"Get Yourself a Teacher, Acquire Yourself a Friend"
Sermon, November 19, 2004
Rabbi Bruce Kadden

In our service this evening, as in every morning and evening worship service, we recited the scriptural verses from the book of Deuteronomy that we call the Sh’ma.  This passage begins with the exhortation:  “Hear, O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is One.”  It then continues by affirming that we should love God with all our mind strength and being and that we should place these words which God has commanded us upon our hearts and that we should teach them to our children.

Thus, at the very core of this vital text is the importance of education, of passing on the values and practices to the next generation.  And while this particular passage refers, of course, to Jewish values and practices, Judaism has insisted that we embrace secular education with just as much enthusiasm.

Indeed, Jews were the first group, some 1800 years ago, to insist on universal education outside of the home.  At the time, many groups insisted that children could be best education at home, by their parents, separately.  In contrast, many rabbis believed that it was preferable for children to study together, outside the home, because group study helped develop their minds. 

In neighboring communities, only the wealthy could afford tutors for their children, so most children remained uneducated.  Education was considered a privilege for the rich.  However, Judaism recognized the value of universal education.  The love affair between Judaism and education continues to this day.

It is reflected in the emphasis that Jewish parents place on education for their children, the high percentage of Jewish youth who continue beyond high school with undergraduate and often graduate education.  It is reflected in the large numbers of Jews who are teachers.  And it is reflected in the tremendous support for education that comes from the Jewish community.

Throughout Jewish literature we find many important teachings related to education.  This evening I want to explore one of them.  It comes from a 2^nd century collection of maxims called Pirkei Avot, the Chapters of the Fathers.  It is attributed to Joshua ben Perachyah, who was President of the Sanhedrin, the great Jewish court, more than 2100 years ago.  He taught:  “Asei l’cha rav, k’nei l’cha chaver/Get yourself a teacher; acquire yourself a friend.”

Rabbi Joseph Hertz, former Chief Rabbi of the British Empire, explains that we are to get a teacher “So as to learn the truths of Religion under competent guidance, and be saved from error and confusion of mind.”  And, he continues, we are to acquire a friend so that we will have a study buddy. 

Indeed, Jewish study was almost always done in chevruta, in pairs, rather than individually.  In a traditional Jewish classroom, the teacher would introduce a passage of study, from the Bible, Talmud or some other text, and then invite the students to study it with their partners.  After reading and analyzing the text together, the class would come back together to distill their learning and to hear their teacher’s interpretation of the passage.

Another interpretation of Rabbi Joshua’s teaching –our guests should know that in Judaism there is always another interpretation—comes from Rabbi Rami Shapiro, a contemporary rabbi and creative thinker.  He writes that we should find a teacher “to challenge your answers” and acquire a friend “to challenge your questions.” 

We sometimes think that the main purpose of a teacher is to give us the answers to our questions.  But Rabbi Shapiro reminds us that another important purpose is to challenge our answers, to force us to reexamine our assumptions, to make us rethink our conclusions. 

There are, of course, questions that have right and wrong answers, factual questions in many fields.  But there are other questions which do not have clear right and wrong answers.  Indeed, it is often the most profound and important questions that are the most difficult to answer.

As teachers, we need to help our students search for answers to the most challenging questions, motivate them to deeply probe difficult issues, rather than to simply accept the first answer that comes their way.  Those who think that they know all the answers, even to the most difficult questions, are those who have not seriously wrestled with the questions and have not had their answers challenged.

When I have the opportunity to interview someone for a teaching job in a Religious School, I would always ask a couple of tough questions with no right or wrong answer.  The answer itself didn’t much matter, but the process of answering the question was important.  Was the person absolutely certain about his or her answer, or was there recognition of uncertainty?  Did the person feel a need to offer a definitive answer, or was the person comfortable with ambiguity?  How a person handled those types of questions often told me more about how they would handle students’ questions in the classroom than anything else.  We want teachers who will challenge students’ answers, so that they will continue to grow and learn.

And we also, according to Rabbi Shapiro, need friends who will challenge our questions.  Judaism teaches that even more important than searching for the right answers, is asking the right questions.  Rabbi Shapiro recognizes that we need someone to make sure we are asking the right questions as much as we need someone to make sure that we are giving the right answers.

There is a story about a man who once came to rabbi and wanted to learn Talmud, though he didn’t know Hebrew or much else about Judaism.  The rabbi was skeptical, but the man insisted, so the rabbi finally agreed to teach him if he could first past a simple test of logic.

“Two men come down a chimney,” the rabbi begins.  One comes out with a clean face; the other comes out with a dirty face.  Which one washes his face?”

“Obviously, the one with the dirty face,” he answers.

“Wrong,” the rabbi says.  “The one with the dirty face looks at the one with the clean face and thinks his face is clean.  The one with the clean face looks at the one with the dirty face and thinks his face is dirty.  So the one with the clean face washes his face.”

The man asks for another chance, so the rabbi says:  “Two men come down a chimney,” the rabbi begins.  One comes out with a clean face; the other comes out with a dirty face.  Which one washes his face?”

“That’s easy.  The one with the clean face.”

“Wrong,” the rabbi says.  “The one with the dirty face looks at the one with the clean face and thinks his face is clean.  The one with the clean face looks at the one with the dirty face and thinks his face is dirty.  So the one with the clean face washes his face.  When the one with the dirty face sees the one with the clean face wash his face, he also washes his face.  So each one washes his face.”

Again, the man asks for another chance, and again the rabbi says:  “Two men come down a chimney,” the rabbi begins.  One comes out with a clean face; the other comes out with a dirty face.  Which one washes his face?”

“Each one does,” the man says.

“Wrong,” the rabbi says.  “The one with the dirty face looks at the one with the clean face and thinks his face is clean.  The one with the clean face looks at the one with the dirty face and thinks his face is dirty.  But when the one with the clean face sees that the one with the dirty face doesn’t wash his face, he also doesn’t wash his face.  So neither one washes his face.”

The man begs for one last chance, and once again the rabbi asks the same question.

“Neither one washes his face,” he says.

“Wrong.” The rabbi says.  “Tell me, how is it possible for two men to come down the same chimney, and for one to come out with a clean face and the other with a dirty face?  Don’t you see? It is an absurd question.

We shouldn’t waste our time trying to answer absurd questions or meaningless questions or the wrong questions.  It is important that we ask the right questions.

We Jews are good at asking questions.  In fact, someone once said that a Jew is someone who answers a question with another question.  The Talmud, the great work of Jewish law and teaching, begins with a question and contains questions on each and every page.

Isadore Rabi, a Nobel Prize physicist was once asked how he first got interested in science.  He replied that whereas most mothers would ask their children, “Did you learn anything new in school today?” his mother always asked him, “Did you ask a good question today?”  Thus, early in life he learned the importance of asking questions.

As parents and as teachers we need to help students ask the right questions, to motivate children to think critically, to pique their curiosity.  A child who learns at an early age to ask questions, has begun a life-long process of education.  Albert Einstein once said that “Imagination is more important than knowledge,” which is really another way of saying that a question is more important than an answer.

There are times that young children can drive parents crazy with questions and there are times that students can drive teachers crazy with questions.  But as a parent and a teacher we can give our students no greater a gift than encouraging them to ask questions.

On this Shabbat, we offer thanks for our teachers, who devote themselves to the sacred task of educating our children.  We are particularly grateful for their ability to instill in our children curiosity and inquisitiveness, the ability to ask good questions and search for answers.  May all who teach be blessed with strength, wisdom, and peace.

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