When the Headmaster Entered the Classroom and Told the Teacher the News, It Almost Happened Again

I heard a remarkable story about a distinguished educational personality, whom I know personally, and it's worth sharing to learn lessons and morals from it.

This is about a teacher in a Cheder, whose headmaster testified to me that in the 30 years he's been teaching Torah to his students, he has never once been late for the start of a lesson.

The importance of each moment to this teacher is well-known, and all the teachers in the Cheder recognize him as someone who doesn't belong to be late for a lesson. It's just not possible.

The Teacher Was Roused from His Spot

And then, the headmaster tells, once it happened that this teacher did not arrive at 8 o'clock for the start of classes, but was a quarter of an hour late. It was such a great wonder that when he arrived, I felt the need to ask him what happened today, or more accurately: what has changed after thirty years had passed?

The teacher's response was that at night, a break-in occurred at his home, causing him great distress, and because of it, he was delayed from getting to the lesson on time.

"I wish that Hashem will restore your loss and return the money that was stolen from you," said the headmaster.

At this moment, the teacher was roused from his spot and replied to the headmaster, "Do I need consolation for the money that was stolen? Do you think, dear headmaster, that because of money loss I would be so upset as to be late for a lesson?"

Now the headmaster didn't understand his teacher's intention. "So what caused you such great sorrow?" he wondered.

And the teacher replied. It is true that during the break-in, cash and many jewelry were also stolen from my home, but that is not what upset me. I knew that all matters of wealth are decreed on a person on Rosh Hashanah, and everything is from Heaven, and one should not grieve or cry over it.

So what did I regret? - Recently, I conducted an exam for my class students, and as you know, I invest a lot of effort in checking the answers, ensuring that the grades are very accurate; sometimes I add to the child's answers, write him notes to encourage him to continue and persist in Torah study; sometimes I attach important additions, in short: my checking is not just checking. It is a very deep inspection.

The Consolations Were Out of Place...

Last night I finished checking dozens of exams and placed the bundle in my bag, intending to hand it over to the students the next day. In this bundle lies, as mentioned, a very substantial investment and only Hashem knows the extent of my efforts in this matter.

When I woke up in the morning and saw that there had been a break-in, the first thing I wanted to check was not if the jewelry remained in their place, but what had happened to the bag with the exams. And when I saw that the bag was stolen, it almost caused my spirit to depart, and I couldn't calm down from the fact that the exams were lost.

And so I was a quarter of an hour late to the Cheder.

Now the headmaster understood the depth of his teacher's opinion and realized that his consolations regarding monetary matters were out of place... Before the teacher entered his classroom, he said - with tearful eyes - "Only Hashem knows how much effort I invested in this bundle of exams, and therefore I pray to Hashem to show me kindness, and in His great mercy cause this bag to be found."

The story isn't over yet.

The dedication of this teacher to his students is so great, that this dedication passed on to his family, and to his wife. Thus, apart from the fact that he has never been late arriving for a lesson, his wife also never called the Cheder and asked to talk to him.

As for a cellular phone that could be found in his pocket - there's no question; but even through the regular phone, his wife never called. She knew that the time he spent in the Cheder was sacred and inviolable.

The Woman Didn't Despair

And on that morning when the teacher was late for a lesson, his wife called in the middle of the lesson and informed the headmaster that she had a very urgent message for her husband, and she asked that he be approached in the middle of the lesson and given the message.

"What happened?" - the headmaster asked in alarm. "Go and tell him that I found the bag with the exams, and everything's alright," the woman asked.

What turned out? - When the devoted woman saw the immense distress that her husband felt as a result of the stolen exams, she decided to invest efforts in searching for the bag.

She came up with the idea that very likely the thieves opened the bag, and when they saw that there was no money or jewelry, they threw it in the nearest trash bin.

She went downstairs to check in the building's dumpster, and just at that moment, the municipal garbage truck emptied the contents of the bin and was preparing to move from its place.

The woman didn't despair, and signaled the driver to stop for a moment, and when he stopped - she stuck her head into the piles of garbage in the vehicle and checked... and found the longed-for bag sitting there, among the garbage...

When the headmaster entered the classroom and informed the teacher of the good news, it almost happened again...

Hashem saw the dedication of this teacher to his students, and saw too that the exams were more valuable to him than any money or gold in the world, and helped him supernaturally to find the important loss.

From the book "To Educate with Joy," by Rabbi Yitzchak Zilberstein, edited by Moshe Michael Zoren.