97. How to Teach

Talmud Torah 4:2

Here's how Torah should be taught: the teacher sits at the head and the students sit around him so that everyone can see the teacher and hear his words. The teacher should not sit on a chair if the students have to sit on the ground. Either everyone should sit on the ground or everyone should sit on chairs. Originally, the teacher would sit and the students would stand. During the Second Temple era, the practice became to teach with both the teacher and the students seated.

Talmud Torah 4:3

If a teacher wants to lecture directly to the students, he may do so. If he prefers to teach through an intermediary, then the intermediary should stand between the teacher and the students. The teacher speaks to the intermediary and the intermediary announces the teacher's words to the students.

When the students ask a question, they ask the intermediary, who repeats the question to the teacher. The teacher then replies to the intermediary, who replies to the student. The teacher should not speak louder than the intermediary. Similarly, when the intermediary asks a question of the teacher, he should not speak louder than the teacher.

The intermediary is not allowed to add to, detract from, or change what the teacher has said unless he is the teacher's father or teacher. If the teacher says, “My teacher told me the following...” or “My father told me the following...,” then the intermediary quotes the statement in the name of the original authority using the actual name of the teacher’s father or teacher. This is permitted because, even though the teacher did not mention the authority’s name, it is only because one may not refer to his teacher or father by name.