T103 PNC - Withholding Halacha Robs Inheritance — Share Torah Generously (1 seg)

The Talmud (Sanhedrin 91b) teaches: 'Anyone who withholds a teaching of halacha (Jewish law) from the mouth of a student — it is as if he has robbed him of the inheritance of his fathers,' as it is written: 'Moses commanded us the Torah, an inheritance of the congregation of Jacob' (Deuteronomy 33:4). Torah is the inheritance of every single Jew — it belongs to all of Israel by birthright. When a teacher knows halacha and refuses to teach it, or withholds his knowledge out of pride or stinginess, he is in effect stealing from the student. The student has a right to that Torah, and the teacher who withholds it commits a form of theft — specifically the theft of a spiritual inheritance that is even more fundamental than material inheritance. Rabbeinu draws the practical teaching: every person of Torah knowledge has an obligation to share it generously, especially with students who seek to learn.