Musar untuk Amsal 22:6

King Solomon said in Proverbs (22, 6): "Teach the lad according to his way, so that also in his old age he will not turn from it." This is the core of education: that not only at the time the child is young and in the domain of his father that he will listen and do according to the commandments, rather also when he grows up and is in his own domain, even when he becomes elderly he will not turn from it. Because education is not only commands, that one should command his son or student "Do such and such," so too is it not just habit, that one accustoms his son or student to good deeds. Education is far, far beyond commands or habit, and these two things, commands and habit, are simply tools used in its implementation which the educator is forced to use, to command or to habituate, in order to educate on the path of the LORD.

As Rashi, may his memory be blessed, explains the word chinukh (education), in the verse (Deuteronomy 20:5), "who built a house but did not dedicate it (chankho) - "Chinukh is a term for beginning." But it is obvious that we would not say, chinukh, about any beginning. For example, when the Gemara (Pesachim 116a) says about the order of the Haggadah, "One begins with disgrace and ends with praise," we would not say, "One is mechanekh with disgrace, etc." And likewise regarding the Sanhedrin (Sanhedrin 32a) - that we begin from the side - we would not say that, we are mechankhin from the side. However in Parashat Lech Lecha (Rashi on Genesis 14:14), Rashi explains it further to us, as follows: Chanikhiv, etc. whom he had trained in the commandments. It is a term for introducing a person or a thing, for the first time, to some particular occupation in which it is intended that he should remain. It has a similar sense in (Proverbs 22:6), "Chanokh the lad," in (Numbers 7:84) "the dedication (chanukat) of the altar" and in (Psalms 30:1) "The dedication (chanukat) of the house."

The Pardes Rimonim mentions that the "miniature" number is a reference to Chanoch (otherwise known as the angel Mattatron) who is also called נער, and whose function is alluded to in Solomon's Proverbs 22, 6: חנוך לנער על פי דרכו, "educate the lad in the manner appropriate for him. [In his chapter on the definitions of certain words, the author of Pardes Rimonim defines the reason that Mattatron is called נער as being that he performs the duties of a נער. These duties are comprehensive just as the duties of Joshua, who is described as a נער, a senior servant of Moses, or Eliezer, who is described in that fashion although he was the senior servant of Abraham. According to Kabbalists, Mattatron provides the "food" not only for our world but also for the world of the angels. Ed.] When the souls of Jacob and Joseph respectively expanded from the world of אצילות, their origin, the features of Jacob remained engraved on the throne of G–d. This throne is immediately below the region we have called אצילות. Joseph is immediately below his father in the domain of Mattatron whose activities emanate from beneath that "throne." The significance of the throne is the mystery of בריאה, whereas the significance of Mattatron in the same scheme is the mystery surrounding יצירה, [a more advanced state of the creation of matter. Ed]. Concerning this latter aspect of Mattatron's activities, the Torah describes Joseph here as 17 years old, i.e. a "junior." Kabbalists also refer to Mattatron as עבד. The Zohar points that out on Genesis 24, 2 where Abraham instructs עבדו זקן ביתו, "his servant the senior member of his household," to get a wife for Isaac. I have explained this at length in my commentary on חיי שרה. The expression עבד also occurs in Joseph's life when the latter is sold by his brothers. G–d sent His angel along to protect Joseph on his various journeys. This guidance was of a similar nature as that described in Exodus 23, 20: הנה אנכי שולח מלאך לפניך לשמרך בדרך, "Here I am sending an angel ahead of you to protect you on the journey." Our sages identified that angel with the angel Mattatron, as mentioned by Rashi on that verse. [The fact that Rashi mentions that the numerical value of 314=מטטרון=שדי, clearly establishes that Mattatron is active in matters of יצירה, an activity requring the attribute of שדי. Ed.]