Yitzy’s mouth dropped open. “You forgot to tell me?” he sputtered. “How could you forget to tell me something as important as that?”

As he walked to yeshivah, Yitzy thought about the last few weeks of his life. What a change, he thought to himself. It wasn’t that long ago I was walking to yeshivah, dreading the thought of the Mishnayos competition. Now, I’m excited about it.

Suddenly, his thoughts were interrupted. “Hey Yitzy,” called a voice from behind. He turned around and found Yossi standing behind him.

“You looked pretty nervous the last time I saw you,” Yossi said. “Are you feeling better today?”

Yitzy thought back to the day before. He remembered how much pressure he had felt. Then he smiled, as he remembered the conversation he had with his parents in the kitchen the night before.

“Yeah,” he answered, “I was pretty nervous yesterday, but baruch Hashem, I’m feeling much better about things today.”

“Oh, that’s great,” said a very relieved Yossi, “I’m so happy that you’re not nervous anymore.”

“Thank you, Yossi,” said Yitzy.

“If it were me,” continued Yossi, “things would be very different. If I were the one who was going to stand in front of the entire yeshivah and be asked questions by one of the biggest roshei yeshivah in the world, I would be going crazy with nervousness. I’m happy to see that you are calm.”

“Thank you, Yossi,” answered Yitzy. “that’s very nice of you to say….”

Yitzy suddenly stopped in mid-sentence. The smile disappeared from his face and he felt his stomach flip-flop.

“What did you just say, Yossi?” he asked.

“Oh no!” Yossi said, “now you look nervous again. I hope I didn’t say something to upset you.”

Yitzy tried to remain calm. “Yossi,” he said in a louder voice than usual. “I asked you to repeat what you just said.”

Yossi thought about it. “Um… I think I said that I hope I didn’t upset you.”

“No,” cried Yitzy, “what did you say before that?”

Yossi tried to concentrate. “Um… I think I said that if I was going to be tested in front of the whole school by a big rosh yeshivah, I would be a lot more nervous than you.”

Yitzy’s eyes grew big. “What rosh yeshivah?” he asked.

Yossi slapped his forehead. “Ohhhh!” he cried. “Did I forget to tell you about that?”

One look at Yitzy’s face answered Yossi’s question. “Oh no!” Yossi moaned. “I guess I did forget to tell you. I’m so sorry, Yitzy,” he apologized. “Yesterday I left yeshivah a little later than usual. On the way out, I met Rebbi, and he told me to tell you that the famous rosh yeshivah, Rav Millstein, is coming to test you today.”

Yitzy’s mouth dropped open. “You forgot to tell me?” he sputtered. “How could you forget to tell me something as important as that?”

(Excerpted from Mishpacha Jr., Issue 766)