In Parshas Eikev - which is replete with the admonishments, teachings, exhortations, mussar, love, and direction of Moshe Rabbeinu, relayed to the nation in the last month of his life - Moshe reviews a theme he has already taught us in Va’Eschanan. 

In last week’s parsha, in the Shema, Moshe commands us: וְהָי֞וּ הַדְּבָרִ֣ים הָאֵ֗לֶּה אֲשֶׁ֨ר אָנֹכִ֧י מְצַוְּךָ֛ הַיּ֖וֹם עַל־לְבָבֶֽךָ, and these words that I command you today shall be upon your heart, וְשִׁנַּנְתָּ֣ם לְבָנֶ֔יךָ וְדִבַּרְתָּ֖ בָּ֑ם בְּשִׁבְתְּךָ֤ בְּבֵיתֶ֙ךָ֙ וּבְלֶכְתְּךָ֣ בַדֶּ֔רֶךְ וּֽבְשׇׁכְבְּךָ֖ וּבְקוּמֶֽךָ, and you shall teach your children and speak of them, when you sit in your house and when you walk on your way, and when you lay down and when you arise (Devarim 6:6-7).

Here we have the imperative to place the words of Torah upon our own hearts - internalizing them and living by them - and to teach our children and students (see Rashi to 6:7), so that they too learn, live and love Torah.

And then in Eikev, Moshe once again commands us:

“And you shall place these words upon your heart and your soul… וְלִמַּדְתֶּם אֹתָם אֶת-בְּנֵיכֶם, לְדַבֵּר בָּם, בְּשִׁבְתְּךָ בְּבֵיתֶךָ וּבְלֶכְתְּךָ בַדֶּרֶךְ, וּבְשָׁכְבְּךָ וּבְקוּמֶךָ, and you shall teach them to your children, to speak of them, when you sit in your house and when you walk on your way, when you lay down and when you arise” (11:19).

Later in Devarim, on the last day of his life, Moshe once again stresses the importance of one generation teaching, and transmitting, the masorah to the next generation. 

זְכֹר֙ יְמ֣וֹת עוֹלָ֔ם בִּ֖ינוּ שְׁנ֣וֹת דֹּֽר וָדֹ֑ר שְׁאַ֤ל אָבִ֨יךָ֙ וְיַגֵּ֔דְךָ זְקֵנֶ֖יךָ וְיֹֽאמְרוּ־לָֽךְ - Remember the days of old; reflect upon the years of generations. Ask your father, and he will tell you; your elders, and they will say to you (32:7). 

Klal Yisrael is commanded to become a nation of teachers, and to ensure that each generation passes on the Torah to the next.

Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks z’l writes, “This emphasis on education has given Judaism, from the very beginning, a future orientation that is unusual among the great religions of the world. Jews have always cared about children and placed them as their highest joy. Rather than look back to a vanished past, they have looked forward to a distant but promised future. A people that places children at the apex of its agenda does not grow old. It learns to see the world through the eyes of a child - with hope and wonder and aspiration unsullied by cynicism and despair… 

“So it was at virtually every period of Jewish history and almost every place where there was a Jewish community… By 15th century, Spanish Jewry had long passed its Golden Age. The Spanish equivalent of Kristallnacht - synagogues set on fire, Jewish businesses looted, and Jews killed - took place in 1391. From then until their expulsion in 1492, Jews lived under the shadow of persecution. Their civil rights were curtailed. They were constantly urged to convert to Christianity…. At the height of this crisis, a gathering of Jews was convened at Valladolid, Spain, in 1432. It ordained a series of taxes on meat, wine, weddings, and circumcisions, to raise funds for public education:

‘We also ordain that every community of fifteen householders [or more] shall be obliged to maintain a qualified elementary teacher to instruct their children in Scripture. They shall provide him with sufficient income for a living in accordance with the number of his dependents. The parents shall be obliged to send their children to that teacher, and each shall pay him in accordance with his means. If this revenue from the parents should prove inadequate, the community shall be obliged to supplement it with an amount necessary for his livelihood in accordance with the time and the place.’

“Until modern times there was no parallel to this Jewish insistence on education as the fundamental right and duty of every person, every child… 

“The Mesopotamians built ziggurats, the Egyptians build pyramids, the Greeks built the Parthenon, and the Romans the Coliseum. Jews build schools. That is why we are still here. That is the secret of our immortality” (Covenant & Conversation, Deuteronomy, p.101-104).

I once heard a beautiful insight related by Rabbi Shay Schachter, in the name of the great tzadik, Rav Meir Shapiro of Lublin zt’l. 

In the Book of Esther, the pasuk tells us:

וַיְסַפֵּ֨ר הָמָ֜ן לְזֶ֤רֶשׁ אִשְׁתּוֹ֙ וּלְכָל־אֹ֣הֲבָ֔יו אֵ֖ת כָּל־אֲשֶׁ֣ר קָרָ֑הוּ וַיֹּֽאמְרוּ֩ לּ֨וֹ חֲכָמָ֜יו וְזֶ֣רֶשׁ אִשְׁתּ֗וֹ אִ֣ם מִזֶּ֣רַע הַיְּהוּדִ֡ים מָרְדֳּכַ֞י אֲשֶׁר֩ הַֽחִלּ֨וֹתָ לִנְפֹּ֤ל לְפָנָיו֙ לֹֽא־תוּכַ֣ל ל֔וֹ כִּֽי־נָפ֥וֹל תִּפּ֖וֹל לְפָנָיו - And Haman recounted to Zeresh his wife and to all his friends all that had befallen him, and his wise men and Zeresh his wife said to him, "If Mordecai, before whom you have begun to fall, is of the seed of the Jews, you will not overcome him, but you will surely fall before him” (Esther 6:13 - the Divine coordination of the fact that this is verse 6:13 should not be lost to us…).

Rav Meir Shapiro of Lublin explains that the advisors and Zeresh were saying to Haman: אִ֣ם מִזֶּ֣רַע הַיְּהוּדִ֡ים - if at a time like this - a time of persecution and terror, a time of destruction and fear - the Jews are still teaching their children, if they are investing in the future, the seed of their nation, the זֶּ֣רַע הַיְּהוּדִ֡ים, then you will never defeat them. Haman’s friends and family were saying to him: “The Jews understand that the secret to their survival lies in the future, the seeds whom are the children they plant, and then nurture through education. Hence we are forced to recognize that they are - and will always remain - an eternal people. Against such a nation your nefarious plans will never succeed.”

“And you shall teach your children/students, and you shall speak of them, when you sit in your home and when you walk on the way…” Such is the strength of our people, such is the secret to our survival, and thus we will merit to remain strong and eternal, from generation to generation.

בברכת בשורות טובות ושבת שלום