Each Friday, in my sixth-grade class at Yeshiva K’tana of Waterbury, the boys have an opportunity to share Hashgacha Pratis stories. It starts slowly at the beginning of the school year, with one or two boys sharing their weekly stories. However, as the year goes on, the boys look forward to their opportunity to shine in front of the room and share their stories with the class. Besides training the boys to see Hashgacha Pratis in their lives, this gives them an opportunity to feel comfortable addressing a crowd, a skill they will hopefully use in the future.
Over the years, there have been hundreds of stories shared. For example, one boy related: “My father generally doesn’t do the shopping, but after Pesach, he went to stock up on groceries. He came home with many things, including bread. My brother took the bread and tried to toast it, but twice it burned. We couldn’t understand why. My mother came in, looked at the package, and realized that her husband had purchased the same brand as they usually get, but by mistake, took a different flavor that wasn’t kosher! They realized that Hashem had saved them from eating non-kosher.”
During Elul this year, a boy in the class, Dovi, got up and asked if he could share a story even though it wasn’t Hashgacha Pratis. I said, “Absolutely!” and Dovi went to my shtender in front of the room, ready to share his story.
Dovi began, “Four days a week, I attend the boys' Mishmar learning program at night. On Monday and Wednesday, I learn with a rebbe. On Tuesday, I learn alone, and on Thursday, I learn with my father. I love learning, but after a half-hour of hard work that I put into my learning, I find it hard to daven Maariv properly. On Monday and Tuesday this past week, I found myself in the hall talking while everyone else was davening inside the shul. On Wednesday, I was part inside the shul during Maariv and part outside. On Thursday, my father was there with me, so how could I go out to the hall? I stood next to him and davened a nice Maariv.”
Dovi then paused and told the class, “If we would really believe that our Father—Hashem—is with us when we daven, we would always want to be right next to Him at every opportunity we have to daven!”
With that, Dovi walked to his seat. I am not sure the boys in my sixth-grade class fully comprehended the depth of what Dovi shared with us, but I was stunned by the wisdom and clarity he displayed that Friday morning.
During the yemei ratzon of the Yomim Noraim, Hashem is even closer to us, standing there as a Father near His children each time we daven. Let’s take the opportunity to connect to our Father as only a child could.
Rabbi Moshe Dov Heber is a Middle School Rebbi in Yeshiva K’tana of Waterbury, the Director of the Mishmar Evening Program in Waterbury and Division Head in Camp Romimu. He is a frequent contributor to various publications on areas related to education as well as speaks publicly on various topics. To share a story or comment on an article, Rabbi Heber can be reached via email at mdheber@ykwaterbury.org.