I had finally mastered reading in English, but at a certain point, I stopped trying to read Hebrew during class

Some kids do well at school and find that learning comes easy. Other kids struggle.

My name is Asher. I recently had my bar mitzvah, and I live in Chicago. I go to school, just like you do, but my journey hasn’t been an easy one.

Outside of school, things were always good. I have an awesome family; I’m the oldest of four. I’m curious and smart, and I love playing chess, playing sports, listening to music, and telling jokes.

Inside school, it’s a different story.

Schoolwork never came easily for me. Beginning when I was very little and learning to read, I had trouble. English reading was hard; kriah — reading Hebrew — was even harder. It was also very difficult to sit in class and concentrate on what the teacher was saying. By the time I was in second grade, my teachers and parents noticed I was struggling. I don’t remember that stage so well, but I do remember talking in the middle of class and being sent out of the classroom.

Not being able to read Hebrew well made all of the kodesh subjects very challenging. As we started learning Chumash, then Rashi, and then Gemara, it got harder and harder. I had finally mastered reading in English, but at a certain point, I stopped trying to read Hebrew during class. During the kodesh classes, I’d just read English books. It was as if I wasn’t there; I didn’t even try to follow along. Now and then I would call out during class — sometimes it was an answer to a rebbi’s question, but more often, it was a joke.