תלמוד תורה: של מי האחריות?

Which is a positive time-caused mitzvah [for which women/wives are exempt]? Sukkah, lulav and tefilin. Which is a positive non-time-caused mitzvah? [Returning a] lost object, sending away the mother bird [in order to take the eggs], [setting up] a railing [on your roof] and tzitzit. Rabbi Shimon exempts wives from tzitzit because it is a positive time-caused mitzvah. Which is a mitzvah of the son about [his] father? Feeding, giving drink, clothing, anointing, taking out and bringing in, washing his face, hands and legs. [This applies to anyone] whether a man or wife, except that a man has the opportunity to do it, but a wife does not have the opportunity to do it because others [her husband] have authority over her. What is a mitzvah of the father about [his] son? To circumcise him, redeem him [with 5 selaim if he is a firstborn], to teach him Torah, to teah him a trade and to marry him to a wife. Some say: Also to swim in the river. Rabbi Yehudah says: Anyone who doesn't teach his son a trade teaches him banditry.

What was this ordinance? As Rav Yehuda says that Rav says: Truly, that man is remembered for the good, and his name is Yehoshua ben Gamla. If not for him the Torah would have been forgotten from the Jewish people. Initially, whoever had a father would have his father teach him Torah, and whoever did not have a father would not learn Torah at all. The Gemara explains: What verse did they interpret homiletically that allowed them to conduct themselves in this manner? They interpreted the verse that states: “And you shall teach them [otam] to your sons” (Deuteronomy 11:19), to mean: And you yourselves [atem] shall teach, i.e., you fathers shall teach your sons. When the Sages saw that not everyone was capable of teaching their children and Torah study was declining, they instituted an ordinance that teachers of children should be established in Jerusalem. The Gemara explains: What verse did they interpret homiletically that enabled them to do this? They interpreted the verse: “For Torah emerges from Zion” (Isaiah 2:3). But still, whoever had a father, his father ascended with him to Jerusalem and had him taught, but whoever did not have a father, he did not ascend and learn. Therefore, the Sages instituted an ordinance that teachers of children should be established in one city in each and every region [pelekh]. And they brought the students in at the age of sixteen and at the age of seventeen. But as the students were old and had not yet had any formal education, a student whose teacher grew angry at him would rebel against him and leave. It was impossible to hold the youths there against their will. This state of affairs continued until Yehoshua ben Gamla came and instituted an ordinance that teachers of children should be established in each and every province and in each and every town, and they would bring the children in to learn at the age of six and at the age of seven. With regard to the matter at hand, since this system was established for the masses, the neighbors cannot prevent a scholar from teaching Torah in the courtyard.