Ethics for teachers in Judaism

ABSTRACT

In Jewish tradition, expectations of the ideal teacher are very high, especially because the teacher is a role model for the next generation. So how does one become an ideal teacher? What is the proper image of a teacher according to Jewish ethics? The present paper is an attempt to answer a series of questions about what makes an ideal teacher based on an analysis of hundreds of texts, including halachic rulings and responsa as well as documents that outline various communities’ guidelines and demands. The Jewish texts make up the ethic mosaic that profiles the ideal teacher, who must work with the students as well as with their families. In view of the importance of the education as it has been understood by arbiters throughout the ages, we can appreciate why there should be zero tolerance for mistakes and inadequacies.

KEYWORDS:

• Jewish Ethics
• Jewish Law
• Religion

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. In this connection, the rabbinical scholars who have studied their predecessors should also be taken into account. See: Breuer (1968); Wosner (1987); Halevy, (1991); Banner, (2001); and Glick, 2009. Particular reference should be made to the comprehensive historical work of Glick (2001–2009).

2. For elaboration see: Alexander (2016).

3. All translations of citations from the Talmud in this article are taken from the Soncino Babylonian Talmud (editor, Rabbi Dr. I. Epstein), modified by the translator for archaisms.

4. For further discussion of the historical development of Jewish education, see: Averbuch (1992) and Guttel (2001).

5. For more on this issue, see Lamm (1985); Guttel (2004); Neria, 2006.

6. There is also the ethical image of the proper student, but that is not the subject of this article. For further discussion of this topic, see: Guttel (2001).

7. The full, exceptional story (Treatise Eruvin 54B) was of one of Rabbi Pereda’s students who had difficulty understanding. Rabbi Pereda, who was a renowned Torah Sage, sat and learned the Talmud with him, and only after four hundred times that he explained to the student the meaning of the Mishna they were learning did he understand it. One day someone arrived during the lesson, and Rabbi Pereda told him to wait a bit, because he would be finishing the lesson almost straightaway. When Rabbi Pereda finished teaching the student four hundred times, the student told him that he did not understand the Mishna, because he had heard from his teacher that he would be straightaway making himself available for that other person, and so his mind was not concentrating on listening to the explanation because he was so worried that at any moment he thought his teacher would leave and interrupt their studies together. When Rabbi Pereda heard this, he did not get angry, but said: ‘I will now repeat my explanation four hundred times, concentrate on listening, because I will not leave in the middle’. After another four hundred times, he understood. A heavenly voice was heard saying that Rabbi Pereda could select for himself one of the following possibilities: to live for four hundred years, or that he and all his generation would merit life in the World to Come. Rabbi Pereda chose the second option, granting all his contemporaries the World to Come, which was more personal. When this was heard in heaven, it was decided that he should be entitled to both, since he was not concerned just for himself but just as much for all his contemporaries. Rabbi Natan Tzvi Finkel, one of the leaders of the Mussar movement in Eastern Europe at the end of the nineteenth and beginning of the twentieth century, told this story in his book Madregat Ha’adam and saw in it the actual ideal for every teacher and every worker: the dedication displayed by Rabbi Pereda was unlimited. If someone would ask why the rabbi was not more concerned about his own time, Rabbi Finkel explained that the problem lies with the questioner’s viewpoint. This is not some form of self-abnegation; rather, it was only through patience and dedication that he merited such a high spiritual level. On the contrary, someone who finds it difficult to commit and dedicate himself to the public and is always making calculations if there might be a loss, is the one who is unsuccessful in modifying his character (p. 447). For further discussion, see: Guttel (2011).

8. For further discussion of the nature of the commandment, see: Henkin, (1987); Guttel (2006); Lichtenstein (2006).

9. For more on the proper relationship toward special education students in Judaism, see: Guttel (2011).

10. The requirement for the teacher to love his students contains within it the required dedication, since this love represents the frame for many other actions that can be ordered. This is in contradistinction to the love of the student for his teacher, which cannot be demanded, though certainly can be hoped for.

11. For more on aspects of the dismissal of teachers in Jewish Law, see: Slutz, (1981).

12. For example, see the halachic rulings in this connection of Rabbis Orbach, (1984), and Eliashiv and Shalom (2004).

13. For further discussion of teachers’ remuneration in Jewish law, see: Ben-Yaacov, (1995–1996).