Educating... at a higher level

B"H

Parashat Emor, Vayikra (Leviticus) Ch. 21:1 reads:
אמֹר אל הכהנים

Loosely translated:
(G-d spoke to Moshe saying:) speak to the priests...

Rashi interprets the above:
להזהיר גדולים על הקטנים (=to educate the elders about the younger.)

At the simple textual interpretation, Rashi says, what Moshe was to speak to the priests is about educating the next generation. This is contextually sound, considering that what follows are some of the laws pertaining to priests.

In a more general sense, Rashi's comment can be taken as a general principle applicable to all: the adults are responsible for the education of the next generation.

One may ask: if Rashi's comment is meant to hint about educating the young, then surely this comment should have appeared somewhere in the torah portion of Yitro (where the ten commandments are given), in the book of Shmot (Exodus). Why wait until we get this far into the book of Vaikra?

The explanation, could be as follows:
The Torah portion Emor, is always read during the month of Eeyar. There's a unique advantage to Eyar over all the other months: this is the only month which has a special mitzvah associated with ever one of its days. Specifically, the mitzvah is ספירת העומר (=Sfirat HaOmer, counting of the Omer.) Incidentally, this mitzvah happens to be mentioned in the portion of Emor.

The word ספירה (Sfira) means "count" but is also related to ספיר (a precious stone, a sapphire, perhaps.) On the other hand the word עומר (Omer) means a certain measure, but also refers to barley -- the food of animals in ancient times.

Putting it all together: one is suppose to fulfill Sfirat HaOmer, that is, counting of the Omer between Pesach and Shavuos. But also, one is suppose to utilize this time to turn his own personal animal (i.e., the yetzer) into a precious stone. In this context the term ספירת העומר can be rendered as "refining, cleansing and purifying of one's animal soul until it shines like a sapphire". This can be achieved by utilizing the 49 days between Pesach and Shavuos to work on one's character traits and attributes (מידות). This is the central focus of the month of Eeyar.

Back to Emor, which is always read during this very special month: the word להזהיר in Rashi's commentary normally means "to warn" or "to instruct". That's where the idea of education comes from. However, it can also be understood to come from the root זהר (=illumination). So in this context, להזהיר means "to illuminate."

This teaches us that albeit education of the next generation is something that starts with Matan Torah (giving over of the Torah) in the portion of Yitro, that's only entry level. At this level one educates the young about differentiating between good and bad, right and wrong, permitted and prohibited, practical mitzvot, etc...

Now comes the month of Eeyar, whose main focus is refining our character traits (ספירת העומר), so Rashi tells us to educate the young at a higher level than before: not to educate merely about what's right and what's wrong, etc, but to further illuminate (להזהיר) how to achieve a higher level of personal perfection via a higher level of refining one's character traits.

This is the perfect melding of the message of Emor (Educate) and the month of Eeyar (Refine). They complement each other thus they coincide.