LETTERS
SAY WHAT?
HAVE YOUR SAY…
Kol hakavod on your perfect
topic for your first issue as editor.
Doubtless it has given many readers much
to think and rejoice about. May I add some
points about teaching:
My late mother, Rebecca Ostrowiak, revered reading and education expert, succeeded in teaching the un-teachable, many
of those who others had predicted “would
never learn”. She based her work on the fact
that, as we are made in G-d’s image, potential is limitless, and she taught accordingly.
She expected to succeed – and she did.
When I was in Sydney a few years ago,
Rabbi Aryeh Solomon gave me an inspiring book called The Educator’s Privilege, a
compilation of works by the Lubavitcher
Rebbe. Of the many inspiring paragraphs in
it, I think the following one epitomises the
essence of teaching:
“The Torah states: ‘A man is as a tree of
the field.’ The vineyard of the L-rd of Hosts
is the House of Israel, the fruits of which
are the children, our sons and daughters.
How great then is the responsibility of
the gardener to whom the master of the
vineyard has entrusted its care. It is for this
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reason that our Sages referred to educating
a child as ‘a heavenly calling’ and how great
is the privilege bestowed by G-d upon the
individual whom He has appointed as the
guardian of His vineyard! Indeed, we see
how every improvement in the seedling, no
matter how slight, brings about substantial
beautification and improvement in the tree
that grows from it.”
Ever since “The King and I” was first aired,
I often reminded teachers, and then later,
participants in our Re-educate courses, of
the words of the song in which the governess sings to her new class: “Getting to know
you – getting to like you, hoping that you’ll
like me. Getting to know you; getting to
know all about you. Getting to like you; getting to hope you like me.” That’s it! To love
our learners, of any age,