THE TEACHERS TEACHER

s the new school year begins, we met with the veteran mechanech, R’ Naftali Roth, for an important chinuch discussion. We raised an array of questions and asked his opinion on issues of the day.

Photos by Ezra LandauRabbi Naftali Roth is a well-known figure in Chabad in Eretz Yisroel, known by young and old and people of all backgrounds. For many years now, he has emceed major Chabad events with sensitivity and warmth. Many know him as a teacher and mechanech for the past six decades, as someone who is leading the Chabad chinuch revolution for nearly the past thirty years with the founding of the Merkaz Chinuchi Chassiduti.

I met with R’ Roth in his office on Uriel Street in Yerushalayim. He has many chinuch roles, but even more important than that are the enthusiasm and freshness that he maintains. A few days after the annual convention of mechanchim, when hundreds of mechanchim from all over the country convened for three days of learning and renewal, we sat together to talk.

Let us begin with the convention of mechanchim that garners high praise for its quality, professionalism, and atmosphere. It is able to unite everyone. Many principals and teachers are in touch with you and you respect everyone’s views. When did this convention begin? Was it the Rebbe’s initiative or yours? How did the Rebbe regard it over the years?

The idea to hold a convention for mechanchim came up during the big Hakhel gathering of teachers that took place in 5748. That was following the Rebbe’s

call and request, at the 13 Tishrei farbrengen of that year, to hold Hakhel gatherings for men, women, and the smallest of children.

In concert with the director of Tzach, R’ Yosef Yitzchok Aharonov, it was decided to arrange two large Hakhel gatherings, one for school aged children of all groups and sectors to be held in Binyanei HaUmah, and another one for teachers. We sent our suggested program to the Rebbe and the answer was: I will mention it at the gravesite for outstanding success etc.

The children’s Hakhel gathering took place on Rosh Chodesh Shevat 5748 and the Hakhel gathering for mechanchim took place on the Chag Ha’Geula, 12-13 Tammuz, in Malchei Yisroel halls in Yerushalayim.

The Rebbe responded warmly and encouragingly about each of the gatherings. Every ad we produced for the Kinus was sent to the Rebbe for review and some were corrected by him. For the children’s gathering, the Rebbe suggested we produce a special album. When we did so, the Rebbe’s reaction was, “Accolades of grace to an amazing extent; this album beautifies Tzeirei Agudas Chabad.”

When we reported about the gathering for mechanchim, we got a speedy response which said: It was received and many thanks, it caused much nachas ruach, and may it be an ongoing endeavor and with additions etc. I will mention it at the tziyun.

Following the Rebbe’s bracha for an “ongoing endeavor,” R’ Aharonov reported to the Rebbe about the idea of starting a Merkaz Chinuchi Chassiduti in conjunction with Tzach, as well as the decision to have a convention for mechanchim every year. The Rebbe responded with a bracha along with instructions for the success of the activities.

A year later, 5749, the “Year of the Boy and Girl,” I attended the Kinus Ha’Shluchim and one of the instructions I was given by the Rebbe was to find someone to compile from the sichos excerpts about the importance of mechanchim and to print it. By the time we had the second convention of mechanchim that year, the book HaMechanech was printed and was given out as a gift to the mechanchim.

Since then, every year, on the day the convention began, we received (through the secretary, R’ Leibel Groner) a detailed bracha from the Rebbe. Of course, the Rebbe’s special attention toward this convention shows how vitally the Rebbe views it.

Over the years, has the convention adjusted to the changes going on during the past twenty years in technology and other things that we did not have to deal with in the past?

The mechanchim’s convention is the highlight of the many educational initiatives that take place throughout the year for the purpose of raising the level of chinuch and instruction and dealing with the challenges of the time. These include addressing the urgent need to keep on high alert, to be warned of the dangers that technology can bring with it, along with keeping up with the educational tools of technology which can help those involved in this most important shlichus, as the Rebbe says to utilize every tool for k’dusha. Every year, professionals are invited to speak and clarify this issue.

A VETERAN MECHANECH VERSUS MODERN TECHNOLOGY

R’ Naftali Roth was born in 5699 in the Shaarei Chesed neighborhood of Yerushalayim In his youth he learned in Yeshivas Chevron where he became acquainted with Chabad and became mekushar to the Rebbe, until he was appointed by the Rebbe as “his man” in Yeshivas Chevron while he learned in that yeshiva.

His educational career began when he was quite young. Over the years he started many educational projects starting with a Yeshivas Erev in Yerushalayim for boys who wanted to learn Torah beyond school hours. He held administrative positions in the Reshet Oholei Yosef Yitzchok and then in Toras Emes Chabad in Yerushalayim.

