Rambam Yomi: Talmud Torah (4-7)

Talmud Torah (4)

4:1- You can’t teach somebody who is not proper. Every Yeshiva high school is doing something wrong. Their teaching is forbidden. You don’t bring somebody into a Beis Midrash who acts totally wrong. And if I may say, it is for money. The kids should be on the streets till they start behaving right.

That is giving kavod/honor to an idiot. Torah is the honor.

Ahh- But how would he know what is wrong? Because it bothers everybody. There are basic steps in right behavior, there is fearing H’ and then there is ‘Do not whack somebody,’ and there is 'Do not bother me.' And I think every Yeshiva high school kid has bothered me.

Same with a rabbi who is not acting right. We do not learn from him. What is not considered right? Well, there have been examples in Israel and in different organizations in the USA. There are instances of meat packing. There are others who cannot teach in day schools. I am talking about the rabbis who's classes go on for 3 hours. That is not right.

4:2-9- There is learning etiquette. You sit or stand with the rabbi. We are not in England watching ancient Shaksperian plays, where we make the whole audience stand, unless the rabbi wants us to stand.

If there is a translator, they stick to the script. We don't take well to the jokester translators who mistranslate the Yiddish. 

A rabbi should not get mad if his students are dumb. If the rabbi does get mad, and it wasn’t because he needed to hit you or make you feel like an idiot, because you are lazy and don’t respect the Torah process, then you tell him, ‘I need to learn and I am not that capable.’ Once you anybody says they are handicapable, that stops people from getting mad. A rabbi has to be able to instill fear, if necessary. But you don't hit handicapable people. The idea is to calm the rabbi down, and to make him feel like he was one of those teachers who couldn't get the top shir (class) of students. As if to say that he is also a not that capable rabbi. But this has to be done with respect.

You don’t ask a rabbi until he has a chance to get his mind settled in the Beis Midrash and you only ask him on the topic. It is not the ‘stump the rabbi’ program. We are not doing kiruv. Only ask the rabbi what he knows. If you ask what he doesn't, that is disrespectful. So, listen during class, so you know what you can ask your rabbi. L: Only ask what you know. 

You cannot ask more than three questions. There is a limit to how much you can ask, because it gets very annoying. Even I would tell you to open up a dictionary at some point. And in class, it is even more annoying. Another rule that should have been mentioned; you cannot ask a question at the end of class, when everybody wants to go for recess. 

There is a hierarchy of whose questions you answer, which is important and something which should be taken into account at the give and take at any Jewish Book Festival. When Bernie starts asking his long-winded question, tell him, 'We have to skip you, because there are smarter people here...And nobody wants to hear about your family, in the middle of your question. Leave out examples.' They should probably also have a rule that a question cannot have a more than three political statements connected to them. 

In the Beit Midrash, you cannot say ‘Bless you’ to a sneeze, or have any conversation that you think is interesting, such as anything about other people's health.

The holiness of a Beis Medrash are more stringent than that of a shule. 

L: If you want to catch a good Kiddush, and talk to doctors without making an appointment, join a shule.

Talmud Torah (5)

Got to give your rabbi more kavod (honor, you heretic who bows when you are to a kata) than your father. This is assuming your father is not a chacham (wise-man, you apikores who thinks wisdom is found in science). If your father is a wise-man, and not just because you think he is the smartest and coolest because he told you, then you can take care of his needs before your rabbi’s. This does not include a case where your father is stronger than his.

Can’t argue with your rabbi, or speak disparagingly about him, as that is the same as disrespecting H.’ This doesn’t mean to talk dirt about your father

5:2-3- Do not dispute your rabbi’s authority. This means not teach unless you have your rabbi’s explicit consent. This is here, as most students are not decent students. They spew stupidity and then say they are the student of a rabbi. The same way people use their knowing people as importance. 'I met LeBron James.' So you are telling me that you are not that good at basketball. He is a star, and you play pick-up basketball with your buddies. Please do not teach my son how to shoot.

If there is somebody sinning, you can teach that person to do the right thing, without your rabbi's permission. If there is chilul H,’ that comes before kavod HaRav. And for this reason, nobody needs permission to teach the messed up youth of today.

