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Short Summary
Main recommendation: Teachers should recognize that their influence on students can be far larger than they realize, and should keep teaching with that responsibility in mind. Rabbi Paysach Krohn tells the story of Jeffrey Levinson, a boy from a non-observant family who became a Shomer Shabbos after admiring his fourth-grade teacher, Mrs. Reich, who did not know how much she had affected him until years later.
Key Points
- Jeffrey's parents were not observant, yet his Jewish day school teachers inspired him to daven seriously and consider keeping the mitzvos.
- Jeffrey refused to be driven to his bar mitzvah on Shabbos and arranged to stay with the shul's shamash, showing his commitment to Shabbos.
- Mrs. Reich only learned of her impact when Leah, the wife of Rabbi Frank (who taught Jeffrey), told her about it by chance at a mall.
- Hearing this news led Mrs. Reich to reconsider quitting, and she decided to keep teaching.
- The story is framed as a reminder that teachers can be a role model whether or not students ever say thank you.
Details Worth Noting
- Concrete instructions: The video gives no step-by-step method, checklist, or formula. Its only direct advice is for teachers of Torah to keep doing their work, recognizing that it is both a privilege and a great responsibility, and to remember that students may influence them as well.
- Jeffrey's extra learning happened twice a week with Rabbi Frank, sometimes in the yeshiva's beis medrash and sometimes at Rabbi Frank's home, arranged after Jeffrey's father contacted the Adelphia yeshiva principal, who connected him with Rabbi Frank.
- The shamash and his wife hosted Jeffrey for Shabbos after his parents agreed to let him stay, and his parents stayed on for the rest of Shabbos after the bar mitzvah rather than driving back.
- Mrs. Reich was going to quit because school start time moved from 9:00 to 8:30, which meant she had to get up earlier and get her children to a babysitter.
- Jeffrey later became a frum man living in Baltimore with a frum family, and was described as the valedictorian at his graduation.
Bottom Line
A teacher's example can shape a student's whole life in ways the teacher may never see, so sustained dedication to teaching matters even when the results are invisible.
