ערכים - יהדות וסמינרים
Arachim Branches Worldwide Arachim Branches Worldwide
About Us Your Questions Events Pictures Video and Audio Home Articles Donate
Home Articles Weekly Parasha Bamidbar Polishing Diamonds
Articles on subject
Zimri ben Salu and The Problem With Tefilin ...
Arachim
Misunderstood Hero
Arachim
Violence and the Danger Zone
Arachim
Fighting by the Light of the Moon
.
More in Common
Arachim
More Articles
Polishing Diamonds
.
Every child is a precious diamond, and no diamond can be cut exactly the same.

Polishing Diamonds

By Braha Bender

 

No human being is alike. Your personality is a million times more unique than your fingerprint. Every child is a precious diamond, and no diamond can be cut exactly the same.

For teachers and parents, this fact isn’t just something to bear in mind. It is the bottom line of what teaching and parenting are all about.

Parashas Pinchas sees Moshe (Moses), the great leader of the Jewish People, preparing to conclude his life. As the Almighty lets Moshe know that his time is coming, Moshe’s very first words are, “May Hashem, God of the spirits of all flesh, appoint a man over the assembly…and let the assembly of Hashem not be like sheep that have no shepherd.” (Numbers-Bamidbar 27:16-17)

If someone else was personally informed by God that he was about to die, would he respond that way? Moshe’s profound love for his nation shines through like a thunderous wave of light. Even in the face of his own death, the wellbeing of his people was his first and foremost concern.

“Hashem said to Moshe, ‘Take to yourself Yehoshua ben Nun (Joshua), a man in whom there is spirit, and lean your hand upon him.’” (ibid 18) Rashi explains, “For he will be able to guide corresponding to the spirit of each individual one”.

This was the divine educational priority. Not being a good disciplinarian. Not being a creative thinker. Not having a big heart. Not even extraordinary intelligence. These skills and more only become useful once the bottom line is secured: guiding children and students in correspondence with each of their unique, individual spirits.

For example, a big heart is wonderful, but you can’t love each child the same way. That’s not love. That’s a factory. You can’t discipline each child the same way. You can’t be the same parent to each child because each child needs you to be a different parent. Each of your individual children need you to be their parent, the one you were uniquely created to be. As unique as the child or student is, so must your relationship with them as an educator be unique.

This isn’t easy. It’s much easier to grab a heap of diamonds and put them through a cookie-cutter machine where every gem produced is a uniform size and shape. But anyone could tell you that this is an almost horrifying waste of resources. In today’s diamond industry, the process of planning how to cut each  rough stone includes scanning them with computerized devices to achieve a three dimensional view of all aspects of the diamond. This digital image is analyzed for a long list of factors, all of which influence planning for how the stone will be processed, cut, and finally polished to a brilliant finish.

Can you imagine how our children would turn out if schools and other institutions put half as much effort into analyzing them? It’s easy to blame schools, but do we as parents live up to these standards? We cut our diamonds – shape our children and students – with every word we say and every move we make.

Every human being is infinitely more unique, more rare, and more precious than any diamond. Since time immemorial, the Jewish priority has been to love and guide our children and students for who they are, each nothing less than an entirely unique expression of God.


No comments were received this moment
print
send to a Friend
add comment
Hot Topics - articles
Sabbath
Family Relationships
Tefillin
Child Education
Holidays
Basics of Judaism
Life and After Life
Wit & Wisdom for Life
Jewish Perspectives
Success Stories
Torah Giants
Weekly Parasha
The Daily Tip
Mysticism and Kaballa
Science and Judaism
Prayer
Developing Your Personality
Reasons Behind the Mitzvos
Between Israel and the Nations
Faith and Trust
Outlook and Belief
Arachim Activities
Jewish current events
Similar lectures
Parashat Pinchus
Yaakov Svei
About Us |  Contact |  Your Questions |  Events |  Pictures |  Video and Audio |  Home |  Articles |  Donate |  Main Menu:  
Jewish current events |  General Questions |  Story for Shabbos |  ׳׳§׳˜׳•׳׳œ׳™׳” ׳™׳”׳•׳“׳™׳× |  Arachim Activities |  Outlook and Belief |  Sabbath and Holidays |  Faith and Trust |  Between Israel and the Nations |  Reasons Behind the Mitzvos |  Developing Your Personality |  Prayer |  Science and Judaism |  Mysticism and Kaballa |  The Daily Tip |  Weekly Parasha |  Torah Giants |  Success Stories |  Jewish Perspectives |  Wit & Wisdom for Life |  Life and After Life |  Basics of Judaism |  Holidays |  Child Education |  Tefillin |  Family Relationships |  Sabbath |  Pirkei Avot |  Subjects:  
RSS |  More: