Comments to Adult B'nai Mitvah

Rabbi Melanie Aron

May 10, 2003

Pirke Avot, the book of the Mishnah that we traditionally study between Passover and Shavuot, seems to me heavily directed toward the student, who in the minds of the rabbis was the adult lifetime learner.

In this week's chapter, chapter 4, for example, learners are urged to chose a palce to live based on the opportunities for study. Rabbi Nehorai says: Transport yourself to a place where Torah is studied.

Respect for fellow students and teachers is essential: Rabbi Elazar the son of Shammua says: Let the honor of your classmate be as the reverence for your teacher, and your reverence for your teacher as the awe of Heaven.

Students are also advised to aim high. Limited horizons bring limited fulfillment, while higher goals create momentum toward greater achievement. Rabbi Yishamael the son of Rabbi Yose says: One who learns in order to teach will be granted the opportunity to learn and to teach, but one who learns in order to practice will be granted the opportunity to learn and to teach, to observe, and to fulfill.

There is also some advice for teachers.

Be respectful of your students. Rabbi Elazar says: Let the honor of your student be as dear to you as your own.

And be open to learning from everyone. Ben Zoma says: Who is wise? The one who learns from all people.

Be sensitive to your students and to your responsibilities as an instructor. Rabbi Yehuda says: Be cautious with your students for error with a student is considered an intentional sin.

What I missed though was a word about the rewards of teaching. For this I found a verse in the prayerbook, in the Ytzer Or prayer, in a sentence which follows the section we usually sing. We praise God hamechadesh bechol yom tamid maaseh bereisheet, who renews each day always the work of creation. Literally, mechadesh means to make new. We do not always wake up in the morning, greeting the world with the wonder and excitement with which we would welcome a new creation. Yet sometimes we have moments when the world seems new again.

I believe it is through teaching that we teachers find such renewal.