Titzy Levinson,” called Rabbi Davis, “since you are going to be our representative at the upcoming Mishnayos competition, I am sure you are paying attention well to all the Mishnayos we learn.”

Yitzy felt his face turn red. Unlike his rebbi, he was sure that he had not been paying attention. He was sure that any question his rebbi asked now would be one that he would get wrong.

Rabbi Davis looked into Yitzy’s eyes.

“Who sang Shir Hama’alos on the fifteen steps in the Beis Hamikdash?” he asked.

Sweat poured down Yitzy’s face, and his heart began pounding like a hammer.

He had not heard his rebbi teach anything about singing Shir Hama’alos. He looked around the room. Every boy in the class was watching him. He couldn’t believe it. They looked like they expected him to know the answer.

Yitzy forced himself to think.

The only thing he knew about singing in the Beis Hamikdash was that Zeidy Levinson always joked about his family needing to take singing lessons. He always said that since the Levinsons were Leviim, they would have to sing in the Beis Hamikdash when Mashiach comes. Could that be the answer?

“Yitzy,” said Rabbi Davis, “did you hear the question? I asked you who sang on the steps inside the Beis Hamikdash.”

“Um… the Leviim?” Yitzy stammered.

As soon as the words left Yitzy’s mouth, he regretted them. Oy! Why did I open up my big mouth? he groaned to himself. Now everyone is going to laugh at me for giving a ridiculous answer.

“Correct,” said a smiling Rabbi Davis. “I’m happy you were paying attention, Yitzy.”

Yitzy almost fainted. I got it right? Wow! Baruch Hashem. That was a real miracle.

Yitzy thought about what had just happened.

I can’t believe that a real neis happened to me. It was almost as big as the neis Chanukah. No, maybe not that big. That neis was that they found the oil and that it burned eight days. This neis was only one little question from my rebbi but… Suddenly, Yitzy caught himself. Wait a minute. I’m doing it again. My rebbi is talking, and I’m not paying any attention.

Yitzy looked up at his rebbi and listened for a few seconds.

What he’s saying sounds interesting, he thought to himself. Maybe if I try really hard I can pay attention for at least a few minutes.

Yitzy began to work very hard to focus on his rebbi’s words. Every few seconds, unrelated thoughts would pop into his head and distract him. Each time, Yitzy strained every muscle in his brain to chase away those thoughts and focus on his rebbi’s words.

Much to his surprise, Yitzy was able to do this for a full five minutes. He might have even focused longer, except for the fact that the lunch bell rang and Rabbi Davis stopped talking.

On the way down to the lunchroom, Yossi slapped him on the back.

“Wow!” he said. “Way to go, Yitzy. I saw you answer rebbi’s question. That was amazing. Then I noticed you paying attention for a while. It’s obvious that you’re really taking this Mishnayos competition seriously. I’ll bet you spent three hours studying the Mishnayos last night.”

(Excerpted from Mishpacha Jr., Issue 744)