He never retired. Along with his role as director of Tzach in Yerushalayim, he started the Merkaz Chinuchi Chassiduti and initiated the annual convention of mechanchim that have become educational models whose reach extends beyond the realm of Chabad educators. Along with these endeavors, he serves as rav of the Chabad community in the Mattersdorf neighborhood of Yerushalayim.

One would think that someone who started his chinuch career in the old Yerushalmi neighborhoods with boys of the Old Yishuv, and then went on to the first schools of the Reshet that were founded in faltering neighborhoods on the outskirts of Yerushalayim, would not keep up with the progress, technology and the slew of gadgets that draw children’s attention these days. And yet, R’ Roth is up to date and he has solutions to the problems of today’s youth. This is the greatest testimony, that his educational methods have proven themselves to stand the test of time.

The world is moving on, some would say deteriorating, and the world of education is sensitive to this. As a veteran educator, how can we preserve and protect a pure chinuch nowadays?

On the verse (D’varim 26:11), “and you shall rejoice with all the good,” the holy Ohr HaChayim writes, “Good refers exclusively to Torah as it says (Mishlei 4:2), ‘I gave you a good teaching,’ and if people knew and felt the sweetness of Torah, they would go crazy and chase after it excitedly and a world full of silver and gold would not be considered to be worth anything, for the Torah incorporates all the goodness of the world.”

There is just one way to deal with the influences and competing pleasures and that is to get students to feel the sweetness of Torah.

How should this be done?

First, every mechanech must have a regular shiur in Chassidus. Chassidus teaches us how to transform Torah into something exciting and joyous and how to relate to Torah, not as a rulebook or manual but as something that touches a person in the deep recesses of the soul.

The Rebbe Rashab said, “A Chassid creates an environment.” In order to preserve the pure chinuch in our times, when the environment is negative, we need to create an opposing environment. Of course, this effort requires the teacher to invest a lot in the spirit of the classroom and to use many experiential means to attract the children. Also important is that the aesthetics of the building and the class contribute to creating a good environment.

A teacher who prepares a lesson properly and takes his students’ abilities into account will succeed in creating an atmosphere of satisfaction with the learning.

A small personal example: Once a week, I devote half an hour to each class for a conversation that includes a story and a Chassidic saying. The students are invited to say what they learn from the story and most of the time, the number of lessons and messages learned are equal to the number of students. This demonstrates that each child “lives” with the story from his perspective in accordance with his inner world and you can sense the sweetness that the children feel in the story.

The unbelievable thing is what happens with the Chassidic vort from the Rebbe’s teachings. The children live with the vort all week and repeat it at the Shabbos table. The Rebbe’s teachings bind them to him with a deep bond.

At the end of the school year I asked one of the classes what they gained from the weekly discussion. One of the students said that thanks to the weekly aphorism he had what to tell people on the bus in order to fulfill, “when you go on the way.” Perhaps this is what the Rebbe Rashab meant when he said: A Chassidic aphorism leads to clarity of mind and cleanses the heart.

To summarize: In order to preserve pure chinuch we need to bequeath to children the sweetness of Torah and mitzvos.

As a veteran educator who grew up in a more conservative world, so unlike today, how do you maintain a freshness in your thinking without becoming fixated on outmoded standards?

That is a very important question which we dealt with this year at the convention of mechanchim. One of the main problems in chinuch in general and discipline in the classroom and at home in particular comes from a fixed way of thinking. If you think about it you will see that a rigidity of thought prevents the teacher from understanding the potential that lies within a child. A rigid way of thinking does not allow a person to see things objectively. An inflexible way of thinking blocks a teacher’s creativity and then there are discipline problems. An unbending way of thinking leaves a person behind, in the past, and does not enable him to move forward to the future.

R’ Lior Inbar, a Chassidic coach with professional training and much experience, demonstrated one way, out of many, at the convention of mechanchim, of how to get out of a fixed way of thinking. He shared movement exercises and games which lead to discipline, self-control and motivation to succeed.

Perhaps this is another reason that lies hidden in the depths of the Rebbe Rashab’s words, that it is obligatory for everyone to spend half an hour every day thinking about the chinuch of children, with the emphasis on thought. Every day, thinking anew, in order to derive lessons from the past and create change in one’s thought modalities in anticipation of the future.

THE YOUNG GENERATION IS JUST AS CONNECTED TO THE REBBE

Despite the differences of opinion, the family of Chabad Chassidim all see eye to eye when it comes to chinuch for hiskashrus to the Rebbe, as being of paramount importance. How do we successfully instill this in children after so many years of concealment?

