Creating a Torah Individual

Values Education

More than just commandments, Torah and mitzvos are values. Meaning one is meant, not only to keep Torah, but to be a Torah person.

Rather than filling the individual with information, Torah education must imbue the student with Torah values, so their complete personality makes a unique Torah individual.

How is this achieved?

This is only achieved through ameilus beTorah – toiling in Torah. Nonetheless, the obligation to do before we understand is still paramount

We can thus understand Hillel. Everyone’s hates are different, but the value is, don’t do them to others and the korbanos of the nesiim, although physically identical, were completely different.

Since the Avos, who’s every  fibre was ratzon Hashem, established the spiritual genes of the Jewish People, every word they said and every action they did, had infinite consequences. Thus, for example, as a consequence of Avrohom saying 4 words (bamah eida ki irashenah – Breishis 15:8,) his progeny received a sentence of 400 years in Mitzrayim.

Values in Halachah

Thus Halacha has such minute complexity to get to the very fibre of the person.

Halacha frequently uses subjective criteria (such as common usage and personal taste,) to determine objective psak. For example (Shabbos 47a,) an object can create a bassis depending on it’s value in a place. If a person usually eats chicken skin, he is permitted to peel it away on Shabbos even though it could be borer for one who does not eat it.

This subjective science is another way that law (objective) becomes value (subjective.)

The Chovos Halevavos (Shaar Avoidah 5:7) states that the more H’ bestows on one, the more mitzvos one has. So Bnei Yisroel have more than a goy, kohein more than Levi etc.

One who is blessed with more money has more mitzvos of tzeddokah than an oni. One who is blessed with chochmo, more mitzvos in learning than one who is not etc. Thus, even in practical halacha, Torah develops each person as an individual with their own set of mitzvos (above the standard 613.)

The common existence of all unique individuals in Torah is Yisroel, Goy echad baaretz (Shmuel B 7:23) and the ultimate fulfilment of Yichud Hashem in this world.

This might be the greatest challenge and cause of the greatest failure of communal education systems, attempting to offer a cookie-cutter solution to delivering Torah knowledge.