Higher and lower.
Knowledgeable and ignorant.
Richer and poorer.
There seems to be a vertical scale in so much of life. In most cases, those at the lower end of the scale would like to reach the higher pole, while those ‘on top’ seem fine right where they are.
But life isn’t actually so linear.
‘Higher’ isn’t absolute. Even when you’re ‘on top’ in an area of life, if you want your strengths and advantages to truly ‘shine’, you need to share them with those ‘lower’ on the scale; perhaps counter-intuitively, those ‘lower’ contribute significantly to those ‘higher’.
The Talmud quotes Rabbi Chanina, one of its intellectual greats, as saying “I have learned much from my teachers, more from my peers and from my students most of all.”
That wasn’t poetic flattery of some youngsters. He meant it.
So how can Rabbi Chanina, lucky enough to have studied with some of history’s greatest minds, say that he has learned more from his students who are [presumably] way down the knowledge totem pole?
It’s not that he received more information from his students. Rabbi Chanina’s knowledge – his facts and data - became more lucid to him through his teaching.
Another Talmudic quote: “When a student approaches a teacher and says ‘teach me Torah’, when the teacher accedes and teaches ‘G-d illuminates the eyes of both (Proverbs 29:13).’”
When a teacher conveys knowledge HE/SHE receives illumination [too].
How?
When we want to share knowledge with someone who has less of it, we need to first crystallize our own understanding. You can delude yourself into thinking you understand something, but you can’t properly teach what you don’t really understand. The teaching process, from the preparation to the delivery, brings insight – illumination – to the teacher’s own intellectual grasp. Nothing brings more insight to an idea than successfully teaching it.
And it’s not just about knowledge. The Talmud tells us that “the pauper bestows upon the benefactor more than the benefactor bestows upon the pauper.”
The wealthy person needs something beyond money: meaning and inner satisfaction. And they aren’t up for simple sale.
Happiness comes with the meaningful SHARING of wealth. I’ve heard it from so many philanthropists: When a person uses wealth – or any other of their gifts - to actually improve others’ lives, his/her world can literally light up.
So appreciate your gifts. Share them.
And feel the glow.