אין תלמיד גדול מרבו העבד גדול מאדוניו׃ 24
די לתלמיד להיות כרבו ולעבד כאדוניו
"No disciple is greater than his teacher, nor is the servant greater than his master.
It is sufficient for the disciple to be like his teacher, and for the servant to be like his master."
This teaching seems to me to be very Jewish, and to prefigure the chasidut (chasidism) of the eighteenth century. But what does it mean for the student to be like his or her teacher? I remember reading in one of Martin Buber's books (Tales of the Baal Shem Tov, Tales of the Hasidim, vol 1 and 2) that that a rebbe's followers would try to be like him in all things, even to tying their shoes as he did, I was very much influenced by those books (as well as I AND THOU), and yet I do not call Martin Buber my teacher, great as he was.
No, it is something different. There must be a personal connection of some kind, and you either feel it or you don't. If you do, you are galvanized.
I do not need to be greater than my friend John, who was a Lubavitcher Chasid, or greater than Shlomo, to whom he introduced me. As for being like them, I only need to be filled with the Holy Spirit, and pass it on.
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