The new Haggadah presented by ArtScroll this year from the Chachmei Lublin (a must read!) reveals that Rav Meir Shapiro, zt”l, zy”a, chose to display, in gold letters, on the front gates of his magnificent Yeshivas Chachmei Lublin, the verse, “L’chu vanim shimu li, Yiras Hashem alamedchem – Go my children, listen to me. The fear of G-d I will teach you.” Annually, at the beginning of each new school year, he explained why he chose specifically this verse. He posed the question, “Why does the verse say ‘l’chu, go’? It would have been more appropriate to say ‘bo, come,’ my children.” He answered with this fundamental idea. The goal of the yeshiva is not just to imbibe students with the spirit of Hashem and Torah only during the time they were within the rarified confines of the yeshiva. Rather, the ultimate goal was ‘l’chu,’ that when they go out into the world they should take everything they absorbed and live by it for the rest of their lives.
Rav Shapiro further explained the verse of Hashem speaking about Avraham Avinu, “Ki yadativ l’ma’an asher yitzaveh es banav v’es beiso acharov – I loved him for I knew that he would instruct his children and his household after him.” The word ‘acharov, after him’ is seemingly superfluous. It would have been enough to say that Avraham would instruct his children and his household. Explains Rav Shapiro that the word ‘acharov’ emphasizes that education provided by Avraham was always with an eye on the future and not just for the present situation.
Rav Yisroel Reisman, shlit”a, echoes this idea from his great rebbe, Rav Pam, zt”l, zy”a. The posek says, “Matz’dikei harabim k’kochavim l’olam vo’ed – Those who do righteously for the community are like stars forever and ever.” The Gemara in Bava Basra tells us that this specifically refers to m’lamdei tinokes, our cheder rabbeim and moros. Rav Pam explains the comparison to stars. He said that when we look up at a star in the sky, we are not seeing it the way it is now, because it takes the light many years to travel to us. Sometimes, the star that we’re seeing might not even exist anymore; it might have become an exploded supernova. So too, when the rebbe teaches his young charges, the message might not be fully grasped at that moment. But the rebbe has his eye on the future and hopes his words will linger and bear fruit through childhood, adolescence, and marriage.
There is no time like the Seder shel Pesach when this type of futuristic education is more applicable and necessary. Most people’s earliest and fondest memories are from sitting at the Sedarim of their grandparents and parents. The Seder is therefore a premier time to etch in the memory banks of our progeny the important tenets of Yiddishkeit.
We should realize that at the Seder we are not just talking to our children. Actually, we are showing them how to make a Seder. We are investing in our grandchildren and generations beyond. As an example, every year when I say, “M’lameid she’hayu Yisroel mitzuyanim sham – It teaches that Bnei Yisrael were distinguished there,” I would explain that they didn’t change their Jewish clothing, and I would emphasize how important personal modesty is to the identity of a Jew. One year, my daughter Devora asked me, “Tatty, we are Yeshiva of Brooklyn girls. Did we ever give you a reason to doubt our tznius such that you say this by every Seder?” I smiled and said, “Of course not! But I’m not just talking to you. What I emphasize, you’ll say at your Seder one day to your grandchildren and I don’t know how they will be.” So, I have my eyes to the future.
I’ll give you an example of this type of chinuch. Rav Reuven Feinstein, shlit”a, was giving a shmooze to boys that were getting ready for marriage. He made a comment that, if your wife squeezes the toothpaste from the middle instead of neatly from the bottom, you should not get upset. One of the boys was offended by this remark. He inwardly thought to himself, “Who does the Rosh Yeshiva think we are? Simpletons? We, who learn the most difficult sugyos in Shas? Do we need to be told that we shouldn’t snap at a loved one for such an insignificant thing?” (Of course, he did not express this to the Rosh Yeshiva, but this is what he was thinking.)
Rav Reuven related to me that soon after, this man got married and joined the kollel. The day after his wedding he davened in the yeshiva. After davening, he knocked on the Rosh Yeshiva’s door and went in. Reb Reuven told me that when a young man comes to him the morning after the wedding, he gets very nervous. He wished the young man mazal tov and asked him if everything was all right. “Yes, Rebbe. I just wanted to tell the Rebbe a story. Once, a while ago, when the Rebbe gave a lecture and spoke about squeezing the toothpaste in the middle, I felt insulted. Did the Rebbe really think we were so infantile in our behavior? However, I have to tell the Rebbe that this morning, I walked into the bathroom and I saw the toothpaste tube squeezed in the middle and I started getting hot under the collar. Then, I remembered what the Rebbe said and I had a good chuckle.”
The explanation for the difference between when he first heard it in the shmooze and when it actually happened is that when it was theoretical, there was no yetzer hara. But, the morning after the wedding, when the yetzer hara looks for any opportunity to throw a monkey wrench into marital bliss, even a dysfunctional toothpaste tube can wreak havoc.
What Reb Reuven was doing was Rav Meir Shapiro’s l’chu: Teaching for the time when the boys would go out into the world and face future challenges. This is how we need to educate, and we need to prepare impactful ideas for the Seder to discuss, topics that should hopefully linger for a lifetime.
In the zechus of investing in our descendants, may Hashem bless us with long life, good health, and everything wonderful.
Transcribed and edited by Shelley Zeitlin.