Emor: Helping Each Other Shine
Rav Yehuda Amital, zt’l, was a unique talmid chacham, visionary, and builder of Torah. After his family was killed in Auschwitz, Rav Amital came to Eretz Yisrael, fought in the Haganah and was the founding RoshYeshiva of Har Etzion (“the Gush”). Respected for his penetrating genius and fierce independence, Rav Amital was beloved as a humble gadol b’Torah and deeply caring and dedicated rebbe.
Students of Rav Amital relate that he often shared the following ma’aseh:
“Soon before Minchah one Erev Shabbos, a simple farmer entered the beis midrash in an exasperated state. He finally spotted the rebbe who had just come from the mikvah and was immersed in recited Shir Hashirim with holy fervor and intensity. The farmer cried out, interrupting the rebbe’s dveykus, ‘Rebbe, my cow is sick! Please help me!’ Raising his head from the sefer with a look of empathy, he responded, ‘Oy, your cow is sick? Let’s go and take a look!’ Following the farmer to his barn, the rebbe looked at the cow, and sighed. ‘May this cow be blessed.’ Then he placed his hand on the farmer’s cheek and said, ‘And may you, my precious friend, by likewise blessed!’ As the farmer shone with contentment and the cow began to munch on some clover, the rebbe made his way back to his beis midrash.
“When he arrived, the Chassidim gathered around their revered teacher with questions in their eyes. The rebbe smiled and explained. ‘So, you want to know how I could possibly interrupt Shir Hashirim, the holy of holies, to bless a cow just minutes before Shabbos? When one of you experiences a desire to draw close and strengthen your kesher with your rebbe, you can interrupt his learning in the beis midrash in order to ask him for guidance in avodas Hashem. Well, a simple farmer also yearns for a kesher and a blessing from his rebbe, but he may not have any entry point other than his cow!’”
Rav Amital, zt’l, would encourage his students to come to discuss any issue, whether in his personal life or in his learning. Even if a talmid would knock on his door and cry out, “HaRav, ha-parah ha-parah—the cow! The cow!” with nothing specific to discuss, he would still have the full attention and presence of his rebbe which he craved.
“Speak (amar) to the Kohanim, and say (v’amarta) to them…” (21:1).
Rashi teaches us that the apparent repetition of “speak to” and “say” teaches us l’hazir gedolim al ha-ketanim, “the adults should l’hazir (warn) the young.” As the older, more experienced Kohanim, they were to instruct the younger generation in the ways of the priesthood.
L’hazir is etymologically connected with the word zohar (illumination). The Lubavitcher Rebbe tells us that this term implies not just about what we impart to others, but how we transmit it: how we view, educate, and influence them. To influence the listener positively, our l’hazir (admonition) must bring him zohar; our words must shine and illuminate him with positivity.
As the Klausenberger Rebbe said, every craftsman has his own special tools through which he performs his work and succeeds in his trade. A teacher, too, has special tools that allow him to succeed in his trade: his love for his students and his kind words. He uses these tools to polish the student’s heart, reveal the pure emunahwithin, and make it shine.
Eilu Metziyos, the second perek of Maseches Bava Metzia, addresses different scenarios and halachos of returning lost objects to their owner. The Mishnah (33a) clarifies the order of priority in which lost objects belonging to various people should be returned. After tending to one’s own lost objects, “If one finds his father’s lost item and his teacher’s lost item, tending to his teacher’s lost item takes precedence, since even though his father brought him into this world, his teacher, who taught him the wisdom of Torah, brings him to life in the World to Come.” The Mishnah continues to discuss the order and priorities of kavod, honor: if one’s father and teacher had each been carrying a burden, one first takes his teacher’s burden and puts it down, and then takes his father’s burden and puts it down.
A number of opinions of the Sages in the Mishnah then work to clarify what is meant by Rabbo, “his teacher.” Rav Yehuda says, “Rabbo refers to a teacher from whom one learned most of his knowledge,” be it Bible, Mishnah, or Talmud. Rav Yossi says, “Even if he enlightened him in the understanding of only one Mishnah, that is his teacher.” The Gemara concludes that one’s teacher is given precedence over one’s father when the teacher has a status of “rabbo muvhak,” one’s outstanding, preeminent, primary teacher.
Rav Yom Tov Lipman Heller, the Tosafos Yom Tov, interprets the term muvhak as deriving from the word bohak, meaning “shining.” Indeed, a rebbe muvhak is a teacher that makes his student shine, and by means of this, becomes a primary source of knowledge for him.
We are all teachers to each other, modeling wisdom and extending kindness and blessings to all those who are connected to us. So, even if it feels like an interruption, we must always provide a listening ear, care, and concern to our children, students, teachers, parents, friends, and everyone (even cows!) we meet along life’s path. And in so doing, may we help one another shine!
Excerpted from Rav Judah’s upcoming “Baderech: Along the Path of the Torah” (Summer 2026/5786).
Rav Judah Mischel is executive director of Camp HASC, the Hebrew Academy for Special Children and the author of the “Baderech” series. Rav Judah lives in Ramat Beit Shemesh with his wife, Ora, and their family.
