Teaching Halachah Teaching halachah , whether it’s at the Shabbat table with one’s family, a teacher in the classroom, or a Rabbi with his congregants, is generally quite challenging. Many people enjoy studying Humash, Mussar and Aggadah (stories and teachings in the Midrash), but few people become excited over the story of Halachah . Rabbenu Yosef Haim of Baghdad (1835-1909), more commonly known as the Ben Ish Hai, the name of his most famous and most popular work, tells us how he sought to overcome this problem. The work Ben Ish Hai is a compendium of weekly lectures which Rabbenu Yosef Haim delivered each week over the course of two years in his synagogue in Baghdad. He delivered weekly lectures for much more than just two years – lectures which went on for two hours and which were attended by many hundreds of men, women and children – but he chose the lectures of a certain two-year period for publication in this work. The work Ben Ish Hai is unique in that it consists of halachic material, each section of which is introduced with a discussion of Aggadah related to that week’s parashah. Ingeniously, the Ben Ish Hai blends the halachic discussion into the section of Aggadah , finding a point of connection between the parashah and a practically relevant area of Halachah . In his introduction to this work, the Ben Ish Hai explains why he followed this system. He cites the Gemara’s comment in Masechet Sanhedrin (38) that when Rabbi Meir lectured, he would spend one-third of the lecture discussing Halachah , another third talking about topics in Aggadah , and the other third telling משלים (stories). The reason, the Ben Ish Hai explains, is because בהלכות בלבד אין לב המון העם נמשך אחריהם – laymen are not generally drawn to words of Halachah . They generally find Aggadah and stories more interesting, and are less likely to pay close attention to la halachic discourses. Therefore, Rabbi Meir would incorporate Aggadah and stories into his lectures, thereby keeping the people’s interest and attention so that they would learn and absorb the halachot he taught. The Ben Ish Hai proceeds to cite the story told in Masechet Sotah (40) of two Sages, Rabbi Abahu and Rabbi Hiyya bar Abba, who went to a certain place and delivered lectures. Rabbi Hiyya spoke about halachic matters, and he drew a much smaller crowd than Rabb Abahu, who lectured on Aggadah . Rabbi Hiyya felt dismayed over the low turnout to his lecture, and Rabbi Abahu consoled him by drawing a comparison to two merchants who came to a city, one peddling diamonds and the other cheap trinkets. The vast majority of the townspeople could not afford diamonds, and thus they naturally flocked to the second merchant. Similarly, masses will flock to hear a lecture on Aggadah , and only a few scholarly individuals will go hear complex halachic discourses. Rabbi Hiyya was selling “diamonds,” so-to-speak, teaching high-level, complex material, and so naturally, only those who could “afford” and understand such advanced material attended his lecture. Therefore, the Ben Ish Hai writes, a lecturer who wishes to teach Halachah to the masses must do so by incorporating halachic material in his talks on Mussar and Aggadah , and only in this way will he draw the people’s interest. Rather than teaching Halachah on its own, the Rabbi should try blending Halachah with lighter material so he can keep the audience’s attention. Every parent is a teacher. The Torah explicitly commands, ושננתם לבניך – that we must teach our children Torah. In order to fulfill this obligation effectively, we are well-advised to follow the Ben Ish Hai’s pedagogical approach. Pulling out a halachic text and reading it at the Shabbat table, even for just several minutes, is not likely to keep most children’s attention or arouse their enthusiasm. We need to try, to whatever extent possible, to incorporate halachic instruction within a context that will draw the children’s interest, such as through intriguing stories. At the Pesach seder , for example, Halachah requires parents to do certain unusual things כדי שישאלו התינוקות – in order to pique the children’s interest so they ask questions and get involved. Every Shabbat, too, parents should try to use their imagination and creativity to find a way to teach Halachah in a way that arouses interest. Just as medicine sometimes needs a sugar coating for children to be willing to take it, somewhat similarly, dry, complex halachic material needs to be “sugarcoated” with light, interesting subject matter in order for children to “ingest” it. The more we are able to teach Halachah in a fun and enjoyable way, the more successful we will be in conveying the material and leading our children towards a lifetime of halachic observance.