Sunday, January 29, 2012

A True Jewish Educator - The Sequel

A beloved friend asked the following question. How is a Rebbe supposed to maintain a strong kesher with his students if he has a large shiur. For example there is a shiur in the Mir Yeshiva with about 500 students [!].

I have 2 answers to this question. I gave him the first and I'll tell you the second.

Chazal say [and the Rambam ruled] that the number of students in a class should not exceed 25. So officially the question of how to keep a kesher with so many talmidim shouldn't start.

Chazal ALSO wanted a personal kesher between Rebbe and Talmid. Why then do yeshivos not abide by this halacha and have larger classes??

When I raise enough money to start my own yeshiva I will try to keep to it if I can but in the meantime I can't answer that question for anybody else. I am sure they have an explanation. Probably economic. Not enough money to hire more Rabbeim.