On Parents and Teachers
Family Edition

The Summary

Just beneath the surface of this week’s parsha is an exceptionally poignant story. It occurs in the context of Moshe’s prayer that God appoint a successor as leader of the Jewish people.

One hint is given in the words of God to Moshe: “After you have seen, you also will be gathered to your people, as your brother Aaron was.” Rashi notes the word “also” and says that “Moshe desired to die as Aaron had died.”

In what sense was Moshe envious of his brother? The Ktav Sofer gives what is surely the correct interpretation: Aaron had the privilege of knowing that his children would follow in his footsteps. Elazar, his son, was appointed High Priest in his lifetime. According to Ktav Sofer, Moshe longed to see one of his sons, Gershom or Eliezer, take his place as leader of the people. It was not to be.

Rashi reaches the same conclusion from another clue. After the daughters of Zelophehad ask to inherit their father’s share in the Land, Moshe thinks: “The time has come that I should make a request of my own — that my sons should inherit my position.” God replies: “This is not what I have decided. Joshua deserves reward for serving you and never leaving your tent.” Moshe’s prayer was not granted.

What deeper message does this communicate? Moshe and Aharon represent two great roles in Jewish continuity: horim and morim - parents and teachers. A parent hands on the Jewish heritage to their children; a teacher hands it to their students. Aharon was the archetypal parent; Moshe the great example of a teacher. Aharon was succeeded by his son; Moshe by his disciple, Yehoshua.

The Sages stressed that Torah leadership does not pass automatically from parent to child. If Torah leadership were dynastic, Judaism would become a society of privilege and hierarchy. To this, the Sages were utterly opposed. Everyone has a share in Torah. It is the shared inheritance of every Jew.

Rambam expresses this powerfully. Israel was crowned with three crowns: Torah, priesthood, and kingship. Priesthood belongs to Aaron’s descendants. Kingship belonged to David’s line. But the crown of Torah is different: it belongs to all Israel. Whoever desires it can attain it.

This is one of Judaism’s great egalitarian ideas. A society of equal dignity is one in which knowledge - especially Torah, knowledge of how to live - is available equally to all. That is why Jewish communities were built around schools, sustained so that no child would be excluded.

The Sages also created a strong connection between home and school, parent and teacher. A teacher is like a parent; a parent is also a teacher. Education is a conversation across the generations.

Moshe was denied the chance to see his children inherit his role so that his disappointment would become a source of hope to future generations. Torah leadership is not the privilege of an elite. It is open to each of us, if we truly seek it and give it our best efforts of energy and time.

But Moshe was also given a great consolation. Just as, to this day, Kohanim are the sons of Aaron, so are all who study Torah the disciples of Moshe.

Some are given the privilege of being a parent; others, the privilege of being a teacher. Both are ways in which something of us lives on into the future. Parent-as-teacher, teacher-as-parent: these are Judaism’s greatest roles, one immortalised in Aaron, the other made eternal in Moshe.

Around the Shabbat Table

Questions to Ponder

1. . How does Moses’ disappointment offer hope to us today?

2. Have you ever been disappointed by something, only to realise later it was for the best?

3. What is your greatest achievement so far, and how did you earn it?

Exploring the Parsha

With Sara Lamm

The Parsha in a Nutshell

Parshat Pinchas opens with God rewarding Pinchas for his bravery in stopping the plague. He receives a Brit Shalom and an eternal priesthood.

The Torah then records a new census of Bnei Yisrael, counting the generation that will finally enter Israel. Five sisters, the daughters of Tzelofchad, step forward to ask for their father's share of the land, and God rules in their favour, establishing new laws of inheritance.

As Moshe nears the end of his life, he asks God to appoint a successor so that the people will not be left without a leader. God chooses Yehoshua, Moshe's student, and Moshe publicly lays his hands on him, passing his authority to the next generation. The parsha concludes with a detailed calendar of the daily, Shabbat, and festival offerings in the Mishkan.

Parsha Activity

Teach It in Two Minutes

Before or during the meal, give each person at the table two minutes to teach the rest of the family something they know: a fact about the parsha, a skill, a joke, a word in another language, anything. After everyone has had a turn, discuss: what does it feel like to be the teacher rather than the student? What is something you wish someone had taught you?

A Story for the Ages

Grounded!

Once Rabbi Yannai was walking along the way when he met a man who was elegantly dressed. He said to him, “Will the master be my guest?” He replied, “As you please.”

Rabbi Yannai then took him home and questioned him on Bible, but he knew nothing; on Talmud, but he knew nothing; on Aggadah, but he knew nothing. Finally, he asked him to say Grace After Meals. The man, however, replied, “Let Yannai say grace in his house.”

Rabbi Yannai then said to him, “Can you repeat what I tell you?”

The man answered, “Yes.”

Rabbi Yannai then said: “Say, ‘A dog has eaten Yannai’s bread.’”

The guest then rose up and seized Rabbi Yannai demanding, “Where is my inheritance that you have and are keeping from me?”

“What inheritance of yours do I have?”

He replied, “The children recite, ‘Moses commanded us the Torah, an inheritance of the congregation of Jacob’ (Devarim 33:5). It is not written, ‘congregation of Yannai,’ but ‘congregation of Yaacov.’”