10 Mar CHINUCH – AN EYE TO THE FUTURE

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, in gold
letters, that the front
gates of his magnificent Yeshivas Chachmei
Lublin quoted 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 ‘acharav, 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 super nova. So too, when the
Rebbe teaches his young charges, the message
might not be fully grasped at that present
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
Seder 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 Yisroel 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 day 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 of 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 Yeitzer Hara.
But, the morning after the wedding when
the Yeitzer 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 impactive
ideas for the Seder to discuss, topics that
should hopefully linger for a lifetime.
In the zchus of investing in our descendants,
may Hashem bless us with long life, good
health, and everything wonderful.