It seems to me that the weight that we give this question is misplaced. If we just glance at youngsters today, their belief in the Rebbe is simply astonishing and it is expressed in everything, from mivtzaim, Chabad customs, in learning the sichos and maamarim and carrying out horaos. Above all else is the goal of going on shlichus which is very popular among young people. One small example would be the reciting of T’hillim on Shabbos Mevarchim. The number of children and bachurim who get up early and go to shul in order to finish T’hillim before davening is huge.

The Rebbe, in his great goodness and kindness, is connected to each of his Chassidim with chains, as the Rebbe writes in his letter at the beginning of his nesius, “Whoever became a Chassid at some point and whoever became connected to the Rebbe, which automatically, as water reflects a face, caused the Rebbe to become connected to him, does not have the ability to sever, G-d forbid, this connection, since it also depends on the Rebbe and he, in his goodness and kindness, is bound up with him in chains.”

Therefore, instead of asking how we can instill hiskashrus to the Rebbe in our children, we need to ask how to intensify the deep-rooted hiskashrus they have as a result of emuna in the Rebbe. This is just like asking how we can instill in ourselves hiskashrus to Moshe Rabbeinu after thousands of years of concealment. The Torah testifies, “And they believed in Hashem and in Moshe His servant,” and that exists down to this day.

If we invest our energy and thoughts into living with the Rebbe all the time, with his sichos, his holy visage, learning a letter of the Rebbe every day, telling stories about the Rebbe at every opportunity, doing mivtzaim, there is no doubt that this will influence the hiskashrus of our children to the Rebbe. What’s needed is conducting ourselves as Chassidim in actual practice, to live with it 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and to get them used to always asking what would the Rebbe want us to do in this situation.

What are your thoughts about including secular studies in the curriculum — what is the Rebbe’s view?

The Rebbe’s view is clear, that we need to try as much as possible to learn al taharas ha’kodesh with limudei kodesh only. This is publicized in Shaarei Halacha U’Minhag and in the Igros Kodesh and personal responses.

In cases where kiruv is involved and parents will not give up secular studies like in the Reshet schools, there are instructions from the Rebbe about having the limudei kodesh first and using all the vacation days to learn kodesh only, etc.

The world of chinuch is experiencing a sea change in every community. Do you see any signs of the Rebbe’s approaches to chinuch finding their way to the public at large?

First, the Rebbe repeats how we see that with firmness presented pleasantly we accomplish more; chinuch is not about punishments.

The Rebbe’s approach is also about not giving up on any child, that every Jewish child has a chance, and not just a small chance but a big chance, because he is a Jew. This special principle has conquered our generation by storm. The Rebbe began this revolution as soon as he became Nasi when he addressed all the Jewish people, not differentiating between children of kibbutzim who were estranged from any religiosity to the children of chadarim.

There were many g’dolei Yisroel who opposed this (at the time) for this approach was new to them. The Rebbe removed the barrier separating and dividing between children from various backgrounds.

This approach was adopted by all segments of the Jewish people and is pretty much universally accepted in all schools and among all the kiruv movements that arose over the years. The guiding light of all the activities is that every Jew needs to be approached and given the feeling that he is very dear to Hashem. This idea was conceived and born in the Rebbe’s beis medrash.

DEALING WITH THE BURNOUT ISSUE

In every system that wants to maintain perfection and/ or high standards, they do not allow people to stay for more than four or eight years (like a military commander or the US president). Maybe the same thing should be done in chinuch with mechanchim leaving after a certain amount of time in order to prevent the staff from working when they have become burned out.

As far as I know, the Rebbe did not hold of stopping or firing those with jobs in positions of kodesh because of age or fatigue. If you see your position as a shlichus, you do not tire. Chazal say that as Torah scholars age their minds become more settled. That is not to say that if someone, G-d forbid, doesn’t treat his job properly, especially in chinuch, that you can ignore it. There are halachos in Shulchan Aruch about how a teacher must behave.

There are those in chinuch positions who got there because there is no need for a degree or experience as is the case in other fields. Is this a problem? Should a teacher have to show his certificate or is a talent for chinuch enough?

In a long letter to Dr. Goldschmidt, who was the director of the branch of religious education at the Education Ministry, the Rebbe writes not to forgo minimum requirements of teachers, and that the teachers need to constantly improve and undergo more training. At the same time, the Rebbe says that what is important is for the teacher to have a strong worldview with devotion and dedication to all that is holy to our nation, and this finds expression in his own way of life, for then he will be able to instill the power to stand strong in his students too, without their being confused by the changes on the street and sometimes at home.

The Rebbe wrote this over fifty years ago and it applies all the more today.

There is no question that someone who does not have a talent for chinuch should not take on this responsibility which affects generations. And neither is talent for chinuch alone enough. Whoever is in chinuch needs to constantly work on improving himself.

