As I near the milestone of a decade in the classroom, it has been some time since I have had the “first time” feelings that I had experienced so many times years ago. I vividly recall the first time I was able to provide support to a talmid who was going through a hard time. Even now I fondly recall the look on another talmid’s face when he achieved a high grade on a test he worked for. The less positive memories are still etched in my mind as well. How can I ever forget the first time a parent got upset with a decision I had made in the classroom?
This collection of memories of firsts fills my mind with a healthy mixture of wonderful experiences and learning opportunities. In recent, years it has become more rare for these experiences to take place. Between my previous experiences as a school counselor and the years I have been teaching, there are not many issues that I have not heard about or had personal experience with. Teaching has not become rote or boring, but that feeling of a new teacher has dissipated somewhat and I now have a new set of experiences that drive improvement and growth.
This week I was reminded of the sweet taste that a first can have. It started when I answered the phone in the teacher’s room. It was the parent of a student who has long since graduated from our Yeshiva. He was calling to talk with his son's old Rebbeim and share his experiences from a recent visit to his son's current Yeshiva.
Hearing this parent’s voice brought me back many years to when I first met his son. This wonderful young man came into my classroom with significant academic challenges. It was unclear to me how he graduated elementary school without an “elementary” (pun intended) ability to read and write. Even though I have taught students who had trouble reading Hebrew fluently, it is rare to find a student who could not read or write. In addition to these learning challenges, this particular student seemed to have a biological clock that had him getting his primary sleep between the hours of 9:30am and 11:30am - precisely during my Gemara class! In all honesty, I do not really recall any specific ingenious interventions that I did during that year to motivate or engage this student. I do recall celebrating his many talents and his exceptionally sharp mind.
A number of years have passed since I taught that class, and although I have occasionally seen this talmid, I was not aware of his exact academic development. That is what made this phone particularly meaningful. This father was calling to share the amazing report he had just received about his son’s progress in Yeshiva. This boy is now well into his bais medrash years and has distinguished himself as a superior "learner" in his Yeshiva. His rosh yeshiva said he is the “best in class” at the Yeshiva and feels he is ready to continue his studies in an extremely exclusive Yeshiva in Yerushlaim. Although I have had talmidim who had made significant strides in their personal life and learning since leaving my classroom this dramatic change is certainly a first. I wish I could say that I knew he had this potential, but in truth, it was not clear at all how he would develop. It was clear he had significant talent, but how that later would find a way to be expressed in a meaningful way was certainly ambiguous.
This "first" brought back the excitement that other "firsts" had brought me. It is a reminder to me about the limitless potential talmidim have and a rebbe’s essential role to help the talmidim find that potential. As a Rebbe I can never “write off” a talmid regardless of the academic challenges that seem to debilitate him. It is my heartfelt prayer that this first will become one of many similar experiences in the near future.
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