Weekly Story: Don’t Sell Them Short

by Rabbi Sholom DovBer Avtzon

Being that the new school year has begun or in other places is beginning shortly I decided to post the following thought which I heard from an Amshinover chossid, whom I met this past Shabbos. We were discussing the warm relationship between the Amshinover and the Rebbe and Frierdiker Rebbe. He related the following anecdote.

As always your feedback is always appreciated.

The Amshinover Rebbe lived in Amshinov, while his brother Reb Shimon moved to Otwock for health reasons.

One Sunday the Rebbe Rayatz came to him (or according to another version met him on the street) and asked that he repeats to him what he said on Shabbos.

Reb Shimon replied, the Lubavitcher Rebbe says lengthy and profound Chassidus, and he wants to hear a short saying of mine?

Yes, I am interested in hearing what you said, the Rebbe replied.

Rashi (Shemos 35:27) explains that the reason why a letter is missing from the word v’hanesiim heive’oo, is because they delayed in bringing their donation for the mishkan. They said, let the Jews bring their donations and whatever they don’t bring, we will donate. The problem was that the Jews brought everything that was needed, and the nesiim had to figure out what to bring. So since their donation was not complete, so too their name is not complete.

This, said Reb Shimon, explains why a letter is missing from their name. However, it doesn’t explain why the missing letter, is the letter yud.

The explanation is, said the Amshinover, the mistake of the Nessiim was that they underestimated the essence of a Jew. They thought that no way would they bring everything necessary, so what they will be missing, we would bring. Since they didn’t see the true beauty of the Jews big heart and their essential love to Hashem, so by their name the yud (representing their opinion of another Jew) was missing.

Hearing this, the Frierdiker Rebbe said, “And you wanted/considering concealing such a shining gem/diamond from me?!

Yes, I know this isn’t on this week’s parsha, (it is from the end of Shemos), so why am I mentioning it?

As the new school year is about to begin, I want to discuss a new trend that is gaining traction. Some students have difficulty in learning how to read Rashi script. [This isn’t a new phenomenon, it was always like this.] So some schools deemphasize the importance of learning almost every Rashi on the possuk. Others have begun using chumashim that have nekudos [vowels] under the Rashi letters and you can even use a chumash that the Rashi is printed in regular letters.

While this is definitely going to make it easier for many or perhaps all of the students, my question (and opinion) is, are we short changing our students and underestimating their potential. When they become older they are going to have to learn tosofos which is also printed in Rashi letters, without any nekudos, as well as many other commentaries and seforim. And then we may have handicapped them, because we didn’t give them the opportunity to learn how to read it when they were younger.

Many years ago, in a teaching course I took, an article was passed around for us to read. A class of disruptive students was chewing out one teacher after another. Finally, after the fifth teacher in that semester quit, the principal pleaded with a retired teacher to please come out of retirement and take this class, just until the end of this year.

After some convincing, the teacher agreed and there were no more disruptions from that class, in fact, they began learning advanced math and science.

At the end of the year, the principal thanked her and asked how did you do it?

She replied, I saw next to each name a number over 130, and I figured, if that is their IQ they are obviously bored with the regular curriculum, and that is why they are acting up, so I began to challenge them. Once we began learning these advanced courses, they all were eager to learn.

The principal shook his head in disbelief and said, those numbers weren’t stating their IQ, they were noting their locker number.

A cute anecdote, but there is a lot of truth in it. If a student knows we are expecting something from him/her, they might accept the challenge, after all the teacher and school believes in me. They think I can do it! But if we lower our expectations of them, why should they put in the extra effort? The student says: The school itself says I can’t do it!

Or to phrase it slightly differently. A teacher can have a goal to teach one hundred points of knowledge during the school year. Some students are going to make it, yet other children are going to be challenged, and even if they are good students might only master eighty of them.

So the teacher can say, I will water it down and lower my expectations to the fifty basic concepts and this way almost the entire class will excel, which can motivate the weaker students, as they see that they too can excel.

But now you have limited everyone to learning only fifty points of knowledge and have deprived them of learning the other ten, twenty, or fifty points they would have learned otherwise if you would have taught more. Those extra points of knowledge would help them to continue advancing over the years.

Yes, it is a challenge, as not all students are on the same level. Personally, I used to tell some of the weaker students, You are responsible only for the first _ pesukim. So while the test could have been fifteen questions, he was responsible for only eight to ten.

Remember, children are extremely perceptive and they ALWAYS believe that they heard and understood the teachers unspoken message. So hat is the message we want them to “hear”?

This thought is also discussed by the Mitteler Rebbe in Toras Chaim on parshas Toldos and by the Rebbe the Tzemach Tzedek at the beginning of this week’s parsha, on the possuk of, If a man has two wives, one who he loves and one who there is a distance between them.

The question is that we know that whenever the possuk discusses a husband and wife it is a metaphor, alluding to the relationship of Hashem and the Jewish people. So how can the possuk say or allude to Hashem having a second nation, when He swore that we are His only nation?

They explain that indeed there is only “One Wife”, the Jewish people. So why does the possuk say there are two?

Because it is a metaphor referring to the two different time periods and situations in the relationship between Hashem and the Jewish people.

There is a time where the Love is apparent to all. When He gave us the Torah. When we had the Beis HaMikdash and everyone saw miracles on a daily basis, Hashem was shouting out His tremendous love to us, for all to see.

But then there is another time period; when the love is hidden. At that time it may seem that there is a separation between us and Hashem or even He has anger against us. This is referring to the days of exile. We were driven out of our land, and the Beia HaMikdash was destroyed. We don’t see His love or His miracles.

The possuk continues, and it will be on the day he wishes to divide his possessions and decide which child should inherit what.

But he has a dilemma, the first born is from the wife he is angry with and he wants to give the double portion to the son of the wife that he loves.

This is telling us that when Moshiach comes [may it be speedily in our days], we are going to have a discussion; who are we going to credit to his coming?

The easy answer is it is because of the great tzaddikim of yesteryears. They showed us how one should serve Hashem in this dark exile.

But the possuk states; Don’t give them the credit, it goes to the children that were born in the days of darkness.

Even though they didn’t have the wonderful experience that they parents or grandparents had, they are still fully committed. And it is because of their determination and resoluteness that Moshiach came.

So yes, our children of today are being raised in a different situation then we were, but Hashem gave them the ability to rise higher and overcome their unique challenges.

Let them know that the Torah informed us that their potential is great, perhaps even greater than us, and therefore we know that each one of our dear children will succeed.

Rabbi Avtzon is a veteran mechanech and the author of numerous books on the Rebbeim and their chassidim. He can be contacted at avtzonbooks@gmail.com