Parashas Emor opens with אמור אל הכוהנים… ואמרת אליהם. 'Speak to the Cohanim, the sons of Aaron, and say to them' Rashi notes that the repetition אמור ואמרת 'speak and say' can be interpreted as להזהיר גדולים על הקטנים to indicate that adults are responsible to teach the minors. The Cohanim are expected to make sure that their children continue to observe the responsibilities of the Cohanim The word אמור is used in the verse and not the word דבר because אמור implies a soft tone while the word דבר is an intensive form indicating speaking sternly. The Cohen is instructed to teach with love and softly as indicated by the word Emor and not to teach by being stern and tough. We are all like Cohanim teachers to our children and have the duty to transfer our tradition to them. To influence our children, when we speak to them we should speak to them softly, even if we have to tell them the same thing more than once, the most effective way to reach them is with a soft tone.
The Lubavitcher Rebbe noted that the word להזהיר comes from the root Zohar – to shine because if we show our students the proper path and do it effectively, we can get them to shine.
שחמט דיגיטל