One of the things I love about the Beit Midrash of Teaneck (BMT) is the plethora of scholars who grace us with their presence. Some deliver on-going classes, others just a lecture or two (or four). Yet attendees are grateful to, and benefit from, all who share their knowledge and erudition with us.

But I have my favorites. One is Rabbi Nathaniel (Nati) Helfgot, a local congregational rabbi and preeminent thinker, writer, and educator, especially on Bible topics. Indeed, I’m careful not to schedule doctors’ appointments when he gives BMT’s Parshat HaShavuah (weekly Torah portion) class. (In this column’s first draft, I included a list of other BMT favorites. An ounce of discretion, however, left that on the cutting room floor.) Recently, R. Helfgot gave an illuminating presentation on the Book of Bamidbar (Numbers), and an interaction we had during that class inspired this column.

After analyzing Bamidbar’s overall structure, R. Helfgot raised a question about that analysis. As my fellow classmates know, I’m a firm believer in classroom participation (some probably think a bit too heavy on participation), and I quickly proffered an answer. Smiling, R. Helfgot noted that I jumped the gun, and then discussed an answer from the Rav, Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, that was quite similar to mine (or, really, vice versa).

That baruch shekivanti moment with respect to a Torah idea the Rav had previously given made my day, indeed week. (Baruch shekivanti – blessed [is the One] who has directed me [to a previously articulated opinion] – is a phrase many use when they discover they independently arrived at a thought that someone greater than they had expressed earlier.) But beyond the cute self-congratulation, what I found especially interesting and moving was that R. Helfgot also noted that he didn’t learn this answer from one of the Rav’s students or read it in........

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