At the beginning of the parashah, the Torah commands the Kohanim not to defile themselves with the ritual impurity of a corpse. The command itself is stated repeatedly: "Tell the Kohanim, the sons of Aaron, and tell them." The repetition, as Rashi (France, 1040–1105 CE) comments, "serves as a warning to adults to educate the younger ones." This is not the only time the Torah commands adults to educate the younger ones in a mitzvah. Our Talmudic sages say that this type of warning appears in three places: 1) the prohibition against eating insects, 2) the prohibition against eating or drinking blood, and 3) the prohibition against defiling oneself for a Kohen.
It is clear that the responsibility for educating children rests with the adults. Moreover, the Torah itself states that a parent must educate their children or provide the means by which children are educated (teachers, schools, etc.). Given this general mitzvah of education, why did the Torah find it necessary to emphasize it in these three specific instances? The reason is that in these three situations, an educator could be too lenient with their teaching, as we shall see.
The characteristic of the prohibition against eating insects is that they are unpleasant. The characteristic of the prohibition against eating blood is that the Jewish people used to consume it, and the characteristic of the prohibition against defiling oneself by touching a corpse is that it is an irrational mitzvah.
From this we learn three fundamental rules in education:
1) When an educator finds themselves having to teach an audience of extremely low spiritual level, in a bleak situation, they might think they have no chance of success. That is why the Torah tells us that even a person who eats insects, which symbolizes their low spiritual level, to the point that they don't even behave in a human way, can be educated and "straightened out.".
2) Some say that education only works if the student hasn't become accustomed to the "wrong path," but if their wrongdoing has become second nature, it's a waste of time and effort to try to teach them the "right path." That's why the Torah says that even in the case of blood consumption, something the Jewish people were accustomed to doing, the obligation to educate remains, and that through proper education, even those things a person is already used to can be improved.
3) Some say that education applies only to concepts that can be rationally explained, but when it comes to matters of faith, one cannot be educated. If a person declares themselves not to be a believer, there is nothing to be done. That is why the Torah emphasizes, precisely in a matter like the impurity of corpses—an irrational mitzvah—the obligation to educate, to teach us that even concepts dependent on faith can be taught, since, at their core, every Jew is a believer, and education only helps them to understand and understand this. reveal the hidden faith in her heart.
When the Torah commands us to do something, it doesn't just mean the task is achievable, but that the Torah gives us the strength to carry out the mission. God does not demand things of human beings that they cannot do.
Adapted from Shulchan Shabbat.