Central in the success of this reverential approach to adult education, which teaches the living spirit of Judaism, is the teacher. In Judaism there is no higher distinction than that of being a teacher. This has been so throughout our history. We do not celebrate kings and heroes, we celebrate teachers — Moses and Rabbi Akiba. The teacher is the central pillar of Jewish living, past, present, and future. According to Jewish tradition, God Himself teaches.

Abraham Joshua Heschel, Moral Grandeur and Spiritual Audacity by Abraham Joshua Heschel, Susannah Heschel, editor