5:4- The idiots who have not learned enough Torah, should not be teachers. I am not trying to put down our educational system, or the rabbis of much of our communities, but lets think about this one. L: Don't be an arrogant premature rabbi. Just call yourself a teacher and admit that you are trying to make some money off of it.

A wise man who has gotten to the place where they are able to teach, must teach. Otherwise, they are stopping people from learning Torah. How do you know if you are ready to teach? If your parents are now living in a retirement village and you are still eating in a cafeteria. Either that, or if you rabbi tells you; such as in the case when the Yeshiva cannot afford your dinner anymore.

5:5-7- Show a bissel respect to your rabbi. Don’t mention his name, as you wouldn’t your dads. Nobody wants to hear your, 'I want to give a shout out to rabbi Nasan. Love you baby. I owe all my success to you. Next year, I hope to start college. Right now I am working a bit more on my human beat-box.' Do not mention your rabbi;s name. It is embarrassing. Everything should be done with appreciation of awe to your rabbi. You stand when you see him passing. Where do you stand? A bit behind him, to his side, when you pray. When he is walking, you do not block his path. 

5:8-9- You don’t give kavod to a student in front of his rabbi. This is why you wait till your rabbi's rabbi is around to start saying your rabbi's first name, standing in front of him while he is davening (praying. you heretic who says the words). In proper places, you do what a servant would do for their rabbi. You don't clean his shoes and have the whole community running after him, unless people know that they need cleaning, in the town where they know he is a rabbi. Otherwise, it looks like a mob of Chasiddim attacking a rabbi, stealing his shoes. It also makes you look like a slave, as opposed to javod.

The rabbi must take the kavod (honor, you arrogant apikores), so that the student grows up right. And there is more about how you treat a rabbi, even when your rabbi is wrong. Which is why so many of this generation have so much messed up information, which makes no sense. And yet, they argue that it is correct. L: You should not talk, unless your rabbi says you are ready to impart any information. Do not argue H's argument, for your rabbi, because you make no sense.

All of this above mentioned stuff is only for the rabbi that taught you most of your knowledge. You give less kavod to a rabbi that taught you one thing, or a Talmid Chacham (a learned individual, who is wise, you heretic who has no idea what this means). And I want to thank the Rambam for making this law easier to follow, as I now know I don't have to show too much respect to my rabbis.

5:10-13- You still don’t speak in front of a wise man. If you are somebody who is proper and realize that you have nothing to share, then you will maybe let the person who knows something talk.

A rabbi can forgo his kavod. But a student must still show the kavod. L: Treat people with respect, but don't expect it. This is not gangland USA. We are talking about learning Torah.

And a rabbi must honor his students. A rabbi also learns more from his students. I can tell you that this is very true for the rabbis that did not prepare their classes.

Talmud Torah (6)

6:1-9- You must stand in front of wise people as we learn, (VaYikra 19:32) ‘You must stand in front of old people.’ Yes, young entitled yutzs, you have to do some physical movement to show respect. You have to stand at certain points. We learn wise people, from old people. But even old people, you have to stand for. Even non-Jewish old people get respect. Why? Because they are old. And before very old people ‘you stand.’ Even on a bus, you have to give up your seat. I understand that doesn’t happen much. I understand that the sign 'stand for old people,' makes old people feel worse than not having a seat.

This does not mean to get in their way. It does not say, ‘Stand in their path.’ It says to stand.

Because of all of this standing, rabbis who cared, would go the long way, to not bother people. I had a rabbi who walked back and forth to the water-fountain, constantly. I never had a chance to review for his classes, due to constant standing. I had to buy him a water-bottle. Then he starts constantly getting up to go to the bathroom.

L: Be a mentsh. Show respect. And do not be a burden. Walking is much easier on your friends then asking your friends to pick you up on their way out of town. Maybe take a bus? Maybe offer to pay a little something for the ride? Maybe force it on them when they say 'no,' so you will remain friends? Maybe they are only polite and really don't like you?

6:10- Wise people don’t have to be part of building and should not be paying for stuff in the city and the community, or building. L: Don't get involved in any group projects with smart people. They are too witty, and manipulate the other people too much, to do their work for them. They even got the Rambam to support this idea. The Rambam even put this in his sefer (book- you apilkores, who isn't even reading this) so that he doesn't have to help either.

