A Lesson I Learned From My Principal

By Akedah Eze – Birmingham, Alabama

There are Mechanchim who touch our lives with kindness, and through such effort, change our worlds forever.

Rabbi Leibel Newman, principal of Bais Rivkah School For Girls was such a person for me. A slight man with a quick step and a quiet smile that radiated a love of Torah and Chassidus that was easily felt, he is today responsible for most for the Jewish life I am living today. Simply put, he taught by example.

I’m not at all sure what thoughts crossed his mind when my father escorted two scared but determined little brown girls into his office that day, but if he was at all incredulous he never showed it. He smiled warmly and hurried us down to our classrooms and without a second thought, prepared us to learn, eager to perform the Mitzvah of educating a Jewish child. If only he knew how much his exemplified Torah meant to me back then and how many of his teachings remain with me still….

The teaching of Torah is a profound act of kindness, one that reverberates from child to child and from student to student for generations. This Torah that I share, I learned from Rabbi Newman back then. And now, a million Jewish experiences and four decades later, I am blessed to share a bit of that Torah with you today:

The Heart of a Man

It is known that a man’s strongest limbs are often located on the right side of his frame; the right leg, the right hand, the right arm, the right eye- they’re all generally considered the stronger of the pair, on the stronger side of the human body. But what of the heart- it’s different. The heart, the most vital of all organs, is located on the LEFT side of the body. Why is it not centered on the right side too?

Chazal teach us that Hashem’s ways are perfect. The heart, in much the same way as our other limbs, is perfectly and strategically placed to increase man’s strength, just as the other limbs do. In fact, the heart is also “positioned” where it can serve mankind best, on the left side. While a man’s strongest limbs are on his right side to serve him physically, Hashem in His infinite wisdom placed the heart of every man on the left side, to serve him spiritually.

Our Chachamim teach that when two people stand face to face, each bearing the weight of his own weakness, his own shortcomings and human frailties, the physical strength of each person is exactly where it needs to be to sustain him physically. But the heart is both physical and spiritual. It was not created to be a source of “individual power” or “physical strength”. The heart was meant for a different purpose; it was meant to be shared. As the seat of the human soul, it is a source of empathy, love, and support, not for ourselves…but for others.

As we stand man to man, face to face, our heart is located on our weaker side, on our left side… but facing him, that same heart is on our brother’s right side. For his strength, for his benefit, where he can derive the love, strength, comfort and support he needs in that moment when he needs it most.

The heart is thus positioned with the service of humanity in mind- the rendering of love, empathy, kindness and support to a fellow human being …

And So It Is.

I’m giving thanks today for a man who cared enough as a Rabbi and an educator of women to live by the Torah he taught. His Torah was a blessing that blesses me still today. I pray that I too will one day be able to say to those around me that the Jewish students I’ve taught are now teaching Torah too, not just in word but by example.

 

This article was published in Bais Rivkah’s EmBRace magazine. With a goal of uniting and inspiring alumnae worldwide, the magazine is a platform for alumna from around the world to share and grow, and to reach the entire Bais Rivkah community. It is mailed at no cost to the reader to all alumnae in the United States and emailed as a PDF internationally. To subscribe, click here