Beyond Orthodox Conversion to Judaism

"Rabbi Elazar ben Shamua said, 'Let the honor of the student be as dear to you as your own, and the honor of your colleague be like the reverence due to your teacher, and the reverence for your teacher be like the reverence for heaven'".

The Mishna begins by telling us that a teacher has to be careful when dealing with a student to the extent that they should be dear to him as your own. We could understand that a teacher must treat his student with proper respect but does the student have to be as dear to you as your own?

If teachers want to be successful they have to not only have a firm grasp of the material at hand but they then have to give it over in a way that their students can comprehend it. Half the battle is getting the students trust and getting them to do what they need to do.

If the teacher shows great patience and sees the student as dear to them as their own, they will be successful in explaining the material and keep the students intrigued and enjoy what they are learning. Successful teachers inspire their students, showing them proper respect while trying to give over the information.

Although one may have students that are not the easiest to deal with, to say the least, they need to show restraint, compassion and patience at all times. If one is able to do that, they will be successful.

The next part of the Mishna tells us that the honor of your colleague is like the reverence due to your teacher. If we would treat people giving them the proper respect that they deserve i.e. like we would for a teacher, they will come to have more respect for us and become better people because of it.

The reason is because when they learn by the example of their peers, they inevitably will want to emulate the character traits that make them such an inspirational person. This will lead them to be inspired by them which will create a tremendous kiddush Hashem (sanctification of G-d's name.

This person will equate the goodness of their colleague to the fact that they observe the Torah and its laws. They will be awe-inspired and declare "thank G-d this person's father taught him Torah or thank G-d this person's teacher taught him..."

Leading by example and not the "do as I say but not as I do motto" will go far in influencing others. This will lead to a greater reverence for G-d because of the how the person acts and interacts with others.

This leads to the last part of the Mishna which tells us that the reverence we have for our teacher should be like the reverence we have for heaven. If a person does not look at their teacher (at least a Torah teacher) as someone who is like an angel, then they can't learn Torah from them. This does not mean that people are not infallible but one has to realize that if the Torah they learn from their teacher inspires them, changes them and helps them reach there potential in spiritual growth, then that will lead to a greater reverence for heaven.

On the other hand, if the teacher is someone who has bad character traits or the like then the message will not get across and the student will lose respect for them, certainly not creating a greater reverence for heaven. This is the like the famous story with Bertrand Russell.

He was a teacher of ethics but was clearly very unethical. When one of his students asked him "how could you teach ethics and be so unethical?" he responded by saying that "if I taught mathematics would you expect me to be a square?" This is not a Jewish concept and we do not compartmentalize things in such a manner.

We have to strive and grow and become the best people we can; that starts with having the right teachers that can give us the information and inspire us and help us in that endeavor.  The successful teachers are the ones that put all their effort into their craft, giving the students what they need and keeping them focused!