Monday, January 26, 2015

Talmud Bavli Ta'anit on Teachers Learning from More From Students

"Rav Nachman bar Yitzchak said: Why are the words of Torah compared to a tree?  As it is said: 'It is a tree of life for those who cling to it' (Proberbs 3:18).  This is to teach you that just as a small piece of wood ignites a large one, so too with Torah scholars - the younger ones sharpen the minds of the older ones.

"And this is what Rabbi Chanina said: I have learned much from my teachers, and from my colleagues more than from my teachers, but from my students more than from them all."

-- Talmud Bavli, Ta'anit 7a


How do the younger ones sharpen the minds of the older ones?  When they persist with many difficult Qashe questions.

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