(RABBI MOSHE DOV HEBER / VINnews) — Each Rosh Chodesh I meet with each talmid in my sixth grade class individually to get to know them better and allow them the opportunity to talk and shmooze.
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The classic questions I will ask them is “Everything OK? Do you feel you
are learning well? Is there anything I could do to help you in learning or as
a person?” This allows for a great conversation and a way for me to gauge
the feelings of each talmid.
This Monday I held the meeting as usual. The class was set up with a
program and I was right outside meeting with each boy. Pretty
straightforward. A few boys explained why they would prefer a different
seat, but for the most part it was a pretty calm day. I had already met
twenty boys when Shaya came in.
Shaya sits down and I ask him “Everything OK?” Shaya answers “No”. I
say “What’s the matter”? He looks at me “Everything OK?! The War in
Eretz Yisroel is going on!” He said it with such sincerity that I was in shock.
This was a boy who wasn’t anxious in general, but he truly felt that it was
wrong to say that everything is OK.
As time moves on, we who live far away may not experience the same
feeling as we did when we first began davening and pouring our hearts out
to Hashem.
Next time that happens, take a look at the child swaying back and forth
saying Tehillim with a finger on the place.
He gets it… everything is not OK.
Rabbi Heber can be reached via email at [email protected]