The Shavuos project is going to be a disaster!

The fifth-grade classroom smelled like classrooms tend to smell after a long day. Tired girls, orange peels, white-out, and slightly stale air. Chavi sighed and tried to focus on what Mrs. Horowitz was saying.

“With that understanding, you can see why Mrs. Bloch and I were talking about how to enhance our kabbalas haTorah this year,” Mrs. Horowitz’s eyes were shining. “Of course, we thought about you, as well — our fantastic students. How we can make your Shavuos more meaningful. We had a wonderful idea.”

Chavi eyed Mrs. Horowitz warily. School, teachers, and wonderful ideas didn’t always go together. Since she had struggled with academics since first grade, she already knew that most wonderful ideas her teachers had weren’t so great for her.

“This year,” Mrs. Horowitz continued passionately, “we are going to have a three-part project to prepare for Matan Torah. As it says in Pirkei Avos, the world stands on three things — Torah, chesed, and tefillah. Our project is going to include all three facets. Part one,” she sang out, turning to the board behind her, “is Torah. We are going to each memorize the Aseres Hadibros.” As Mrs. Horowitz wrote the words on the board, Chavi’s heart fell. Memorizing! In Lashon Kodesh!

“Part two,” Mrs. Horowitz went on, “is chesed. We’ve arranged for a one-day chesed project on the last day of school before Erev Shavuos. Instead of coming to school, you will partner with a classmate, and you’ll spend two hours helping families get ready for Yom Tov. We’ve matched each pair of girls with a family who needs extra help this year. Some families just had a baby, or have a sick family member, or have a child with special needs. Your two hours of chesed will help them bring in Yom Tov with much more joy!” Mrs. Horowitz was positively glowing as she wrote the words Chesed at homes in the community on the board. Chavi felt sick.

“And... part three!” Mrs. Horowitz beamed. “Is tefillah. In honor of Shavuos, which, as we also discussed, is the day Dovid Hamelech was born and died, we will be saying Tehillim together. Mrs. Bloch and I will divide the Sefer Tehillim between both classes. Together, we will finish the entire Sefer Tehillim as we daven for all the people in Am Yisrael in need of yeshuos, including all of the cholim.”

“What a great project!” Devory Miller burst out from her seat in the front row. “It’s amazing! We’ll be coming into Shavuos so prepared!”

Chavi cringed. Sure, for Devory it was great — star student; teacher’s pet. She’d have the Aseres Hadibros memorized in five minutes flat, while Chavi would sweat over it for five hours and still blank out when it came time to recite them. Devory was also confident and friendly — she’d have no problem walking into a stranger’s home and washing dishes or sweeping the floor. And kriah wasn’t a struggle for Devory at all — she’d be done with her section of Sefer Tehillim before Chavi reached the end of the first perek. It wasn’t fair! Of all her classmates, Chavi had to the work the hardest to get even mediocre grades.