Rebbe Chiya: The Ultimate Teacher

Rebbe Chiya was a teacher of Torah. (Bava Metzia 85b) The Gemara relates how Rebbe Chiya personally oversaw the entire harbotzas Torah process from the very beginning. He would plant seeds. Not seeds of Torah! He would plant flax seeds. Did he need to raise funds with the sale of flax? No! He would harvest the flax and fabricate nets with the material. Perhaps he needed nets to round up unruly children? No. Rebbe Chiya needed the nets to hunt deer. Perhaps he needed food to feed the children he was teaching? No. The Gemara said he would distribute the meat to orphans. The deer were needed for their hides. He would prepare parchment from the deer hides. Rebbe Chiya would then write the five books of the Torah on them. He would go to a city and teach five children the five books, one book per child. He would teach six other children the six orders of the Mishna. He would then instruct the eleven children, “Until I return and come here, each child should teach the other children the portion of Torah that I taught him.” This way every child functioned as both a student and a teacher, maximizing their Torah studies.

Rebbe Chiya was a great scholar. The Gemara in Kesubos (103b) says that he was almost chosen to replace Rebbe Yehuda HaNasi as Rosh HaYeshiva. Why did Rebbe Chiya need to be involved in the very beginning of the process? Why did he spend his precious time planting flax and hunting deer? Why didn’t he simply purchase readily available off-the-shelf products? Was it appropriate for such a venerable sage to be involved in agriculture and hunting? If money was the issue, he could have sold the deer meat and saved himself future toil.

The Maharsha explains that a Torah endeavor that has a completely pure foundation will be more successful. Torah is not like another subject. The kedusha and pure intentions that go into even the mundane aspects will affect the resultant Torah learning. It was worth it for a gadol hador to spend time farming because the Torah studies that follow would be so much better.

The Chofetz Chaim would not accept donations for his yeshiva from those that were not Shabbos observant. He reasoned that the impure funds would have a negative impact on the Torah study in his yeshiva. HaGaon HaRav Henoch Leibowitz, zt”l, was asked what should be done with funds donated to yeshiva by someone who is not even commanded to keep Shabbos. He answered that those funds should be used for the secular studies department in elementary school or high school.

Why wasn’t Rebbe Chiya given the job as Rosh HaYeshiva to replace Rebbe Yehuda HaNasi? Rebbe Yehuda HaNasi felt that Rebbe Chiya’s harbotzas HaTorah was so vital to Klal Yisroel, that it was not worthwhile to “trouble him” with being Rosh HaYeshiva. Rebbe Chanina was chosen instead to be Rosh HaYeshiva. (One explanation cited in Kesubos.)

Rebbe Chanina apparently ended up becoming greater in Torah than Rebbe Chiya. The meforshim explain that the give and take with his adult students made him wise. The Gemara notes the following incident took place:

When Rebbe Chanina and Rebbe Chiya were debating a matter of Torah, Rebbe Chanina said to Rebbe Chiya: “Do you think you can debate with me? Heaven forbid, if the Jewish people forgot the Torah, I could restore it with my powers of analysis and intellectual acumen.” Rebbe Chiya responded to Rebbe Chanina: “Do you think you can debate with me? You cannot compare yourself to me, as I am acting to ensure that the Jewish people will not forget the Torah in the first place.”

Rebbe commented, “How great are the deeds of Rebbe Chiya!”

The Gemara relates that Reish Lakish was given Divine assistance to locate and mark the burial places of the sages. This was to prevent Kohanim from becoming defiled accidentally. Also, this enabled supplicants to pray at their kevarim. Raish Lakish though was unable to locate the burial place of Rebbe Chiya. He perceived that this was a Divine sign that he was unworthy to enter the cave where Rebbe Chiya was buried. Raish Lakish became disheartened. He said to Hashem, “Did I not study Torah as well as Rebbe Chiya did?” A Heavenly Voice answered, “You studied Torah like him but you did not disseminate Torah like him.”

Rebbe Chanina became a great Rosh HaYeshiva, yet Rebbe Chiya’s work in harbotzas haTorah put him in a separate league. Indeed, the Gemara continues that, in Shamayim, Rebbe Chiya has a special chariot. The meforshim explain that the chariots of other sages are transported via malachim. The Shechina, though, transports Rebbe Chiya’s chariot. In this world, an onlooker might have assumed Rebbe Chanina was greater as he served as the Rosh HaYeshiva. However, the Gemara gave us a glimpse of a different picture in the Olam HaEmes.

HaRav Chaim Aryeh Zev Ginzberg, shlit”a, recently republished his extraordinary sefer Divrei Chachomim. He quotes Rav Mordechai Gifter discussing his Torah career (pg. 619). Rav Gifter said that he increased kavod Shamayim much more in the three years that he served as a rav in Waterbury, CT, than his decades long career in Telshe Yeshiva! When he started serving as a rav in Waterbury, there was not even a minyan of Shomer Shabbos people. Yet, he felt that he generated more kavod Shamayim serving as a rav there, than serving as an illustrious Rosh HaYeshiva. Therefore, Rav Gifter encouraged others to grab the opportunity to teach Torah out of town. Listeners challenged Rav Gifter. Isn’t raising children in New York better for chinuch? Rav Gifter emphatically answered, “No!” Parents have more control and supervise their children better when they are “out of town.” Moreover, Hashem rewards them with special Divine Assistance since they are “working for Him.”

Although being a Rosh HaYeshiva is great work if available, one doesn’t need that position to accomplish amazing feats. Rebbe Chiya achieved unimaginable levels of spiritual growth by simply teaching Torah to many children.