Shine Your Light!2 min read

In this week’s parsha, the verse states “These are the offspring of Ahron and Moshe”. However, the following verse only goes on to list Ahron’s children, not the children of Moshe. This seems strange! If his children were not to be subsequently mentioned, why, then, was Moshe’s name mentioned in the previous verse? From here, Chazal derive the following rule: One who teaches Torah to another person’s child, “Ma’aleh alav hakasuv k’ilu y’lado”, it is considered as if he fathered him. Because Moshe Rabbeinu had taught Torah to Ahron’s children, they are considered his offspring as well.

The holy Tiferes Shlomo zy”a says the most amazing thing. While, on a simple level, Chazal are communicating the idea that when a person teaches Torah to another person’s son, it is considered as if he fathered that child, the ambiguity of the language our sages chose to use, “k’ilu yaldo”, hints to a deeper, and more radical idea: When one teaches Torah to another person’s child, “k’ilu y’lado”, it is if the child fathered him! Because the gravity of teaching Torah is so incredibly awesome, it is probable that this person had come to the world specifically to fill this role as a holy educator. Therefore, this child is to his teacher what a father is to his son; he represents the premise of the rebbe’s existence, the source of his life-force in this world.

This idea is exceedingly profound. In this teaching, the Radomsker tzaddik is revealing that it is possible to discover and engage in activities which touch the very core of our existence and represent the very premise of our brief foray through the wilderness of this world. Every member of our holy nation has a sacred mission to fulfill, entirely unique and suited to his particular upbringing, personality, challenges, and life circumstance. And when we locate our mission, by way of tefillah, deep introspection, and experimenting, we feel as Moshe Rabbeinu did when, in teaching Torah, he revealed the core of his soul – that this activity has fathered us, that we have been sent from the supernal realms to this, cold, dark world for the sole purpose of shining Hashem’s light in this unique way, a way in which nobody else could. This teaching demands that we draw up an assessment of our lives: Have we yet located our mission? Is there any activity in our lives that grant us life in this wondrous way? May Hashem grant us the siyata d’Shmaya to get in touch with our essential selves and live life with passion, meaning, joy, vibrancy, and an abiding sense of fulfillment.