Many years ago, in the 1970’s, our class (Maimonides ’82) was privileged to learn Sefer Bamidbar with a real genius, Rabbi Harold Rabinowitz. If you have any doubts about his brilliance, see the Rav zt”l’s introductory note in The Halakhic Mind (a very difficult and profound work of the Rav) where he effusively thanks Rabbi Rabinowitz for his help with the book. Rabbi Rabinowitz wanted to bring to life Parshat Bamidbar, which deals with counting B’nai Yisrael and describing how they camped around the Mishkan, by infusing the class with Talmudic teachings. So he moved tables and chairs around to demonstrate how the tribes and clusters of tribes would move, according to the two Talmudic paradigms, k’koreh – like a beam – or k’teiva – like an ark (or a table). Truth is, I don’t remember much else from that class on Parshat Bamidbar, but I remember vividly how Rabbi Rabinowitz made the written Torah (Chumash) and the oral Torah (Talmud) come together in such a real and dramatic way. The Netziv (Bamidbar 3:1) explains a Rashi (based on Masechet Sanhedrin 19b and 39b) which reflects the efforts of Rabbi Rabinowitz and so many of our teachers at Maimonides: “Rabbi Shmuel Bar Nachmeini in the name of Rabbi Yonatan says: Whoever teaches Torah to the child of a fellow Jew, the verse considers him actually giving birth to that Jew.” This is derived from Chapter 3, verse 1: “These the children of Ahron and Moshe…” where only the children of Ahron are mentioned, not the children of Moshe. The Gemara explains that the children of Ahron were also considered Moshe’s birth children, since he taught them Torah. The Netziv explains this idea by saying that we are talking about someone teaching a student Talmud, and by the student learning Talmud they become a birya chadasha, a new creature. Quoting the She’iltot in Lech Lecha, the Netziv writes, “anyone who makes their fellow Jew learn Torah, heaven considers it as if they have created their fellow Jew.” In other words, Talmud is the type of learning that enables the Jew to think in new ways, in ways that make the Jew different than they were before they learnt Talmud. Torah, and specifically Talmud, is transformational. All of us in 8th grade, when we were learning the Talmudic argument of “like a beam” or “like an ark,” were transformed and transfixed. By bringing Talmud into his Chumash class in such a brilliant way, Rabbi Rabinowitz became our Torah parent, and we became Jews with a new, different outlook than before. I am proud that under the leadership of the Rav, Maimonides began teaching Talmud way back in the 1930’s to students – boys and girls – just on the verge of Bar and Bat Mitzvah. This Talmudic curriculum gave thousands of students the opportunity to think differently, to grow in their outlook on the world and their appreciation of Torah and Yiddishkeit. As we look forward to Shabbat Rosh Chodesh, when we will read Yishayahu’s words in the Haftara (Isaiah 66:22) – “As the new heavens and the new Earth which I create stand before G-d, so shall your offspring and legacy stand (before G-d)” – I look forward to continuing the ability to be transformed and renewed by the Talmud when I study with my children, learning started way back at Maimonides. Whether it was chairs and tables moved around by Rabbi Rabinowitz, Talmudic stories from Rabbi Wohlgemuth zt”l, or Talmudic jokes by Rabbi Simon zt”l, we students who learned from our great teachers are really their children, and they have instilled within us newness and curiosity, and the ability to learn in an ever deeper and ever more profound way. As we head to Shavuot, where we are told to bring a mincha chadasha laHashem, a new gift to Hashem, let’s celebrate those who gave us a Torah of newness and creativity, and let’s give gratitude to the school that made it all happen. | 
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