Introduction Our mishnah talks about the responsibility of leadership, its rewards and its punishments.
Whoever causes the multitudes to be righteous, sin will not occur on his account; And whoever causes the multitudes to sin, they do not give him the ability to repent. One who causes, through his example and his teaching, others to be righteous, will not accidentally sin or accidentally cause others to sin. He will receive help from Heaven in his endeavors. This is to prevent a situation whereby his followers are rewarded for following his teachings and he is punished for the sins upon which he stumbled. The opposite is true of one who himself sins and causes others to sin as well. Although in general anyone may repent of his sins, this person will not be given the opportunity to do so. According to the Rambam, this means that he does not have the free will to not sin. It would, after all, not be right for him to repent and earn a place in the world to come, while his students are punished for the sinful ways which he taught them.
Moses was righteous and caused the multitudes to be righteous, [therefore] the righteousness of the multitudes is hung on him, as it is said, “He executed the Lord’s righteousness and His decisions with Israel” (Deut. 33:21). Jeroboam, sinned and caused the multitudes to sin, [therefore] the sin of the multitudes is hung on him, as it is said, “For the sins of Jeroboam which he sinned, and which he caused Israel to sin thereby” (I Kings 15:30). Moses is the greatest example of leadership that the Jewish people has ever known. He was righteous in his own right and he taught others to be righteous as well. As a reward, the righteous acts that the people performed are accredited to him, as if he himself performed them. The verse in Deuteronomy quoted in the mishnah is understood as referring to Moses (although this is not at all clear from the verse itself). According to the mishnah’s understanding, the verse states that Moses did God’s righteousness, and that all of the acts of Israel were counted as his acts as well. From here we learn that when students perform the righteous acts which they have learned from their teachers, the teachers receive credit themselves. Jeroboam was the first king of the northern kingdom (Israel) when it split from the southern kingdom (Judea) after Solomon’s death. Jeroboam told Israel that they no longer had to go to Jerusalem to worship, but could worship at Bethel as well as other places in the north. He made two golden calves and told the people “This is your god, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt” (I Kings 12:28). Jeroboam did not only himself sin, but he caused others to sin as well. In I Kings 15:25-30, Baasha son of Ahijah kills Nadav, son of Jeroboam and all of Jeroboam’s house as well (Jeroboam himself had already died). Verse 30 concludes that the Jeroboam’s house was killed on account of Jeroboam and his sin and the sins that he caused Israel to sin. From here we can conclude that Jeroboam himself was held accountable for those sins which he caused others to do.
Questions for Further Thought:
• What is the overall statement of the mishnah with regards to education and the educator?