For most of the parent body at Kohelet Yeshiva (myself included), our children are learning more Torah than we ever imagined possible when we were their age.  By sending them to Jewish day school we are in essence fulfilling a modern day version of the mitzvah of Hakhel, in which men, women, and young children are all commanded to assemble and hear the Torah read by the Jewish king.  It is understandable that men and women would need to hear this recitation, but why must the children, especially the  taf, unimpressionable infants, be present?  The Talmud brings an endearing story about Rabbi Yehoshua who asks his visiting students what new Torah they have learned. They reply, "We are your students and drink of your waters. We learn from you, our teacher." He responds, "Something new is always taught in the Beit Hamidrash. Share with me what you learned." The students share the mitzvah of Hakhel with Rabbi Yehoshua and explain that the children are included in the Mitzvah of Hakhel to bring reward to the parents who brought them. When Rabbi Yehoshua hears this he exclaims, "You had such a wonderful pearl and you wanted me to lose it?" In other words, a teacher can learn from his students and vice versa. The Meshech Chochmah relates Rabbi Yehoshua's response to a different Gemara in the Yerushalmi where we learn that his own mother used to take him in his stroller to  the synagogue so that the Torah would cling to him, just as he hoped the Torah of his students would cling to him.

Despite being a great Torah scholar himself, Rabbi Yehoshua wanted nothing more than to learn from his students. Whether you have been learning Torah since you were a baby like Rabbi Yehoshua, or began your Jewish education as an adult like me, take the time during this holiday season to learn from your children. Don't let them withhold any pearls from you! May we see the last words of the prophet Malachi come to fruition, "Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord, that he may turn the heart of the fathers back through the children."