“Reuven was a ball of fire in class today,” explained the history teacher at the weekly teachers’ meeting. “He just couldn’t sit still.” “At least he wasn’t chutzpadick to you,” said the math teacher. “When I told him to write an assignment on the board he told me that he had better things to do.”…
Parents’ number one love is their children. Their concern for them is so overwhelming that it overrides all other interests or needs. At the slightest sign of intended harm, parents will do everything to protect their children. The Midrash Shemos Rabbah 1:1, as it introduces parshas Shemos, brings the posuk, "חושך שבטו שונא בנו ואוהבו…
Parshas Vaeira begins with Hashem revealing Himself to Moshe in a way which was hidden from the Avos. Rashi explains, that at this time Hashem was ready to fulfill His promises to redeem Am Yisroel from Egypt, while they remained only promises at the time of the Avos. Yet, we see that after Moshe finished…
“It's a sight I’ll never forget! A tremendous earthquake exploded in front of our eyes. Wild fire, thick, black smoke and flying boulders replaced the blue skies and soft breezes this tropical island is renowned for,” remarked the tour guide, as he recalled for us the eventful day of exactly one year ago. “The news…
In Parshas Mikeitz (41:56) we are told that a great famine fell upon the world. Yaakov saw that there was still food in Mitzrayim (42:1) and sent there all his sons, excluding Binyamin, to bring back food to Yaakov and his family in Eretz Yisroel. When the brothers reached Mitzrayim, they met Yosef. We will…
The success of a teacher is dependent on the way he looks at his job. Either he sees himself as a supplier of information and as a class warden, or as a spiritual stage director, who composes and directs the creation and expansion of the neshamos (souls) of his students. Yes, he “creates” them, as…
"אלה הדברים אשר דבר"-The posuk could have said אשר אמר or אשר הגיד, with אמר representing a softer language and הגיד a harsher one. We learn that Moshe gave reproof according to the objective severity of each transgression. Not too soft and not too hard. An over-exaggerated reaction to a transgression or the opposite, will…
"Rules are made to be broken", says an old adage. In the context of child education, what does this saying mean? One of the fundamental responsibilities of a teacher and parent is to make rules, give guidelines and offer clear borders to children. This, in order to help each child use his abilities and characteristics…
"I know my son", said a defensive father, trying to explain to the principal his son’s version of a rumble between him and an older boy. "If there’s one thing he doesn’t do, it’s lie!" After thoroughly checking out the incident, the principal saw that the younger child’s version was not fully true. There were…
To be a successful mechanech (teacher) two ingredients are essential: patience and support. Without patience, a student’s progress will never be able to match the tolerance level of his teacher; without support, whether psychological, emotional, academic, or other, the student will feel he either cannot succeed or that his success has limited or no value….