פרשת שמיני
בקרובי אקדש ועל פני כל העם אכבד וידום אהרן וגו' | י, ג'
Through those who are close to Me I will be sanctified, and I will be honored before the entire people; and Aaron fell silent
As a child, Reb Avrohom of Sochatchov zt"l, was the talmid of his illustrious father, Reb Zev Nachum of Biala zt"l. His father schooled him throughout his younger years until he moved on to the big Yeshivos.
One day his father asked him a particularly difficult question about the gemoroh they were learning. The child, who was endowed with a brilliant mind, saw the solution to the question at once and didn't lose a moment in proving the answer.
His father, a scholar of note, rejected his son's answer, which seemed to have popped out of the child's mouth before he had a chance to properly reflect on its profundity. Reb Zev Nachum gave the boy a light tap on his cheek and said, "You will have to overcome your habit of answering so quickly before you have thought through the question."
Many years went by and one day Reb Avrohom, now an established scholar of great repute, was summoned to his father's sick bed. Reb Zev Nachum reminded his son about that incident which had occurred so many years ago and said, "You know, after that happened, I again looked into the commentaries on that particular sugya. In my learning, I discovered that the interpretation which you gave was perfectly correct.
I had wanted to apologize to you at the time, but I was afraid lest you become too conceited about your intellect, and I restrained myself. I have thought about it all these years." Reb Avrohom smiled at his father. "I, too, have thought about that incident many times over the years, and I, too, wanted to speak to you about it. At the time and later when I was able to understand ideas clearer, I also delved into the meforshim and realized that in truth, my analysis of the problem was correct and that I was 'punished' unjustly."
Reb Avrohom took his father's hand and warmly said, "I never had a problem with your action towards me and there was no question that I forgave you immediately. But I knew that in this situation I must remain silent and accept your decision. Because of the mitzva of honoring one's father, I restrained myself from uttering a word about it."
A valuable lesson for our youth today. While the world around us have all but forgotten the simple basics of respecting their parents and elders, we b”H are an exalted nation that stresses respect to parent and teachers.
About the Author: Rabbi Yisroel Meir Rubinfeld
Rabbi Rubinfeld has been in the field of Torah education for over 3 decades and serves as an Executive School Consultant for Torah Umesorah. He provides an array of services to schools across North America, including teacher and principal mentorship, school and curricula evaluations, professional development and parent education.
Rabbi Rubinfeld's expertise includes classroom management and discipline, effective instruction, bullying, cultivating sensitivity in the classroom, impulse disorders (such as ADHD and ODD), and balancing the educational needs of mainstream and special needs children in the classroom.
Rabbi Rubinfeld is the also the founder and director of Torah Umesorah's Lilmod U'Lilamed department which provides professional development for teachers and principals throughout the year.
Rabbi Rubinfeld is a talmid of the distinguished Yeshivos of Yeshiva Rabbi Chaim Berlin, the Mirrer Yeshiva in Yerushalayim and Bais Medrash Govoha in Lakewood.