Our teachers light the way. Let’s cherish them

Standing in a school hall filled with children singing Chanukah songs, I truly feel blessed by the privilege of being involved in Jewish education in South Africa. As our children belt out “Maoz Tzur” sometimes with gorgeous harmony, sometimes with enthusiasm more calibrated than their musicality, my heart fills to overflowing. The only thing that gives me even more nachas in those moments is the look on the faces of their parents. 

Our great guide, the Rambam, says that the mitzvah of Chanukah candles is “exceedingly beloved”. That this appears in his legal work, the Mishneh Torah, teaches us that this isn’t just sentiment, but an essential part of the mitzvah – cherishing it, loving it. We are careful to be precise in fulfilling it; we tell with gratitude the miracles Hashem has done for us; and we make sacrifices to light the candles – even selling the shirt off our back in the middle of winter, he tells us, if necessary, to buy oil and wicks. 

I believe that we have a mitzvah, too, to feel that same love and cherishing of our Jewish schools in South Africa. These are the institutions that have raised generations of Jews to live Jewishly with pride, with competence, and with connection. I think about the challenges we have had at so many points in Jewish history – indeed, in every generation, as we say at the Pesach seder – when we have faced tremendous existential threats to our continued existence as am Yisrael. And one of the greatest strengths that has carried us through, from generation to generation, has been the structures we have built around Jewish education. 

These structures aren’t edifices to the future, but for the future – devoted to it. I know in my soul that I wouldn’t be who I am today were it not for the devoted and loving teachers, the skilled and judicious administrators, and the generous and committed donors and board members who shaped every step of my own Jewish education. I feel that same gratitude and sense of debt when I look to those providing my children with a Jewish education, and to my colleagues across the country who do the same for many thousands of young South African Jews. 

Like the Chanukah candles, we do not – and dare not – rest upon the candles lit previously, but must light anew. Not only must we light new candles, as the old ones have burned out already, but we must light additional candles. We elevate in holiness, say Beit Hillel, ensuring that tonight, we light more candles than we did the night before. Similarly, we must strive always to ensure that our education is meeting the needs of today, which aren’t the same as they were 50 or even 15 years ago, and that we are doing so with increasing professionalism, devotion, and knowledge. 

And yet, with all of that, we face severe challenges in the future of our Jewish schools. One of them is a declining number of young Jewish men and women entering the teaching profession, not only in South Africa but in so many communities around the world. To an extent, we have ceased to venerate our teachers as heroes, and instead look towards titans of business, app developers, social media influencers, and professionals as those who have “made it”. In the words of a colleague of mine: if you have two young people at your Shabbat table, a teacher and an AI engineer, who do you think will attract more attention? 

Teaching isn’t likely to match the earning potential of some of the other careers mentioned, but in terms of its contribution to am Yisrael, it reigns supreme. That’s the message that we should be giving to our young people and our community. And while every profession has challenges, there is a worrying tendency today to challenge, criticise, and undermine our teachers and Jewish schools too quickly. Doing so risks placing further strain on this delicate but crucial endeavour. 

Our Jewish schools, in truth, are shining examples of excellence and accessibility, offering some of the best academic and Jewish education that can be found, and doing so with a commitment to making it available to every Jewish child who wants it. That can be said of very few communities in the world. 

What a beautiful, heartwarming phenomenon. Let’s cherish our schools and our teachers, treat them with tenderness and pride, and see that reflected in the quality of the next generation, for whom they are the caretakers. 

Chanukah sameach! 

• Rabbi Sam Thurgood is the head of Jewish life and learning at United Herzlia Schools.