Considered Your Child 

By Rabbi Berach Steinfeld

In Bamidbar 3:1 it says that these are the children of Aharon and Moshe. Rashi quotes the Medrash and Gemara Sanhedrin 19b that says whoever teaches some else’s child Torah it is considered as if you gave birth to that child. This is learned from the children of Aharon who are considered Moshe’s children. In addition, we see in Sotah 12a Reb Yochanan says one who marries a woman leshem shomayim the Torah considers it as if you gave birth to her. As the Passuk says Kalev gave birth to Azuvah which was Miriam. The Gemara asks Miriam was his wife? The Gemara answers that since no one wanted to marry her and he did, it is considered as if he gave birth to her.

The question is what do these statements mean? What is the significance that it is your child? Every non-Jew also has children? Rav Aron Leib Shteinman Zt”L says that even if one would say that there is a klal of Bra Mezakeh Abba it will for sure help for a Rebbe who teaches Torah and what is the significance of being considered a child?

We will answer the second question first. It is coming to teach us that if one marries a woman leshem shomayim he will be zocheh to Sholom Bayis. Since his wife is considered as if he gave birth to her it will go without saying that he will love his wife as we know there is no person who does not love his daughter. On the other hand, if one marries a woman with an ulterior motive, for example, for her money then they need a lot of rachamim from shomayim to have Shalom Bayis. Hence the Gemara in Kiddushin 70a Rabba bar Rav Ada says that if one marries a woman for money, he will have children that don’t behave properly. This will result in him having children from a Senuah as we see in Parshas Ki Seitzei. The Maharsha answers it that in that Gemara, Kalev gave birth to Miriam since when she had Tzoraas she was considered dead, and no one wanted to marry her but Kalev who did marry her based on her brothers Aharon and Moshe which was what the Gemara says that most children follow the wife’s brothers so Kalev actually gave her a new life.

To answer the first question one can, say based on Bava Basra 116a that’s says if one does not leave over children, it is considered as if he angers Hashem. But in the event, he teaches other people Torah it is considered as if he had children. Another tirutz based on Kiddushin 30a that says that one has only a chiyuv to teach his son Torah but not his grandson but when the Torah says one should tell his children and grandchildren Torah that works automatically when one teaches his son then his son teaches his grandson. That is the teitch of having a talmid is like having given birth to him because whoever he teaches Torah becomes his offspring.

Another tirutz is in today’s day when one convinces a person to learn and not work it appears that the person was mazik the child as now he won’t have parnassah. The truth is just the opposite that teaching someone Torah and keeping him in the Olam HaTorah is saving the person’s life. We find this in Nedarim 41a Rebbe would learn each Gemara in 13 ways and he would teach it Rav Chiya in 7 ways. Rebbe became ill and forgot his Torah. Rav Chiya went and re-taught rebbe the seven different ways and the 6 other ways Rav Chiya would walk over to a laundry man who would repeat it to him. Rav Chiya would in turn teach that to Rebbe. Every time Rebbe would pass this laundry man, he would call him the person who saved my life. Without torah there is no life!

May we all be zocheh to learn and teach others!

{Matzav.com}