The Rebbe has a wealth of teachings about chinuch. Can you give us one idea of the Rebbe’s that we, as parents, can implement today with our children?

The Rebbe taught us something fundamental — to constantly think, “What do I need to do in order to get this child to want to go in the ways we are directing him?”

The emphasis is on “I.” What do I need to do. This is in contrast to the improper standard formulation in which we constantly ask, “What should be done to a child who does not behave properly,” or “What should be done so that a child behaves properly?” With questions like these we are reacting, unintentionally, in an impulsive manner driven by personal interests. In most cases, this wounds the soul of the child.

With the Rebbe’s approach we will quickly come to know the child’s inner world and be able to influence him in a gentle way with a lot of love and encouragement. This approach has proven to get a child to want to go in the way we are directing him.

We see countless examples of how the Rebbe would point things out to adults, and this stood out with children, getting them to arrive at positive conclusions, willingly and happily. Like the Kohen who was about to marry a divorcee (against halacha) and the Rebbe said to him, “I envy you for the test Hashem presented to you,” a line which turned the man’s world upside down, as the Rebbe did not chastise but spoke about himself on a personal level. Or the example of the two girls who stood on two sides of a street and the Rebbe said to one of them to greet the other with “Good Shabbos” (as the Rebbe did not want to walk between two women, but did not want the girl to feel put out) and numerous other similar examples which we saw at “dollars” and in daily life.

They will say it is hard, and that’s true, but it is much harder to combat the child and end up with failed results.

THE MECHANECH WHO BEGAN TEACHING AT AGE THREE

R’ Roth is known as an outstanding emcee. For decades now, he has been emceeing Chabad events of all kinds and in many locations, starting with small events in elementary schools and culminating in national Chabad events. With great confidence he stands facing thousands of people and skillfully conducts the program.

His first “speech” was delivered when he was a young child of three, as he faced the empty chairs which he had lined up outside. He put on a “tallis” which was a tablecloth and he began to declaim to his “vast audience.”

“I was copying the sermons I had seen and heard in shul. I was drawn to addressing a crowd,” he recalls with a smile.

Hundreds of thousands of people have enjoyed his officiating at events and he is certainly a model for hundreds of Chassidim who will lead events in the future.

When he grew older, he became active in the Yeshivos Erev organization. As part of its activities, many events for parents were arranged which included contests and quiz games for the youth.

“I took on the responsibility of emceeing and I remember always looking for ways of stimulating the audience.”

A few years later, at the beginning of the 70’s, when he was a young man, R’ Aharon Dov Halperin, editor of KJar Chabad. asked him, “You have a powerful voice and you speak articulately. Can you emcee the big Yud-Tes Kislev event?”

R’ Roth remembers that event. “It was a huge event that took place in Yerushalayim for those who attended Mizrachi yeshivos. I got very emotional when I went up to the stage, but boruch Hashem it was very successful. Since then, it’s all history, as they say.”

You would be surprised to hear that I began my educational activities at the age of three- four. My mother always said that I would put chairs in a row and lecture at them. Sometimes I did this outside with rows of stones and I would say T’hillim with them and teach them to say “thank you” for everything, and to say “hello,” etc.

From a young age I organized the Yeshivos Erev and I received encouragement and guidance from the Rebbe. These letters are now published in the Igros Kodesh. I was a mechanech in the Chabad school in Ganim by my teacher, R’ Aharon Mordechai Zilberstrom, and when the Chabad school in Kiryat Yovel opened, I was appointed the menahel as the Rebbe instructed. When the population in that neighborhood aged and the school closed, I went to work as an educational supervisor in Toras Emes.

As I said in the beginning of this interview, in 5748 we founded the Merkaz Chinuchi Chassiduti of Tzach, and that was when we really began developing a broad range of educational initiatives in the schools and yeshivas. Many will remember the Torah contests we held in yeshivos, the Chidon Taryag Mitzvos, and various educational contests throughout the years.

Yes. I am director of Tzeirei Chabad in Yerushalayim and I am still active in the Merkaz Chinuchi Chassiduti providing educational guidance to the public, direction for teachers, and dealing with bachurim who don’t lind a suitable yeshiva.

In the past live years I have been happy to return to the classroom and I am the educational director of Seminar Chaya Mushka and give shiurim to girls of Ohr Chaya. I am also mashpia in the Yiddish speaking Oholei Menachem Chabad in Beitar Ilit by my talmid who is the principal, R’ M. M. Cohen.

So yes, now too, after dozens of years of teaching, guidance and chinuch, I enjoy every minute of being with talmidim and contributing from my experience to raise Chassidishe talmidim.

Amen v’amen.