במדבר ג'
(א) וְאֵ֛לֶּה תּוֹלְדֹ֥ת אַהֲרֹ֖ן וּמֹשֶׁ֑ה בְּי֗וֹם דִּבֶּ֧ר יְהֹוָ֛ה אֶת־מֹשֶׁ֖ה בְּהַ֥ר סִינָֽי׃
Now this is the history of the generations of Aaron and Moses on the day that Hashem spoke with Moses in Mount Sinai.
רש"י במדבר ג':א'
ואלה תולדות אהרן ומשה – ואינו מזכיר אלא בני אהרן, ונקראו תולדות משה לפי שלימדן תורה, מלמד שכל המלמד את בן חברו תורה, מעלה עליו הכתוב כאילו ילדו.
AND THESE ARE THE OFFSPRING OF AARON AND MOSES – But it mentions only the sons of Aaron! But they also are called the sons of Moses because he taught them the Torah. This tells us that whoever teaches the Torah to the son of his fellow man Scripture regards it to him as though he had begotten him (Sanhedrin 19b).
In this week’s Parsha, Bamidbar, the Torah lists the families of the Leviim. In chapter 3, verse 1 the Torah lists the generations from Aaron and Moshe. Rashi notes that the verses continue to only list the sons of Aaron. He comments that the list indicates that Moshe was considered as if he had begotten the children of Aaron as well. He says that whoever teaches Torah to another’s son, it is as if they bore them as well. This is a profound statement that requires some clarity. How does teaching someone Torah make them as if they gave birth to them?
To answer this question let’s look at another interesting verse in Bereshit (chapter 12, verse 5) concerning our forefather Avraham.
וַיִּקַּ֣ח אַבְרָם֩ אֶת־שָׂרַ֨י אִשְׁתּ֜וֹ וְאֶת־ל֣וֹט בֶּן־אָחִ֗יו וְאֶת־כׇּל־רְכוּשָׁם֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר רָכָ֔שׁוּ וְאֶת־הַנֶּ֖פֶשׁ אֲשֶׁר־עָשׂ֣וּ בְחָרָ֑ן וַיֵּצְא֗וּ לָלֶ֙כֶת֙ אַ֣רְצָה כְּנַ֔עַן וַיָּבֹ֖אוּ אַ֥רְצָה כְּנָֽעַן׃
Avram took his wife, Sarai, and his brother's son, Lot, and all their possessions which they had acquired, and the souls they had made in Charan, and they departed to go to the land of Canaan, and they came to the land of Canaan.
The Torah describes Avram’s travels to Canaan. It describes Avraham as taking the “souls” that he made in Charan. What were these souls? To whom does this refer?
The Ibn Ezra says that the souls that they had gotten in Haran refers to the people to whom Abraham showed the truth, to worship God. The Ibn Ezra is suggesting that Avraham helped make or develop their souls by teaching them the truth. It is the soul that allows people to perceive ideas. It is this part of the people that Avraham nourished with ideas about Hashem and monotheism. These people didn’t really exist till they truly actualized their soul from only potentially existing to truly existing by recognizing the truth that Avraham was teaching them.
Just like when giving birth you are actualizing the body and physical life of a person, so too when you teach the truth to a person you are actualizing their soul and their spiritual life. They are bringing the essential part of the person into real existence. In that way it is as if you bore them. The teacher is helping the student to truly exist. The teacher becomes the spiritual parent of the student.
We can now address our original question about Moshe and Aaron’s sons. Moshe taught the Torah to Aaron’s sons. He became a spiritual father to them. It is for this reason Rashi suggests that the verses describe Aaron’s sons as the generations of Moshe and Aaron. They were considered Moshe’s sons as well. This is the work that our teachers here at SHA do every day. Trying to actualize the true potential of every student. In doing so we create a family of learners.
Thank you for sharing your students with us and allowing us to partner with you.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Weiss
