3018 —הפחתת שעות הוראה בגלל משכורות שלא שולמו והשפעתה על התלמידים

B"H, 12 MarCheshvan, 5715.

Brooklyn.

Teachers' association...

Greetings and blessing!

In reply to your letter of 2 Cheshvan, just received: out of my great distress I hasten to answer it without waiting its turn. The cause of the distress is the content of your letter: that since the administration of... owes a sum to the teachers, you have notified the administration that you will reduce the hours of study until they begin to pay you what is due. The distress in this is understandable:

a) The ones who suffer from the reduction of teaching hours are the students, boys and girls, fine sons and daughters of Israel. Even if the administration of... did some injustice in this, there is no justification for punishing the students, especially with such a punishment, which cannot always be repaired, for time is a loss that does not return at all, especially the hours of the education of boys and girls, each hour of which during the time of education is equal, of course, to a period many times as long in a person's adulthood.

b) I am certain that it is clear to you too that the administration of... did nothing deliberately. Obviously, if there were money in the fund, or if it were easy to obtain money, the members of the administration too would be well pleased to settle the debts. And if there is room to speak of repaying measure for measure, there is no room to speak of deliberately punishing for what so-and-so did unintentionally or under duress...

d) Above all is the destruction of the world-outlook of those you educate, when they see that for the sake of a material claim on a certain person or a certain communal worker, a wrong is done to tens of boys and girls. Since this is the conduct of their teacher and educator in matters of Judaism and good character, it is not understandable why those educated should not behave in such ways: "טוביא חטא וזיגוד מינגד" ("Tuvya sinned and Zigud is flogged"). And known is the matter that "Shaul sinned once and it counted against him, and David twice and it did not count against him," for Shaul's sin was in that which was his task and office, that is, matters of kingship, whereas David's sins, though in themselves more severe, were not in his task, or in the language of Chassidus, his main mission in this world. For this reason it is also understood that reducing the hours of secular studies makes no difference to the harm of this action. In addition there is the fact that in the added hours the students will go idle, etc.

I hope that these lines of mine, few in number, will suffice. May you gladden me by return mail with the good news that you are volunteering all the additional hours, and doing so with a good eye and a willing heart, for on this depends success in influencing the students.

Awaiting good news as above, and with warm thanks for doing this promptly.

P.S.

In all the above I have not touched on the halachic aspect of a teachers' strike in a Talmud Torah or cheder, for this is not the place, and above all I am certain that you do not need this at all.

Notes

Tuvya sinned and Zigud is flogged (טוביא חטא וזיגוד מינגד): Pesachim 113b: Three the Holy One, blessed be He, hates: one who says one thing with his mouth and another in his heart; one who knows testimony for his fellow and does not testify for him; and one who sees a matter of immorality in his fellow and testifies against him alone. As in the case where Tuvya sinned and Zigud came and testified against him before Rav Papa. Rav Papa had Zigud flogged. He said to him: "Tuvya sinned and Zigud is flogged?" He answered him: Yes, as it says, "One witness shall not rise up against a man" (Devarim 19:15), and you testify against him alone; you merely spread a bad name about him.

Publisher's notes

Tuvya sinned (טוביא חטא): Pesachim 113b. See also below, letter 3152.

Shaul sinned once (שאול באחד): Yoma 22b.