In the Torah there is a command to obey and respect one's parents. And in the Shema we find the specific command of learning and teaching Torah to be from father to son. Teachers of Torah get no respect in Torah.
When a doubt arises in a specific law there is a command to go to the Sanhedrin to decide how to apply the law. That is; the court of three; and if they do not know, then the local court of 23; and if they do not know, then the supreme court of 71. [That is the authority of parents is basically what they say you must unless it against something else the Torah says. The authority of the Sanhedrin is only in specific cases that come to court because how to apply the law is in doubt.]
Teachers of Torah have a few things going against them. (1) The prohibition of taking a salary of money in order to teach Torah. (2) The prohibition of taking a salary of money to learn Torah.
(3) There is no semicha [ordination] ever since the middle of the Talmudic period. (4) Willful lying about all three of the above mentioned items.
But if you look at the general picture of religious abuse it seems to me that the whole problem if really just part of a larger problem; the fact that the Sitra Achra [Dark Side] uses religious teachers to destroy people's moral values (and sense of reason).
Thus the best idea is to learn Torah at home, along with the few other subjects recommended by the Rambam and the Gra, "the seven wisdoms," Physics and Metaphysics. [I mean the Gra said to learn the seven wisdoms and the Rambam wrote that one should learn Physics and Metaphysics.]
When a doubt arises in a specific law there is a command to go to the Sanhedrin to decide how to apply the law. That is; the court of three; and if they do not know, then the local court of 23; and if they do not know, then the supreme court of 71. [That is the authority of parents is basically what they say you must unless it against something else the Torah says. The authority of the Sanhedrin is only in specific cases that come to court because how to apply the law is in doubt.]
Teachers of Torah have a few things going against them. (1) The prohibition of taking a salary of money in order to teach Torah. (2) The prohibition of taking a salary of money to learn Torah.
(3) There is no semicha [ordination] ever since the middle of the Talmudic period. (4) Willful lying about all three of the above mentioned items.
But if you look at the general picture of religious abuse it seems to me that the whole problem if really just part of a larger problem; the fact that the Sitra Achra [Dark Side] uses religious teachers to destroy people's moral values (and sense of reason).
Thus the best idea is to learn Torah at home, along with the few other subjects recommended by the Rambam and the Gra, "the seven wisdoms," Physics and Metaphysics. [I mean the Gra said to learn the seven wisdoms and the Rambam wrote that one should learn Physics and Metaphysics.]
