Sunday
morning in a kindergarten class in Beit Shemesh
It’s a regular morning in gan. Thirty
little girls daven, eat breakfast, and bentch. Then, just before
ten o’clock, their teacher, Raizy, calls for their attention; “Today, we have a
special program, she tells the girls. It’s going to be really exciting! A
special guest is coming into our class today and she’ll be here in just a few
minutes!”
Thirty little girls wait in anticipation
until finally, at the appointed hour, the door to their classroom opens to
admit their guest. Noa walks in, full of smiles, and looks around the room,
noting the brightly-colored posters, the pictures of tzaddikim, the Shabbos
tish in the corner. Looking closely, one might discern the cynical,
mocking gaze in her eyes, but nobody is looking that closely.
Raizy breathes a silent sigh of relief as she
notes that Noa is basically dressed in a tzniusdig fashion, albeit to
minimal standards that are far below those of the families of the girls in her
class. It could have been worse, she thinks to herself. And if it had
been worse? She prefers not to consider that possibility.
Noa is holding a cardboard box, and now
thirty pairs of eyes are fixed on it intently as their guest opens it to
reveal... a bunny rabbit! A real, live rabbit! How exciting! Most of the girls
are eager to gather round and take a closer look; those who shrink back are
encouraged to overcome their fears.
This is a new program planned by the
Education Ministry, designed to help children to overcome their fears of
animals. Sounds good, no? Raizy also thought so, until she heard that the
Ministry didn’t trust her to run the program. Rather, they were demanding that
only a qualified teacher introduce her class to the animal world, which meant
that someone of the Ministry’s own choosing would appear in her classroom,
every single week for a whole semester, and run the program herself.
The school was promised that the Ministry’s
representative would be dressed suitably for a Chassidishe girls’ school, and
Raizy hoped and davened. Would Noa somehow blend into their classroom,
or would she ruin the carefully cultivated, sheltered, and heimishe
atmosphere that the teachers labored so hard to create? Only time would tell...
The weeks passed, and each time Noa came
equipped with a different animal in a cardboard box. The children were loving
the program and Raizy had become more-or-less accustomed to Noa’s regular
visits. One week, however, no cardboard box accompanied Noa when she knocked at
the classroom door and walked in. Instead, she was holding one end of a leash,
and at the other end pranced a lively, frisky dog.
A few girls screamed; some shrank back in
horror; others clustered around the teacher in fright. Raizy herself had to
hide her feelings of fear and disgust as she hurried to calm her girls.
Noa smirked. “This is a most important part
of the program”, she told Raizy. “We got the children used to rabbits, chickens,
and even a frog, a dog is just another kind of animal.”
But despite Noa’s reassuring words, the dog
wasn’t playing along. Instead of sitting calmly in a corner, ready to be
petted, it started sniffing around the room and then running around wildly in
circles. It was all Raizy could do to keep the girls from fleeing the
classroom; instead, she managed to sit them down in a corner and then tried to
reason with Noa.
“Please, you can see that the girls are not
ready for this kind of... exposure. They are frightened, and I don’t think that
they’re going to get over it in just one short hour. I really hope it won’t be
a traumatic experience for them. Perhaps you could cut this week’s session
short?” She begged.
Noa’s eyes narrowed, “I am an official
representative of the Ministry of Education, you won’t tell me what to
do!” She exclaimed. “This week’s session will continue as planned.” She grabbed
the dog and put her back on a leash, before turning to the thirty white faces.
“Girls, we have to understand the feelings of
the poor little doggie”, she began to lecture...
Finally the session ended, and Noa departed
with the dog in tow. Raizy did her best to distract the girls from the events
of the previous hour, all the while dreading what the girls would tell their
parents when they got home that afternoon.
As soon as the girls had left, Raizy headed
to the Menahel’s office. Nervous, yet feeling a sense of responsibility to her
girls and their parents, she outlined the events of the morning, expecting to
be reassured that matters would be taken into hand.
The Menahel listened, a grave expression on
his face. I have to think about this, he said finally. Please do not discuss this
with anyone until I decide on a plan of action.
Next morning, a notice was passed around all
the classrooms of the kindergarten, summoning the teachers and their assistants
to a meeting later that morning. At half-past-eleven, the eight women filed into
the room and took their seats.
“I am sure you are all aware of what happened
yesterday in Miss Shwartz’s classroom”, the Menahel began. “I am here to tell
you that if I hear that anyone, and that means any one of you repeats the
events to any of the parents of the girls, that person will find herself that
very day without a job to return to.”
Stunned, the teachers returned to their
classes, but at the end of that morning, Raizy tendered her resignation. She
could not continue to work in such an atmosphere and betray her responsibility
to her young charges.
This is a true story, with only the
names of Noa and Raizy
having been changed. It is known to have happened in one school in Beit
Shemesh. Who knows where else other Noas are infiltrating our children’s
classrooms and contaminating their pure chinuch?
the Sentry
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