פרשת אמור
ויאמר ה' אל משה אמר אל הכהנים בני אהרן ואמרת אליהם…| ויקרא, כ"א, א
Hashem said to Moshe, Say to the Kohanim, the sons of Aaron, and you shall say to them…
רש"י comments on the seeming double expression:
אמור, "ואמרת" – להזהיר גדולים על הקטנים The Torah uses a double expression to enjoin adults with regard to minors.
Is this the only מצוה where the גדולים need to be vigilant over the קטנים. Why is this message brought out here, over and above other places?
Answers Reb Zalman Sorotzkin in אזנים לתורה: The תורה stresses upon us the importance of protection of our children from the environment around us. Here we are telling כהנים not be מטמא למתים. How difficult it must be for the young כהנים'לאך that are playing with non כהנים friends, and they’re not being careful not to become טמא as they are not כהנים. It would be natural for them to gravitate towards their environment. So here we are told "להזהיר גדולים על הקטנים".
One of the primary roles of mechanchim nowadays is to protect our students from the environment on the outside. This makes us, on some level, like the כהנים in protecting their young.
About the Author: Rabbi Yisroel Meir Rubinfeld
Rabbi Rubinfeld has been in the field of Torah education for over 3 decades and serves as an Executive School Consultant for Torah Umesorah. He provides an array of services to schools across North America, including teacher and principal mentorship, school and curricula evaluations, professional development and parent education.
Rabbi Rubinfeld's expertise includes classroom management and discipline, effective instruction, bullying, cultivating sensitivity in the classroom, impulse disorders (such as ADHD and ODD), and balancing the educational needs of mainstream and special needs children in the classroom.
Rabbi Rubinfeld is the also the founder and director of Torah Umesorah's Lilmod U'Lilamed department which provides professional development for teachers and principals throughout the year.
Rabbi Rubinfeld is a talmid of the distinguished Yeshivos of Yeshiva Rabbi Chaim Berlin, the Mirrer Yeshiva in Yerushalayim and Bais Medrash Govoha in Lakewood.
