The following article by Rav Mordechai Kamenetzky, Rosh Yeshiva of the Yeshiva of South Shore, is reprinted by permission.

I received this article from my son, Yehuda Boruch, who is currently a Rebbe in Epstein Hebrew Academy, a Jewish Day School in St. Louis.  It was written by Glennon Menton.  Though I am not proficient in her other writings, the message of this piece, particular of the teacher she referenced, moved me.  

It is reminiscent of a story I once read about Rav Aryeh Levin zt"l.

I thought I'd share it with you

A few weeks ago, I went into Chase's class for tutoring.

I'd emailed Chase's teacher one evening and said, "Chase keeps telling me that this stuff you're sending home is math - but I'm not sure I believe him. Help, please." She emailed right back and said, "No problem! I can tutor Chase after school anytime." And I said, "No, not him. Me. He gets it. Help me." And that's how I ended up standing at a chalkboard in an empty fifth grade classroom staring at rows of shapes that Chase's teacher kept referring to as "numbers."

I stood a little shakily at the chalkboard while Chase's teacher sat behind me, perched on her desk, using a soothing voice to try to help me understand the "new way we teach long division."  Luckily for me, I didn't have to unlearn much because I never really understood the "old way we taught long division." It took me a solid hour to complete one problem, but l could tell that Chase's teacher liked me anyway. She used to be a NASA scientist (true story) so obviously we have a whole lot in common.

Afterwards, we sat for a few minutes and talked about teaching children and what a sacred trust and responsibility it is. We agreed that subjects like math and reading are the least important things that are learned in a classroom. We talked about shaping little hearts to become contributors to a larger community - and we discussed our mutual dream that those communities might be made up of individuals who are Kind and Brave above all.

And then she told me this.

Every Friday afternoon Chase's teacher asks her students to take out a piece of paper and write down the names of four children with whom they'd like to sit the following week. The children know that these requests may or may not be honored. She also asks the students to nominate one student whom they believe has been an exceptional classroom citizen that week. All ballots are privately submitted to her.

And every single Friday afternoon, after the students go home, Chase's teacher takes out those slips of paper, places them in front of her and studies them. She looks for patterns.

Who is not getting requested by anyone else?

Who doesn't even know who to request?

Who never gets noticed enough to be nominated?

Who had a million friends last week and none this week?

You see, Chase's teacher is not looking for a new seating chart or "exceptional citizens." Chase's teacher is looking for lonely children. She's looking for children who are struggling to connect with other children. She's identifying the little ones who are falling through the cracks of the class's social life. She is discovering whose gifts are going unnoticed by their peers. And she's pinning down- right away- who's being bullied and who is doing the bullying.

As a teacher, parent, and lover of all children - I think that this is the most brilliant Love Ninja strategy I have ever encountered. It's like taking an X-ray of a classroom to see beneath the surface of things and into the hearts of students. It is like mining for gold - the gold being those little ones who need a little help - who need adults to step in and TEACH them how to make friends, how to ask others to play, how to join a group, or how to share their gifts with others. And it's a bully deterrent because every teacher knows that bullying usually happens outside of her eyeshot -  and that often kids being bullied are too intimidated to share. But as she said - the truth comes out on those safe, private, little sheets of paper.

As Chase's teacher explained this simple, ingenious idea - I stared at her with my mouth hanging open. "How long have you been using this system?" I said.

Ever since Columbine, she said.  Every single Friday afternoon since Columbine.

Good L-rd.

This brilliant woman watched Columbine knowing that ALL VIOLENCE BEGINS WITH DISCONNECTION. All outward violence begins as inner loneliness. She watched that tragedy KNOWING that children who aren't being noticed will eventually resort to being noticed by any means necessary.

And so she decided to start fighting violence early and often, and with the world within her reach. What Chase's teacher is doing when she sits in her empty classroom studying those lists written with shaky 11 year old hands  - is SAVING LIVES. I am convinced of it. She is saving lives.

And what this former NASA scientist and mathematician has learned while using this system is something she really already knew: that everything - even love, even belonging - has a pattern to it. And she finds those patterns through those lists - she breaks the codes of disconnection. And then she gets lonely kids the help they need. It's math to her. It's MATH.

All is love- even math.  Amazing.  Chase's teacher retires this year -  after decades of saving lives. What a way to spend a life: looking for patterns of love and loneliness. Stepping in, every single day-  and altering the trajectory of our world.

 TEACH ON, WARRIORS. You are the first responders, the front line, the disconnection detectives, and the best and ONLY hope we've got for a better world. What you do in those classrooms when no one is watching-  it's our best hope.

Teachers- you've got a million parents behind you whispering together: "We don't care about the standardized tests. We only care that you teach our children to be Brave and Kind. And we thank you. We thank you for saving lives."

Rabbi Aryeh Levin was once standing outside his yeshiva in Jerusalem while the children were on a 15 minute recess break. His son, Chaim, a teacher in the yeshiva, was standing and observing, when suddenly his father turned to him. "What do you see my son?" asked Rav Aryeh. "Why," he answered, "children playing!"

"Tell me about them," said Reb Aryeh. "Well," answered Reb Chaim, "Dovid is standing near the door of the school, with his hands in his pockets, he probably is no athlete. Moishie is playing wildly, he probably is undisciplined. Yankel is analyzing how the clouds are drifting. I guess he was not counted in the game. But all in all they are just a bunch of children playing." Reb Aryeh turned to him and exclaimed, "No, my son. You don't know how to watch the children.

"Dovid is near the door with his hands in his pockets because he has no sweater. His parents can't afford winter clothes for him. Moishie is wild because his Rebbe scolded him and he is frustrated. And Yankel is moping because his mother is ill and he bears the responsibility to help with the entire household.

"In order to be a Rebbe you must know each boy's needs and make sure to give him the proper attention to fulfill those needs."

Rabbi Yitzchak Shmuel Ackerman is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor with specialties in marriage, relationships, and parenting.  He works with parents and educators, and conducts parenting seminars for shuls and organizations. He can be reached at 718-344-6575.