“RABBI’S MUSINGS (&
AMUSINGS)”
Erev Shabbos Kodesh Parshas Korach
Pirkei Avos – Perek 3 ---
22 Sivan 5774/June 20, 2014
During my years in yeshiva Shaarei Torah a mentally unstable fellow named
Moshe would at times circulate the yeshiva. At times he even sat in on a
high-level gemara shiur and would offer his (nonsensical) comments. He was a
pleasant person so no one was too bothered by him.
On one occasion a group of high school boys were making a video about
earthquakes, part of a project for their earth science class. They interviewed
Moshe and asked him where he thought the best place to be is in case of an
earthquake. He thought for a second and replied, “You really want to know?
Yerushalayim!”
What about during a power outage? What's the last place you'd like to be in
if the electricity goes out? I would venture to think a moving elevator.
Getting stuck in a cramped dark confined room with no idea of what's happening
outside can undoubtedly be panic provoking.
A few months ago in yeshiva Bais Hachinuch that is exactly what happened.
One afternoon a powerful fast-moving crossed our area and knocked out the
electricity. At first no one realized that someone was stuck in the elevator.
But shortly after two burly equipped firemen hastily entered the building, pick
axes in hand and headed towards the sealed elevator.
A crowd of excited students gathered in the dark hall and listened as one
of the firemen rapped on the door and called out. Pressing his ear to the door,
the fireman was able to hear a woman respond that she was trapped in the
elevator. She had been heading up to the offices on the top floor when the
power went out. The elevator was stuck halfway between the floor beneath the
yeshiva and the floor that the yeshiva occupied.
It took the firemen a few minutes but they soon pried the doors open and
helped pull the woman out of the elevator to the excited applause of the young
spectators who were then shoed back into their classrooms.
This week I had the pleasure of attending the Chumash seudah of our son
Avi, who is b’h now concluding Pre-1A. It was a beautiful event with his
numerous classmates seated alongside him on stage. It was stirring to see how
each of the children sang on cue, bellowing passionately the words of the
chumash and the songs they were taught about the sweetness of Torah.
There was not a child up there who doesn’t want to ascend the rungs of
Torah greatness and be a source of nachas for his parents and teachers. But
unfortunately in every class there are a few students whose growth ‘gets stuck’.
They feel shut out and stuck in place even as they watch classmates continue to
rise. There are many labels used to explain those individual power outages,
ranging from auditory processing, ADHD, dyspraxia, dyslexia, low IQ, lack of motivation,
social/emotional/familial issues, etc. But the common denominator is that those
stuck children often wordlessly cry out wordlessly and can’t be heard.
Then there are those special educators who can hear those cries and have
the unique priceless gift to be able to reach every student. They are the ones
who can pry open those sealed doors and manually hoist their students toward
feeling a sense of accomplishment.
There isn’t an educator in any of our schools who isn’t a hero. Teaching is
the most valuable and integral profession we have, despite the fact that teachers
are often underpaid and underappreciated. But those educators who can reach students
deemed ‘unreachable’ are our superheroes.
As the school-year comes to a close let’s take a moment to salute the
greatest heroes we have, the ones with whom we have entrusted the education of
our greatest treasures!
Shabbat Shalom &
Good Shabbos,
R’ Dani and Chani
Staum
720 Union Road • New Hempstead , NY 10977