Now, I’m the teacher who usually gives very detailed instructions, who would normally shoot out ideas, have them brainstorm out loud, go up and down the classroom advising, encouraging, and guiding the pairs until I was satisfied with the results. But on that afternoon, I just let go and let them get on with it on their own.

After the allotted few minutes, I invited the first pair to come up and share their work. Perelle and Blimie recited:

A Thing of Beauty

Rich velvet mantle

Encasing the holiest of scrolls

Accompanied with song

And their classmates all responded: “Hachnassas sefer Torah!”

The pair beamed as they confirmed it. Yes, they were describing a hachnassas sefer Torah. I was touched and told the girls that it was most definitely a thing of beauty and that they deserved ten points for originality.

I then called up a pair sitting at the back. “Reisy and Goldy, please read out your poem.”

A Thing of Beauty

Starched white tablecloth

Heavenly challos

A sense of peace.

And their classmates called out, “A Shabbos table.”

While not as sophisticated as the first pair, they had stuck to the rules of a Haiku, and a Shabbos table is very much a thing of beauty. “Good job,” I told them. “A Shabbos table in its essence is so beautiful.”

Dina and Fraidy’s theme was Torah, Chani and Chaya Leah’s was a shul, and Ruchy and Bassie described Shabbos, but from the zemiros angle. It was when Bruchy, whose partner was absent that day, recited her poem that my eyes welled up.

A cacophony of noise.

Hands holding you close.

Mess and friendship.

The class looked a little stumped. Shyly, Bruchi said, “I’m describing a Jewish family.”

I was moved to tears. My class looked on in shock as their composed, put-together teacher cried in front of them. I told them, “In two days is Shavuos, when we celebrate kabbalas haTorah. We celebrate that we’re different from all the nations of the world, a mamleches Kohanim v’goy kadosh. Imagine if I had given this assignment to any other school in this whole country, sixth graders just like you, learning English, studying for their exams. John would have written about his grandmother’s pearls and Jake about the big willow tree outside. Lucy about the crashing waves on the seashore and Amanda about her beloved puppy. And they wouldn’t be wrong. They’re all examples of beauty. But only Yiddishe kinderlach could write what you did today. The most beautiful things in this world: Torah, Shabbos, tefillah, and yes, the crown of it all: the Jewish home.”

Isn’t that the beating heart of our nation? The Jewish home?

The bell rang for dismissal. Stunned and a little amused by their very English teacher, my students slowly collected their stuff as I wished them all a wonderful day and told them, “Today you have made me so proud. Proud to be your teacher and proud to be a Yid.”

(Originally featured in Family First, Issue 844)