Teaching Lessons From The Tanna’im
We sometimes assume that the focus on teaching techniques is a recent phenomenon. After all, in ancient times didn’t students just learn because it was expected of them? Didn’t they always try their hardest even without any special encouragement? However, the daf this week offers us brief insights into the pedagogical skills of two famous Tanna’im.
To understand the relevant passages, a brief introduction is in order. In ancient times, multiple houses shared a common courtyard. In turn, multiple courtyards shared a common area which led to the street. This common area is called a mavoi. It was generally walled on three sides, with the fourth side open to the street. One is only allowed to carry on Shabbos in that mavoi if some sort of rectification is made to the entrance on the fourth side.
A mishnah in Eiruvin records the following disagreement between Rebbe Akiva and his student. A talmid said in front of Rebbe Akiva: Rebbe Yishmael said that Beis Shammai and Beis Hillel did not have a dispute about the rectification necessary for a mavoi with an entrance width of less than four cubits. Rather, their dispute pertained to a mavoi whose entrance was more than four cubits wide. Rebbe Akiva disagreed. Rebbe Akiva was certain that Beis Shammai and Beis Hillel disagreed about the rectification necessary both in cases of a mavoi with an entrance less than four cubits wide and in cases of where it was wider than four cubits. The simple reading of the mishnah implies that Rebbe Akiva disagreed with Rebbe Yishmael’s understanding of the machlokes between Beis Shammai and Beis Hillel.