5785/2025
An Educational Visionary
Bava Batra 21a presents the following:
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 by the Jewish people. Initially, whoever had a father would have his father teach him the Torah, and whoever did not have a father would not learn the Torah. The Gemara explains: What verse did they interpret homiletically that allowed them to conduct themselves in this manner? They interpreted the verse that states: “And you shall teach them [Otam] to your sons” (Deuteronomy 11:19), to mean: And you [Atem] shall teach, i.e., you fathers shall teach your sons.
When the Sages saw that not everyone was capable of teaching their children and that Torah study was declining, they instituted an ordinance that required teachers of children to be established in Jerusalem. The Gemara explains: What verse did they interpret homiletically that enabled them to do this? 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 region [Pelekh]. And they brought the students in at the age of sixteen and 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. It was impossible to hold the youths there against their will. This state of affairs continued until Yehoshua ben Gamla came and instituted an ordinance that teachers of children should be established in every province and every town, and they would bring the children in to learn at the age of six and the age of seven. Concerning the matter at hand, since this system was established for the masses, the neighbors cannot prevent a scholar from teaching the Torah in the courtyard.
Concerning that same issue, Rav said to Rav Shmuel bar Sheilat, a teacher of children: Do not accept a student before the age of six, as he is too young, and it is difficult for him to learn in a steady manner. From this point forward, accept him and stuff him with Torah like an ox. And Rav further said to Rav Shmuel bar Sheilat: When you strike a child for educational purposes, hit him only with the strap of a sandal, which is small and does not cause pain. Rav further advised him: He who reads, let him read on his own; whoever does not read, let him be a companion to his friends, which will encourage him to learn to read.
What if Yehoshua ben Gamla Did Not Act?
The question becomes, what if Yehoshua ben Gamla did not take his initiative? Would the Torah become forgotten? Doesn't Hashem promise (Devarim 31:21) us that the Torah will never be forgotten?
Engaging the Broader Community
One answer is that the Gemara doesn't mean literally that the Torah would have been completely forgotten. However, the broader community would have been lost to Torah learning. An elite group would have learned the Torah, and Hashem’s promise would have been fulfilled. Rashi to Devarim 31:21 says that Hashem only promises that at least a small group of Jews will learn the Torah. Yehoshua ben Gamla ensured that the broader community continued to learn the Torah.
According to this interpretation, Yehoshua ben Gamla is a powerful role model for Rabbanim engaging the broader community. Great Torah teachers, from the Chafetz Chaim to Rav Yosef Dov Soloveitchik to Rav Ovadia Yosef, taught top-level Talmidim and made great efforts to teach Torah to the broader community. Yehoshua ben Gamla's example obligates us to continue and further his path. The internet and other technologies allow us today to further Yehoshua ben Gamla's vision and reach broader audiences than ever before.
Megagelim Zechut Al Yedei Zakai
However, we might interpret the Gemara as the entire world bereft of Torah, absent Yehoshua Ben Gamla's enactments. According to this approach, Yehoshua ben Gamla served as an instrument of the divine will to preserve Torah knowledge amongst our people. This situation exemplifies Megagelim Zechut al Yedei Zakai, Hashem choosing good people to bring about good things (Shabbat 32a). In this manner, Chazal resolves the contradiction between free will and Hashgachah Pratit (divine intervention).
Yehoshua ben Gamla recognized Hashem’s promise and realized that he was the one who would uphold it. Throughout the generations, there were Jews who followed his example and stepped into the breach to ensure the perpetuation of Torah learning.
Binyamin adds that someone had to do the job done by Yehoshua ben Gamla. Someone would have done it, but Yehoshua ben Gamla decided to be the one to do it. Binyamin’s idea is a variation on the Rambam (Hilchot Teshuva 6:5), saying that the Egyptians were destined at the Brit Bein HaBetarim to enslave us. However, each Egyptian could have chosen not to participate. In our case, someone was destined to do the job of rescuing Torah study, but Yehoshua ben Gamla decided to be the one to do it.
Twentieth-Century Torah Heroes
The middle twentieth century is a model of such Torah heroism. In the 1950s, there were very few Yeshivot worldwide, with barely a few hundred Yeshiva students. Dozens of great Jews, rabbis, and laypeople stepped up and strengthened Yeshivot and Torah learning to the extent that seventy-five years later, the situation has dramatically improved.
Interestingly, Yehoshua ben Gamla is not described as a Rav. Apparently, he was a great leader who inspired a Torah revolution and continues to inspire and spur action throughout the generations.
The Age to Begin Torah Learning
Why did we begin to teach Torah to students at the age of 16-17? As a Yeshiva high school Rebbe for the past thirty years, I attest that these are the years in which youngsters can begin to think abstractly and maturely. Deep Torah learning can start at this age. However, it is a challenging age as teenagers tend to be rebellious, and, as the Gemara teaches, it is a risky endeavor to begin Torah teaching/learning at that age. Experience shows that one must start much earlier to habituate and train children to love the Torah.
Teaching Torah before the age of sixteen might be compared to plowing a field. Only after proper plowing can successful planting begin.
The Student who Does not Learn
The lesson of Tzavta Lechavrei, being a companion to his friends, is most relevant today. Even though the student does not learn Torah, by keeping him in the school, he remains part of the community. Indeed, Binyamin observes that Chazal (see Rashi to Bemidbar 3:38) teaches Tov LaTzaddik, Tov Leshecheino, a Tzaddik positively impacts his environment.
In addition, even the learning student benefits from the company of his struggling friend. The learner also needs community, and his non-learning friend helps create a community for him.
Similarly, Jewish day schools' most important function, more important than teaching Torah, is creating a Jewish community. American public schools not only educated but also created a community, leaving Jewish students highly assimilated. Even non-Orthodox Jews (sadly much too late, long after great assimilation set in) recognized the essential need for day school education for Jewish survival.
Binyamin notes that the “Tzavta Lechavrei” strategy is more complicated nowadays. Today, distractions abound, and attention spans are shortened. Students sitting in a Beit Midrash or classroom for hours doing nothing but keeping their friends company is often no longer a reasonable option. Educators are thus greatly challenged to apply the Tzavta Lechavrei concept to contemporary educational settings.
Conclusion
Torah educators and supporters of Torah education must keenly internalize the myriad lessons of the Yehoshua ben Gamla enactments. We are the contemporary Yehoshua ben Gamlas, and no less than Jewish survival is at stake. As such, Torah teachers and administrators must adjust their expectations and perspectives on struggling students. It is not for naught that Rav Moshe Feinstein (Teshuvot Igrot Moshe Y.D. 3:71) writes that the question of expelling a difficult student is a matter of spiritual life and death (Rav Moshe calls it Dinei Nefashot).
May Hashem grant us the patience and wisdom to fully realize Bava Batra 21a's grand vision of bringing the Torah to our entire nation. May our successful Torah teaching endeavors merit the ushering of the times of Mashiach, as described by Yishayahu HaNavi (11:9), when the land will be filled with knowledge of Hashem from sea to sea.