The Passover seder admonishes us to teach four kinds of children: the wise child, the wicked child, the simple child and the one unable to ask. This is a foundational Jewish text on the importance of teaching all children — no matter their aptitude or attitude — about the redemption from Egypt.
Astonishingly, on today’s daf, the Gemara is not nearly as broad-minded about teaching the masses. Indeed, it asserts some students simply may not be worth educating.
The discussion flows from Proverbs 25:20, which reads: “As one that takes off a garment in cold weather, and as vinegar upon washing soda, so is he that sings songs to an evil heart.”
Abaye said to Rav Dimi: And with regard to what matter is the plain meaning of the verse written?Rav Dimi said to him: It is referring to one who teaches an unworthy student.
Rav Dimi interprets “singing songs” as studying Torah. One who does so with an “evil heart” has no intention of applying what they have learned to their lives — i.e., no intention of following halakhah.
According to the 16th-century Polish Rabbi Shmuel Eidels, known as the Maharsha, just as taking off your coat on a cold day will be detrimental (yes, your mother was right), and just as vinegar poured on washing soda ruins it, it’s a waste to teach Torah to a student who doesn’t follow the halakhah they’ve learned. Teaching such a student is not just a waste of time and energy, it is perhaps dangerous:
As Rav Yehuda said that Rav said: Anyone who teaches Torah to an unworthy student falls into Gehenna, as it is stated: “All darkness is laid up for his treasures; a fire not blown by man shall consume him; it shall go ill with him that remains in his tent” (Job 20:26), and “him that remains” means nothing other than a Torah scholar, as it is stated: “And among the remnant those whom the Lord shall call” (Joel 3:5).
A rabbi who teaches Torah to an unworthy student isn’t just wasting time, they’re going straight to hell! Similarly:
Rabbi Zeira says that Rav says: Anyone who teaches Torah to an unworthy student is considered like one who throws a stone to the god Mercury, as it is stated: “As a small stone in a heap of stones, so is he that gives honor to a fool” (Proverbs 26:8), and it is written: “Luxury is not seemly for a fool” (Proverbs 19:10).
As if going to hell were not enough, now Rabbi Zeira in the name of Rav says that such a person is tantamount to an idol worshiper.
For a group of rabbis whose primary purpose is the transmission of Torah, this all seems not just harsh, but unnecessarily hyperbolic. Throughout the Talmud, we’ve seen the rabbis encounter skeptical and even rebellious students and teach them anyway. How can a teacher know for sure what’s in a student’s heart? How can they be certain their efforts will bear only evil fruit?
This question bothered the 18th-century Italian kabbalist and philosopher, Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzato, known as the Ramchal. In Derech Hashem, The Way of God, he writes: “If the evildoers would not abandon Torah study, in the end they would return to the good … for the words of the Torah are already sanctified on their own, such that from continual occupation with them there will eventually be some arousal and the semblance of the tiniest emanation to the one who is occupied with them.” Unlike Rav, the Ramchal is optimistic about the influence of Torah study. He believes that even for students who are inclined toward evil, it can have a positive effect.
In other words, those students are not evil; they’re just not ready. As a long-time teacher, that’s a sentiment to which I can relate.
Read all of Chullin 133 on Sefaria.
This piece originally appeared in a My Jewish Learning Daf Yomi email newsletter sent on September 10, 2026. If you are interested in receiving the newsletter, sign up here.
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