Light Up Your Students

When speaking of lighting the candles in the Temple, the Torah uses an unusual euphemism. Rather than saying lighting the candles, it speaks of raising the candles. Rashi offers two interpretations. (A) Hold the torch to the wick until the flame rises on its own, and only then do you remove the torch.(B) Rise by stepping up on a stool to light the candles.

At first glance, these translations are not related. Both are true. There was a stool in front of the candelabra on which the kohen stood to clean out the used oil and wick, freshen the candle with new oil and wick, and light it. When you light a candle, it is also true that you hold the torch to the wick until it catches fire, and the flame can rise without assistance. But these two are not related.

Until you peel back the layers and examine the deeper meaning of the passage. The Mitzvah to light the candles daily cannot be practiced today because it can only be fulfilled in the Temple. However, every Mitzvah has two elements, the literal and the metaphoric. The former can’t be practiced today but the latter can.

Pedagogical Lights

The Torah tells us that the Mitzvah is a candle, and the Torah is a flame (Job 6:23). When we teach Torah, we light a candle. The student is the candle, the Torah is the flame, and the teacher is the torch.

There are three pedagogical goals in teaching. (A) Teach the material. (B) Train students to research and study independently. (C) Inspire students to love learning.

These three goals are in ascending order of importance. The first is the least important because most students will eventually forget what you taught them. The second enables them to accumulate everything they forgot and more. The third incentivizes them to go looking for it. This is the most important goal.

The first goal is achieved by holding the torch to the wick. In the metaphor, it refers to the actual teaching session. The next two goals are not achieved while the torch is in contact with the wick. They are achieved after the torch finishes the lesson and the students have walked away. What did they leave with? Do they know how to study, and do they love to study? That depends on how the lessons were taught.

The Stool

This is where the stool comes in. You see, the candelabra was not very high, only approximately 27 inches in height. It was easy for most grown men to reach the candles without a stool. They could clean, freshen, and kindle it all within easy arm’s reach. Yet, standing on the floor and reaching up is hardly a comfortable position. They could get the job done, but they were unlikely to do it well in this awkward position; they would hurry to wrap it up. As a result, they might not clean it perfectly, they might not fill it entirely with fresh oil, etc. Even if they did a perfect job, it would be more of a chore than a pleasure.

Standing on a stool and looking down at the candle gave them a much better vantage point. Rather than reaching up, they could do all they needed to do while reaching down. It was a comfortable position; they could take their time, enjoy the task, and take pride in doing it well. It would come out perfectly, and the experience would be enjoyable.

Let’s apply this to the teacher and student. Two things happen if the teachers rush their preparations for the lesson. (A) They don’t enjoy the lesson because the preparation was a chore. (B) They won’t know the lesson material perfectly because they were not fully present when preparing it.

Both will come through in the way the lesson is taught. If the lesson is a burden to the teacher, it will come across that way to the student. They, too, won’t enjoy the experience. They, too, will feel it is a burden. Also, if the teacher is not fully fluent in the topic, they will eventually slip up and say something incorrect or be unable to answer a question. This will cause the students to lose respect for them.

The result is that the student will neither learn how to study independently nor emerge with a love of learning. If you want your students to love learning, you must love it too. Your feelings about the Torah will be transmitted to your students.

Facing the Candelabra

The Torah goes on to say there were six candles, each on a separate branch. All six branches faced the “face” of the candelabra, meaning the middle branch of the candelabra.

The Hebrew word for face, panim, is similar to the word for internal, penimiyut. A teacher of Judaism must direct the student’s interest to the heart and soul of Judaism, its internal meaning. A teacher also wants the student to absorb Judaism and take it in so that the student is internally impacted.

If the student is exposed not only to the dry law but also to the ethics and morals behind the law, they will be meticulous about it. They will internalize the importance of the law and be careful about deviating from it.

It all depends on how we teach. If we teach from an inner perspective, they will absorb the inner passion and excitement of the Mitzvah and the importance of getting it right. If we are merely interested in lighting a candle and moving along, completing our curriculum before the summer vacation, the students might learn information, but they will never learn the soul; they won’t love what we teach them.

When lifting a student so they would want to study after we step away, we must approach our studies with diligence and love. If we are diligent and passionate about our studies, it will likely imprint itself on our students.[1]

[1] This essay is based on a teaching by Rabbi Moshe Feinstein, Derash Moshe, on this parshah.