On Second Thought: Delving Into the Sugya with Rabbanit Yafit Clymer
Bava Batra 21
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בבא בתרא דף כא
Rav Yehuda says that Rav says: Truly, that man is remembered for the good, and his name is Yehoshua ben Gamla. If not for him the Torah would have been forgotten from the Jewish people.
Initially, whoever had a father would have his father teach him Torah, and whoever did not have a father would not learn Torah at all. The Gemara explains: They interpreted the verse that states: “And you shall teach them [otam] to your sons” (Deuteronomy 11:19), to mean: And you yourselves [atem] shall teach, i.e.,
When the Sages saw that not everyone was capable of teaching their children and Torah study was declining, they instituted an ordinance that teachers of children should be established in Jerusalem. They interpreted the verse: “For Torah emerges from Zion” (Isaiah 2:3). But still, whoever had a father, his father ascended with him to Jerusalem and had him taught, but whoever did not have a father, he did not ascend and learn.
Therefore, the Sages instituted an ordinance that teachers of children should be established in one city in each and every region [pelekh]. And they brought the students in at the age of sixteen and at the age of seventeen.
But as the students were old and had not yet had any formal education, a student whose teacher grew angry at him would rebel against him and leave.
This state of affairs continued until Yehoshua ben Gamla came and instituted an ordinance that teachers of children should be established in each and every province and in each and every town, and they would bring the children in to learn at the age of six and at the age of seven.
With regard to the matter at hand, since this system was established for the masses, the neighbors cannot prevent a scholar from teaching Torah in the courtyard.
דברים ו׳:ז׳
וְשִׁנַּנְתָּם לְבָנֶיךָ וְדִבַּרְתָּ בָּם בְּשִׁבְתְּךָ בְּבֵיתֶךָ וּבְלֶכְתְּךָ בַדֶּרֶךְ וּבְשָׁכְבְּךָ וּבְקוּמֶךָ.
Deuteronomy 6:7
And you shall teach them diligently to your children, you shall speak of them when you sit in your home, and when you walk along the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise up
קידושין דף כט,א
“ת”ר: האב חייב בבנו למולו, ולפדותו, וללמדו תורה, ולהשיאו אשה, וללמדו אומנות; וי”א: אף להשיטו במים;
The Gemara comments: According to this interpretation, we learn in this mishna that which the Sages taught in a baraita: A father is obligated with regard to his son to circumcise him, and to redeem him if he is a firstborn son who must be redeemed by payment to a priest, and to teach him Torah, and to marry him to a woman, and to teach him a trade.
ירושלמי, כתובות, פרק ח, הלכה יא
והוא[שמעון בן שטח] התקין שלושה דברים… ושיהו תינוקות הולכין לבית הספר.
Simeon ben Sheṭaḥ decreed three things: … And that children have to go to school
“עלי תמר”, רבי יששכר תמר (ארץ ישראל, המאה ה20):
ובתקופה נוראה כזאת ראה שמעון בן שטח כי אין רפואה לשבר בת עמו אלא בחינוך של אמונה ותורה לתינוקות של בית רבן… בכדי שלא ישטפו גם הם… בזרם הצדוקי.
And in such a terrible time, Shimon ben Shetah saw that there is no cure for the rift among his people except in the education of faith and Torah for the children of Beit Rabban… so that they too will not be washed away… in the Sadducean stream.
הרב בן ציון מאיר חי עוזיאל (א”י מאה 20) “שמעון בן שטח ותורתו”, סיני לב (תשי”ג), עמ’ שמח.
מכאן ואילך “הממשלה עצמה מושיבה מורים ומכניסה תלמידים לבתי הספר”
From then on “the government itself appoints teachers and admits students to schools”
משנה תורה, הלכות תלמוד תורה ב׳:ב׳
…וְאֵין מְבַטְּלִין הַתִּינוֹקוֹת וַאֲפִלּוּ לְבִנְיַן בֵּית הַמִּקְדָּשׁ:
Mishneh Torah, Torah Study 2:2
…School children should not be rendered idle even for the sake of building the Holy Temple
משנה תורה, הלכות תלמוד תורה ב׳:ה׳
(ה) עֶשְׂרִים וַחֲמִשָּׁה תִּינוֹקוֹת לְמֵדִים אֵצֶל מְלַמֵּד אֶחָד. הָיוּ יוֹתֵר עַל עֶשְׂרִים וַחֲמִשָּׁה עַד אַרְבָּעִים מוֹשִׁיבִין עִמּוֹ אַחֵר לְסַיְּעוֹ בְּלִמּוּדָם. הָיוּ יוֹתֵר עַל אַרְבָּעִים מַעֲמִידִין לָהֶם שְׁנֵי מְלַמְּדֵי תִּינוֹקוֹת:
Mishneh Torah, Torah Study 2:5
(5) Twenty-five children should be the maximum number for one teacher to instruct. If there be more than twenty-five children but not exceeding forty, an assistant should be appointed to help him in giving them instructions; if the number exceeds forty children, two teachers should be appointed.5Baba Batra, 21b. C.
שבת קי״ט ב:ח׳
אמר רב המנונא לא חרבה ירושלים אלא בשביל שביטלו בה תינוקות של בית רבן…
Shabbat 119b:8
Rav Hamnuna said: Jerusalem was destroyed only because schoolchildren there were interrupted from studying Torah
ערוך השולחן, יורה דעה רמ״ה:ט׳-י׳
Arukh HaShulchan, Yoreh De’ah 245:9-10
One must hire a tutor for their son unless they are teaching them themselves…
But the son of one’s fellow – one is not obligated to pay for him on his own, but rather the community of residents is to make a Talmud Torah, as I have written….
And for one’s grandson, great-grandson – we force him to pay for his studies when he is able to and the child’s parents are not able to, or if he doesn’t have parents…
And thus, we force all city residents to establish/maintain a Talmud Torah, to place tutors there to teach the poor and orphan children. And we force this that everyone should give a donation or from the communal fund. And every city that does not have a Talmud Torah – it’s end will be in destruction and we should separate from it…
And this was the custom across all of Israel – that there would be Talmud Torah schools, and the poor and orphan kids would go there, and the school would feed and dress the kids until they matured
הרב עובדיה יוסף, שו”ת יחווה דעת, ירושלים תשל”ז, חלק ד’, סימן מ”ח
And know that although the main mitzvot of Talmud Torah rests on the fathers of the students, never the less, the teachers who know how to teach Torah to the infants, and have become experts in the profession of learning Torah, also have the duty to teach Torah to the children of Israel. And as Rambam ruled: (Halchot Talmud Torah Chapter 1, Halachah 2) “Just as a man is obliged to teach his son Torah, so he is obliged to teach his son’s son, as it is said, ‘And tell them to your sons and your sons’ sons’” (Deuteronomy 4:9), and not His son and his son only, but it is a commandment for every wise man of Israel to teach all the students Torah, even though they are not his sons, as it is said: and you shall teach it to your sons, from the word of mouth they learned, your sons are your students, that the students are called sons..
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