The Torah describes the people whom Avraham Avinu brought close to Hashem as the nefashos asher asu beCharan, the souls that Avraham made in Charan. The Torah is teaching us an incredible lesson here. When we inspire people, whether they are less or more frum than we are, whether they are kids in school or in shul or anywhere we come in contact with others, we are creating new neshamos (souls). What an amazing gift this is, and what a wonderful opportunity we have in this world to be like Hashem.
Now that the chagim are over and everyone is back in school, I had to remind myself of the importance of developing souls in our children and how teachers, rebbeim, principals, and roshei yeshivah need to be clear when they walk into school that they are not coming into the classroom or the beit midrash just to teach subjects or to practice their speaking skills. They are there to inspire and build souls. Nothing less. The above is based on an amazing article that I saw, which quoted Rav Aharon Leib Shteinman z”l, who, not surprisingly, is having an everlasting effect on the world even after his leaving for the Next World. He was speaking to teachers and asked them to pay acute attention to two things. He told them that they must remember that they are teaching neshamos, not subjects, and that they must never expel anyone from school.
I heard an interesting story of a rav who was looking for a ride home from a simcha. He was offered a ride, and when he got into the passenger seat, he noticed a steering wheel in front of him. He looked to his left and saw that the driver, of course, had one, too. He was somewhat perplexed, and he asked the driver why there were two wheels. The driver explained that he had a hyperactive child, and whenever he would drive him somewhere, he would jump on the steering wheel. He figured out a way to provide his son with the ability to ‘drive’ by adding a wheel to the passenger side. We can learn two lessons from this story: We all think that we are ‘driving’ our lives and making things happen, especially when it comes to business. We forget that Hashem is really the driver. Moreover, this story teaches us how, instead of squashing a child’s desire to do something, the man figured out a way for him to put his need into practice.
We must constantly review how we see and interact with people, especially with children. They are neshamos, and as I mentioned above, we were given the chance every time we deal with them to make and create a new soul and be like Avraham...be like Hashem.
RABBI DANIEL COREN
