We live in an age of unprecedented education. Children learn mathematics, science, languages and technology. They are taught to express themselves, defend their rights and pursue success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But are we teaching them how to become human beings? Every educational system begins with a view of human nature. This is the deeper tragedy of Korach. Korach confronted Moshe and Aharon: During the Second World War, dozens of Jewish children were living in an orphanage in Marseille. Many had lost their parents or did not know whether they were still alive. Food was scarce, and the children were hungry and despondent. Rabbi Yehudah HaNasi teaches: Judges encounter wrongdoing only after it has occurred. This was the foundation of the Rebbe\u2019s campaign for a daily Moment of Silence<\/strong> in every school. Good parenting does not mean ensuring that a child is always happy. It means helping a child become capable of bringing goodness and happiness to others. Parents must be coaches, not merely referees. Gimmel Tammuz<\/strong> is not only a day to describe the Rebbe\u2019s greatness. It is a day to ask what his greatness demands from us. By Rabbi Avriel Rabenou<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
A person can graduate knowing how to make a living, yet not know how to live. He may know how to advance himself, but not how to control himself; how to demand respect, but not how to show it; how to explain his feelings, but not how to overcome them.
The purpose of education cannot merely be to produce successful adults. It must produce hommes<\/em>: people of conscience, responsibility, humility and moral courage.<\/p>\n\n\n\nAre Children Born Good?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Much of modern educational thinking assumes that the child\u2019s natural self is fundamentally good, and that harmful behaviour arises mainly through society, circumstances or poor nurture. Therefore, the adult\u2019s task is primarily to affirm the child, protect his self-expression and avoid suppressing his natural desires.
The Torah begins elsewhere. Iyov says: \u201cA wild donkey is born a man.\u201d\u00b9
This does not mean that a child is evil. Every human being is created b\u2019tzelem Elokim<\/strong>, in the image of G-d.\u00b2 But Divine potential is not the same as developed character.
A baby naturally experiences the world through his own needs. He does not need to be taught to demand, to take or to say \u201cmine.\u201d He must be taught to wait, share, give thanks and recognise that other people also matter.
That is not a defect. It is the beginning of human life. But it must not remain its final stage.
The task of chinuch <\/strong>(= childrens education) is to transform instinct into character, desire into duty and potential into lived goodness. Chinuch does not crush the child\u2019s personality; it trains the child to become master of it.
Without such education, the child may grow physically, intellectually and professionally while remaining emotionally infantile\u2014an older and more sophisticated version of the baby who believes that everyone else exists to satisfy him.<\/p>\n\n\n\nKorach\u2019s Greatness\u2014and His Failure<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Korach was not an ignorant or spiritually insensitive person. He belonged to Kehat, the family entrusted with transporting the holiest vessels of the Mishkan. The Torah warns that they could not touch or gaze improperly upon the sacred objects, lest they die.\u00b3 Such service demanded extraordinary discipline and
reverence.
Korach was also wise and possessed ruach hakodesh<\/strong> (= Divine spirit). Rashi explains that he foresaw that Shmuel HaNavi and twenty-four divisions of distinguished descendants would emerge from him. The Sages therefore ask: \u201cKorach was a wise man; what caused him to act so foolishly?\u201d They answer: \u201cHis eye
deceived him.\u201d\u2074
He saw something true but interpreted it through his ego. Korach could see generations into the future, yet could no longer see himself honestly. He mistook the greatness that would come from him for proof that his present ambition was justified.
This teaches us that intelligence alone does not make a person moral. Spiritual experience does not guarantee humility. A person can carry the holy ark while still carrying an unrefined ego.<\/p>\n\n\n\nPotential Is Not Achievement<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe entire congregation is holy, and G-d is among them. Why do you raise yourselves above the congregation of G-d?\u201d\u2075
His first statement was true. Every Jew possesses holiness. His conclusion was false.
Korach confused equal dignity with identical roles, and holiness in potential with holiness fully revealed. He assumed that because holiness existed within everyone, no one required leadership, structure or authority.
The Rebbe explains that this misunderstands true leadership. A leader does not create the people\u2019s holiness; he reveals it. The people possessed G-dly potential, but repeatedly failed to live according to it. Moshe\u2019s responsibility was to awaken, guide and develop what lay within them.\u2076
Korach saw a leader as a referee\u2014someone standing above others, identifying violations and exercising power. Moshe was a coach.