They are not required to pay taxes. And for this, we must support the wise men who have practiced tax fraud, money laundering, and using illegal workers. It is a shame that a country makes them pay taxes. Which begs the question: Who is in the wrong?

6:11- You cannot hate or disgrace wise people, even if they are snooty.

6:12-14- Bans are placed on people who disrespect wise people. Many kinds of disrespect could lead to a ban. The whole tying the Tallis fringes to each other, might be cute. It can also get you ostracized. So think the next time that you are bored in shule, before making the Shema prayer harder on the grownups.

Bans can be lifted with permission of the wise person, or whomever is not getting the kavod. So say 'just kidding' after you offend somebody. You can also say 'My Man,' which shows that you are now letting the rabbi into your inner circles. Your making him feel cool, might just get your ban lifted. At the same time, you might get a new smoking partner.

However, other kinds of bans need some repentance. There are 24 kinds and some include showing disrespect. There are all types of disrespect, and you can get hurt for many of them. So know whose corner you are on, when trying to start your own business. There is taking to people to non-Jewish courts who don’t have the same laws as Beit Din. We stick to our traditions, and I do not trust any court that does not stone people. Cooks and butchers who cause people to eat the non-kosher stuff. If they are making money off it, then there might be room for forgiveness. Even a wise person who doesn’t act right is banned. What is not acting right? That could be a wise person who is helping other people build? Menitioning H’s name not in the proper way, and bringing the public to sin are in there. Improper times to recall H's name could be when you get struck out in a baseball game, or if you retire the side in a cricket match. Even people who have something that can damage, like a dog or not sturdy ladder. ban them. And even the second day holiday of the diaspora. For this, the reform community is put on ban. I don’t know if they know this. And there are more bans. I love the banning concept. I want to ostracize more people.

L: If somebody is not acting right, put them under a ban. We let too many people act wrong and do nothing about it.

This doesn’t mean that you just start throwing out bans in every argument. Bans should be used when the other person argues non-stop and doesn't understand that the conversation has moved on. At that point, you have to shut them up. That is the point that you place the ban. 

People who have dogs that are not on leashes, place them under ban. Dog barks at person leisurely walking down the street, ban. Anybody who says, 'She does not bite,' 

Talmud Torah (7)

7:1- Ostracizing a chacham (wise person, you ignoramus who thinks you don't have to show respect to sinners) should be done in private. The pious would boast about not ever being part of an ostracizing of a chacham. But when lashes were needed, they did it. Point is that we should only support little sins. There is a line where we cannot support somebody for being smart. They are smart. They should know they sinned. Cheating on taxes, support that. Slave trade, don't support that. Putting up cameras in the mikveh, questionable.

7:2-3- You ostracize by saying they are ostracized. It is so easy. It doesn't take much. We can get rid of so many of the annoyances in our community with one word. You bring them back to the fold by saying they are unchained and forgiven. No ceremony.

7:4- How do we act with ostracized? They don't wash their clothes or get a haircut. They must act like a Jerusalemite living in Nachlaot. If they die, they don't get eulogies.

7:5- Excommunicated is more stringent. Can't learn Torah with them. Can't hire them, even if they expect lower wages.

7:6- Got to request to get out of the whole not being allowed into the community, or it gets worse, even to the point of excommunication. At the point of excommunication, you might as well start enjoying the ability of not having the community make sure that you are not sinning anymore. If you don't want back, then you start eating non-kosher and they punish you by totally absolving you from community responsibility. Try living with that enjoyment, and not feeling guilty.

7:7-13- Ways out generally have to deal with a bit of regret, repentance and people forgiving or releasing you for the ostracism. If you grew up in a good Jewish home, regret should be very easy. Your parents instilled this in you. It seems you need the group for forgiveness though. So don't waste your regret on yourself. Make sure you make a spectacle of your regret for growing up frum. If you cannot find the group, then less can release you.

And it can all happen in a second, if the ostracized person returns to the good way. What is the good way? The way of kosher, and keeping Shabbat, and honor

Rabbis should not go for the ostracism stuff for their honor. They should just not listen to the words of the common folk. You have to understand that common folk say stupid stuff. If there is any lesson we have learned in the laws of learning Torah, it is that we should not ever listen to people. 

If it is said publicly though, they have to ostracize. L: Ostracize people for the sake of our community.