In the Talmud Kiddushin 30A Chazal infer from this pasuk’s command to teach Torah to one’s grandchildren that one who does so is considered as if he received the Torah from Har Sinai. This is derived from the juxtaposition of the revelation at Har Sinai to the mitzvah of talmud Torah. In a lecture in Hilchos chinuch, Horav Reuven Grosovsky, zl, explains that one who teaches Torah becomes a shaliach, agent, of Hashem to transmit Torah to future generations. He parallels Moshe Rabbeinu, the quintessential teacher and lawgiver, who transmitted the Torah to Bnei Yisrael.
This unique relationship gives rise to Chazal’s statement in the Talmud Nedarim 37A, that those who teach Torah should do so for no charge. Since Torah educators are agents of Hashem who taught the Torah to Moshe “free of charge,” they should follow suit.
Being Hashem’s agents for transmitting His Torah creates enormous responsibility for the teacher. He must be conscious of his character, degree of spiritual intensity, indeed, his total demeanor. Chazal assert that only if one views his rebbe, Torah teacher, as an angel of G-d should he study Torah from him. After all, since he is Hashem’s agent, he should be G-d-like.
Horav Grosovsky continues, to pose the dilemma of the director of a Torah oriented school who is faced with the moral dilemma of choosing between two teachers. One is an experienced pedagogist whose level of yiraas Shomayim is limited. The second teacher, although lacking in experience and pedagogical skills, is a devout yarei Shomayim and talmid chacham. It is obvious whom he should choose. While it may be obvious to Rav Reuven, is it obvious to us? What is the obvious answer? Based upon the premise that a rebbe who teaches Torah is a shaliach of Hashem, his pedagogical skills, although yet unrefined, necessarily take a secondary position to his fear of Hashem. When a person is ill, he chooses a doctor, regardless of his level of competence, not a lawyer. The Chofetz Chaim once said that if a person must choose between two trains which are traveling to a specific place, he should not take the faster train if it is not headed in the right direction. He will obviously select the train that is traveling his way, regardless of its lack of speed or shabby interior. Likewise, while some of us might be inclined to have a greater sense of confidence in the teacher with impressive pedagogical skills, he, however, may not be going in the direction we hopefully seek for our children. Pedagogic competence in Torah is impossible without Yiras Shomayim.
