Al Shem Sofo

ז' בשבט תשס"ח
Imbolgen 7

The Kotzker Rebbe teaches regarding judgment al shem sofo of the ben sorer u'moreh (a rebellious child who is teaching):

The expression al shem sofo, translated literally, means "according to his end." While we interpret this as reference to what he will do later on in life, it may have another meaning. Al shem sofo, "according to his end," refers to the end of his title: ben sorer u'moreh. The word moreh, which we have translated as rebellious, can also be understood to mean "and he will teach." A moreh is a teacher. Our fear is that this rebellious child will not just simply isolate his iniquity; he will share it with others, teaching them to be rebellious.

You see, the putative problem is that the rebellious child dares to teach against the flow of deeply entrenched communal conformity. Can we imagine the ire directed toward a child with such moxie?

Against the communal opinion which judges a rebellious child to necessarily be teaching iniquity comes the final judgement that such a "rebellious teacher" will be Divinely dealt with al shem sofo, that is, according to his/her end.

The word "his end" (sofo) derives from the Hebrew shoresh סוף. One meaning associated with this shoresh is the concept of "growth at water's edge" [Shemot 2:3]. Thus, the ordained fate of a rebellious child who dares to teach against the established way of doing things rests with what grows at water's edge.

Hmm. I just had a dream about growing messianic consciousness at water's edge. Read about it here.