Musar for Sanhedrin 38:26

ואלה תולדות אהרון ומשה . This teaches us that anyone who teaches Torah to his friend's son is considered as if he had given birth to him (Sanhedrin 19b). You should not interpret this as if it were only a figure of speech, but rather as if he had sired him actually; the parents of that individual have only contributed his body, whereas his teacher contributes and shapes his soul, as we have described at length elsewhere. Therefore, hail to the person who does indeed instruct his neighbors children in Torah. When he does so without charge, his reward will be twofold.

The Torah's greatest command is to see to it that its teachings expand to as many Jews as possible, certainly including one's own children, in order to perpetuate the chain of Torah knowledge in one's family. The latter is clearly stated in Deut. 11,19 and numerous other places. It is this the sages had in mind when they said (Rashi Genesis 6,9) that the principal descendants of the righteous are their good deeds. This means that it is the fondest hope of the righteous that they become fruitful and multiply in order that their children may perform good deeds such as the study of Torah for its own sake and all that results therefrom. Concerning such an attitude Solomon has said in Kohelet 12,11: "The words of the scholars are like goads and like well driven nails i.e. נטועים." Our sages understand the word נטועים here as referring to offspring. Just as a plant is called permanent when securely planted, so one's children assure one of a degree of permanence and continuity on earth by their very existence. Words of Torah have a similar characteristic. They are fruitful and multiply like an unending fountain whose waters never cease The important thing is that preoccupation with Torah should not become a sterile intellectual exercise but something dynamic, creative. This is the reason that the Rabbis said that when one teaches one's neighbor's child Torah it is as if one had begotten him, i.e. performed a dynamic life-giving act. The same applies in even greater degree to when one teaches Torah to one's own children. The earth was given to man on condition that he live according to these principles, and the atmosphere of the land of Israel is particularly suited to further Torah study. We find an allusion to this in the positioning of the verse (11,19) instructing us to teach our children Torah immediately before the verse: "so that you will enjoy long years on the land the Lord your G–d has sworn to your forefathers to give to them, etc." (11,21). This is why this dimension is mentioned in the above quoted prayer והערב נא which we recite every morning immediately following the benediction לעסוק בדברי תורה. Our sages have formulated this prayer/blessing to include both our own offspring, וצאצאינו, as well as that of others, i.e. וצאצאי עמך בית ישראל. Anyone failing to recite this benediction may find that his children themselves will not develop to be Torah scholars. If such failure occurs on a broad basis even the atmosphere of the land of Israel, which is so suited to the spread of Torah knowledge, will become "lost," i.e. it will no longer be a built-in assist to the spread of Torah. The land's characteristic is closely bound up with the scholars residing in it practicing the virtues associated with their Torah knowledge.

The way the Israelites rehabilitated themselves for shortcomings in appreciating the relative significance of spiritual food, i.e. the value of their souls, was that while they stood pressed together, they prostrated themselves before G–d and suddenly did not find themselves hemmed in any more. The tightness experienced while standing symbolized the smelly drop of semen, their putrid origin, whereas the spaciousness experienced when prostrating oneself before G–d represented the spiritual uplift experienced by their souls. As long as their concerns had been centered around physical progress the Rabbis' injunction not to be boastful, not to "make waves," was fully applicable. Hence, even while in the precincts of the Temple, they experienced the tightness of space. Only when their main concern had become a spiritual one did they no longer find space confining. It is the mark of a truly great Torah scholar that he becomes more and more humble. Our sages have already said that "whoever raises himself up, will experience that G–d will lower him" (Eruvin 13b). The reverse is also true. The author of the Mishnah simply gave us a recipe. If someone desires prominence in this world, i.e. he stands upright, עומדים, he will experience that space in this world is at a premium, צפופים; if, on the other hand, he is prepared to prostrate himself before the Lord, to assume a low profile, he will find רווחים, that there is no shortage of space. This is the way to rectify any error one had committed in the direction in which one was headed, i.e. לאן אתה הולך, meaning that no disqualification would be found in the way one utilizes both one's physical and one's spiritual "bread." This then is the moral message of "no disqualification was found in the Omer," etc. We have been exhorted by our sages (Avot 1,6) to appoint a Torah authority for ourselves, i.e. עשה לך רב, and the Talmud (Sanhedrin 19b) said that anyone who teaches the child of his neighbor Torah is equivalent to having given birth to him. This statement refers to the soul of the person, since Torah is like a soul to a body.