A Tribute to One of Our “Guardians”
September 23, 2009
A famous story from the Jerusalem Talmud tells of three rabbis who were sent out to survey whether or not the Jewish communities of the Land of Israel had appropriate teachers of Torah. When they came to a certain community and found no such teachers, they said to the members of the local Jewish community, “Bring us the guardians of the city.” The members of the community brought them the city police officers. They said, “These people are not truly the guardians of the city….” The local Jews then asked, “And who, then, are the guardians to the city?” The Rabbis said to them, “The teachers of Torah, as the Biblical verse states, ‘If God does not build the city, the workers have labored in vain.’” (Psalm 127:1)
The wisdom emerging from our traditional Jewish sources provides a seemingly endless supply of texts extolling the role that teachers of children play in the grand scheme of Jewish, communal life. As a religious culture that embraces Hebrew literacy as a fundamental opening to meaningful spirituality and moral living, it is no surprise, then, that the teachers of Torah are given such an elevated position. To a large extent, teachers are likened not only to parents (for they help fulfill the parents’ obligation of instructing children “diligently”), but even as partners with God. A remarkable text in the Talmud (Bava Metzia 2:11) goes so far as to suggest that if a person has two lost objects to return, one belonging to his teacher and one belonging to his parent, he should first return the object belonging to his teacher, because as the text reasons: “His parent brought him into this world, while his teacher brings him into the World to Come.”
On Erev Simchat Torah, our annual celebration of Torah will also provide us the opportunity to thank and honor one of our congregation’s most devoted and beloved teachers, Leona Glazer. For almost forty years, Leona has guided the Temple’s Hebrew school curriculum, and worked with our students as they not only learned the basics of Hebrew reading and prayerbook literacy, but also as they took their first, tentative steps in leading the congregation in worship from the bima. Leona has been blessed with the uncommon experience of teaching into the next generation of her students’ children, testifying and bringing to life the wisdom of the sages:
“Whoever teaches a child does not teach that child alone, but also the child’s children and grandchildren, and so on – to the end of all generations!”
Our entire congregation has been blessed through Leona’s decades of tenderly instructing our children in the knowledge of Hebrew and Jewish worship. And as expressed in the wisdom of our tradition, the generations to come will likewise benefit from her years of devoted service. It will be our honor to honor Leona on Simchat Torah this year, for she will always be considered among our most precious “guardians”.
