that Rabbi Yochanan said: What is the meaning of that which is written: “For the lips of a priest ought to preserve knowledge, because he is the messenger of the Lord of Hosts, and people seek instruction from his mouth” (Malakhi 2:7)? The verse teaches: If the rabbi is similar to an angel of the Lord of hosts, they should seek Torah from his mouth; but if not, they should not seek Torah from his mouth.
Reish Lakish said: Rabbi Meir found a verse and interpreted it homiletically: “Incline your ear and hear the words of the wise, and apply your heart to My knowledge” (Mishlei 22:17). It does not state: to their knowledge, but “to My knowledge.”
Rav Chanina said that one can find support for this from here: “Listen, daughter, and consider, and incline your ear; but forget your own people and your father’s house” (Tehillim 45:11).
If so, the verses contradict each other!
This is not a problem. This one refers to a gadol, that to a katan.
When Rav Dimi came [from the Land of Israel to Babylonia], he said: In the West, they say: Rabbi Meir ate a half-ripe date and threw the peel away.
Rava taught: What is the meaning of that which is written: “I went down into the garden of nuts, to look at the green plants of the valley” (Shir Ha-shirim 6:11)? Why are Torah scholars compared to nuts? To tell you: Just as this nut, despite being soiled with mud and excrement, its content is not made repulsive, as only its shell is soiled; so too a Torah scholar, although he has sinned, his Torah is not made repulsive.
What is the problem with an unfit teacher? We may raise a number of possibilities:
- The student may be led astray by the teacher’s objectionable worldview.
- A teacher who is not fully committed to Halakha may convey imprecise or entirely incorrect halakhic teachings.
- Studying with a sinful teacher may generate a chillul ha-shem.
- Aside from any negative consequences, there is an intrinsic objection to studying from a tainted mentor.
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