A referee asks: \u201cWhich rule did you break?\u201d A coach asks: \u201cWhat must you learn so that you can succeed?\u201d
A referee reacts after the mistake. A coach prepares the person before it, guides him through it and helps him grow after it. This is the task of parents, educators, judges and leaders. They must enforce boundaries when necessary, but their ultimate purpose is not to catch people doing wrong. It is to develop people
capable of choosing right.<\/p>\n\n\n\nA Story of the Rebbe<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
In the summer of 1941, a mysterious man began arriving with bread, sardines, tuna and sometimes potatoes. The children knew him only as \u201cMonsieur.\u201d
He did not simply leave the food and depart. He remained until every child had eaten. Some children were so traumatised that they refused food. Monsieur sat beside them on the floor, took them onto his lap, told stories, sang songs and fed them patiently by hand. He knew every child\u2019s name, although they did not know
his.\u2077
Years later, one of those children, Dovidele, entered the Rebbe\u2019s office at 770. Before he could introduce himself, the Rebbe smiled and exclaimed, \u201cIt\u2019s Dovidele!\u201d
Suddenly he recognised him. The mysterious Monsieur who had fed the starving children was the future Lubavitcher Rebbe.
This story reveals the Rebbe\u2019s greatness.
He did not only see hungry mouths. He saw broken children who needed to experience that they mattered. He did not stand at a distance and give instructions. He sat on the floor. He sang. He fed them. He restored their will to live.
That is a coach of the human soul.
The Rebbe\u2019s greatness did not make others feel small. It enabled them to discover that they were precious and capable of becoming great themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\nFrom External Referees to an Inner Conscience<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\u201cKnow what is above you: an Eye that sees, an Ear that hears, and all your deeds are recorded.\u201d\u2078
Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai blessed his students that their fear of Heaven should equal their fear of human beings. When they expressed surprise, he explained that a person committing a sin often thinks: \u201cI hope no person sees me.\u201d\u2079
Parents cannot accompany their children everywhere. Teachers cannot observe every student. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The goal of education must therefore be to build an inner moral authority.
The immature child asks: \u201cWill I be caught?\u201d
The developing child asks: \u201cWhat will this choice do to me?\u201d
The spiritually educated person asks: \u201cWhat does G-d expect from me?\u201d
This is why morality requires an authority that transcends humanity. If right and wrong are created only by society, then society can redefine them. Governments, majorities and cultures can all make grave moral errors.
The Seven Noahide Laws teach all humanity that the world is not ownerless. There is one Creator, every human being bears His image, and every person is accountable to a moral standard above power, convenience and public opinion.\u00b9\u2070<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe Moment of Silence<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
At the beginning of the school day, each child should be given a quiet moment to reflect. The state need not prescribe a particular prayer. Parents should give their own children the moral and spiritual content of that silence.\u00b9\u00b9
A child might think:
\u201cI was created for a purpose.\u201d \u201cThere is a Creator above me.\u201d \u201cMy actions matter.\u201d \u201cWhom can I help today?\u201d
The Moment of Silence is not merely relaxation or mindfulness. A selfish person can sit quietly while continuing to think only about himself.
Its purpose is transcendence: to remind the child that he is valuable, but not the centre of existence; that he possesses desires, but is not a slave to them; that he can choose what is right even when no human referee is watching.<\/p>\n\n\n\nHow Do We Become Good Parents?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
We must model what we teach. A child learns honesty by watching whether we tell the truth when honesty costs us. He learns respect by observing how we speak to our spouse, employees and people from whom we need nothing.
We must combine love with boundaries. Love says: \u201cYou are infinitely valuable.\u201d A boundary says: \u201cNot everything you want is good.\u201d Love without boundaries can produce entitlement; boundaries without love can produce fear.
We must praise character, not only achievement: \u201cI am proud that you told the truth\u201d; \u201cI noticed that you included someone who was alone\u201d; \u201cYou controlled yourself when you were angry.\u201d
And when we are wrong, we must apologise. Authority is not weakened when a parent admits a mistake. It teaches that greatness means taking responsibility.
The Rebbe once told an educator that children do not need to be constantly reminded of their shortcomings; many are already their own harshest critics. They need to hear about their strengths and extraordinary potential.\u00b9\u00b2 But recognising potential does not mean excusing wrongdoing. A true coach says: \u201cWhat you did was wrong\u2014but it is not the whole of who you are. You were created in G-d\u2019s image, and you are capable of better.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe Call of Gimmel Tammuz<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Korach said: \u201cEveryone is already holy.\u201d The Rebbe taught: \u201cEveryone has holiness\u2014 now reveal it.\u201d
Korach saw leadership as one person rising above others. The Rebbe taught that true leadership means raising others above themselves.<\/strong>
May we raise children who are not only informed but refined; not only confident but humble; not only expressive but self-controlled; not only successful but good.
May every child learn that he is seen by G-d, entrusted with a purpose and capable of becoming a true mentch. And may we fulfil the Rebbe\u2019s vision of a world in which Jews and all humanity recognise the one Creator and live with justice, responsibility and kindness, preparing the world for the fulfilment of the
prophecy:
\u201cThe earth will be filled with the knowledge of G-d as the waters cover the sea.\u201d\u00b9\u00b3<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n