The recess bell rang and the fifth graders headed out to the yard.
"Hannah," Mrs. Rosen called out softly. "Please come to my desk for a moment. I would like to speak to you."
Hannah turned around and walked towards her teacher. "Leah," she said to her friend, "please make sure I get picked to play on one of the teams. I'll be out to play as soon as I finish talking to Mrs. Rosen." Then she added, "And please make sure that Nadia is also picked."
Mrs. Rosen waited until all the girls had left the classroom. "Hannah, I would like to compliment you on your tremendous efforts to help Nadia. You have shown a lot of love for your fellow. Things are very different here than in Russia, and you have been helping her feel at home in this new country."
Hannah smiled bashfully. She really had tried very hard, and was happy to be praised. She had given up some other activities to help Nadia with the homework, and she went out of her way to invite her for Shabbat.
"While I really appreciate what you have been doing, I would like to teach you something about helping others." Mrs. Rosen continued.
Hannah looked at her teacher questioningly. "What do you mean, Mrs. Rosen? I was really trying to do my best. I help her in every way that I can. Last week, I even let Nadia copy my answers to the Novi questions."
Mrs. Rosen stroked Hannah's head gently. "Of course, you're trying your best. We can learn a lesson about this from this week's Torah portion."
Hannah didn't understand. "What does the Torah portion have to do with helping Nadia?" she wondered.
"Well," Mrs. Rosen explained, "The Torah begins with the command to light the menorah, the candelabra. But the Torah does not use the word 'light.' Instead, it uses the Hebrew word which means 'When you raise up.' Our sages tell us that this teaches that we must keep on lighting the wick until the fire rises up on its own."
"I think I understand what they are saying," replied Hannah. "Sometimes when I light my Shabbat candle, the wick doesn't light right away. I have to keep touching the wick with the match until it burns nicely on its own."
"Exactly!" exclaimed Mrs. Rosen. "From this we can learn that when we try to help others, we should do our best to guide them so they can do things on their own -- even if it takes extra effort and time."
Hannah nodded. "I understand, Mrs. Rosen. If I really want to help Nadia, I shouldn't let her copy my answers. I should be patient and explain the questions to her until she understands, so that she can answer them herself."
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