צפו [צֹפָ֞יו] עִוְרִ֤ים כֻּלָּם֙ לֹ֣א יָדָ֔עוּ כֻּלָּם֙ כְּלָבִ֣ים אִלְּמִ֔ים לֹ֥א יוּכְל֖וּ לִנְבֹּ֑חַ הֹזִים֙ שֹֽׁכְבִ֔ים אֹהֲבֵ֖י לָנֽוּם׃
Para penjaganya semuanya buta, mereka semua tidak mengetahui apa-apa; mereka semua anjing-anjing bisu yang tidak dapat menggonggong; mereka berbaring tertidur lelap dan suka terlelap.
Tosafot Yom Tov
AND YOU SHOULD TRAIN [lit. stand them up] MANY STUDENTS. They used the word ha`amidu, whose root `amad means “to stand,” because from the time of Moses until the time of Rabban Gamliel the students would stand during their studies (Megillah 21a) [as Rav writes on Sotah 9:16], while the master would sit on a chair—so Midrash Shmuel, in the name of R. Yosef ibn Nahamias. While this is a good derivation of the term ha`amidu, it does not convey the thrust of the mishna, which is not that the students should stand or sit, but that they should study. So why doesn’t the mishna, in accordance with its primary intent, simply use the verb “teach”?
It seems that the mishna uses this verb, ha`amidu, to emphasize that one ought to stand them up on their feet to the point that they don’t falter, i.e. to stand them on their feet in truly understanding Torah. This is called “standing” and “enduring” [kiyum, related to Heb. kam, “arose”], just as the Rabbinic expression says of a lie that it “has no legs on which to stand,” and as the Poet says, “My feet had nearly faltered” (Psalms, 73:2). And it is because the mishna dictated that one train many students that it had to use ha`amidu, to emphasize that although one ought to train many students, their studies should still be such that they should stand upon their own feet and reach truth in their learning. Anything else cannot properly be called ha`amadah, training a student and standing him upon his feet; such students rather “lie in slumber” (Isaiah 56:10), in the sleep of foolishness.
The upshot of all this is that we do not fulfill this dictum unless we teach truth and righteousness and nothing else. Cf. my comments on mishna 6.
It seems that the mishna uses this verb, ha`amidu, to emphasize that one ought to stand them up on their feet to the point that they don’t falter, i.e. to stand them on their feet in truly understanding Torah. This is called “standing” and “enduring” [kiyum, related to Heb. kam, “arose”], just as the Rabbinic expression says of a lie that it “has no legs on which to stand,” and as the Poet says, “My feet had nearly faltered” (Psalms, 73:2). And it is because the mishna dictated that one train many students that it had to use ha`amidu, to emphasize that although one ought to train many students, their studies should still be such that they should stand upon their own feet and reach truth in their learning. Anything else cannot properly be called ha`amadah, training a student and standing him upon his feet; such students rather “lie in slumber” (Isaiah 56:10), in the sleep of foolishness.
The upshot of all this is that we do not fulfill this dictum unless we teach truth and righteousness and nothing else. Cf. my comments on mishna 6.