פרשת וירא
וישא עיניו והנה שלשה אנשים נצבים עליו וירא וירץ לקראתם… | בראשית י"ח, ב'
He lifted his eyes and saw: And behold. Three men were standing before him. He saw, and he ran toward them…
When Avraham saw three guests approaching his tent, the posuk states: "וישא עיניו וירא" He lifted his eyes and he saw. The same posuk goes on to say "וירא וירץ לקראתם" And he saw and he ran to greet them. Rashi tells us that the first “וירא” was simply to inform us that Avraham saw something; the second “וירא” means that he UNDERSTOOD something important.
Horav Pam zt”l points out that very often people look but they don’t see. Other times
people see, but they don’t understand. How often do we look at people and judge them
without truly understanding who they really are?
How often do we overlook the uniqueness of our children, our friends and our spouses? In fact, the more time we spend with someone the less we tend to appreciate them, and take them for granted. For this very reason the guests/angels asked Avraham, “Where is Sarah?”
It was so that Avraham would appreciate Sarah for her great attribute of Tznius and not
take her for granted.
The Rosh Yeshiva’s message applies as much if not more so to understanding our talmidim. Not being swift to judge and certainly not to take them for granted.
We should all be zoche to really “see” our talmidim and talmidos, each one with his and
her uniqueness.
About the Author: Rabbi Yisroel Meir Rubinfeld
Rabbi Rubinfeld has been in the field of Torah education for over 3 decades and serves as an Executive School Consultant for Torah Umesorah. He provides an array of services to schools across North America, including teacher and principal mentorship, school and curricula evaluations, professional development and parent education.
Rabbi Rubinfeld's expertise includes classroom management and discipline, effective instruction, bullying, cultivating sensitivity in the classroom, impulse disorders (such as ADHD and ODD), and balancing the educational needs of mainstream and special needs children in the classroom.
Rabbi Rubinfeld is the also the founder and director of Torah Umesorah's Lilmod U'Lilamed department which provides professional development for teachers and principals throughout the year.
Rabbi Rubinfeld is a talmid of the distinguished Yeshivos of Yeshiva Rabbi Chaim Berlin, the Mirrer Yeshiva in Yerushalayim and Bais Medrash Govoha in Lakewood.
