* Translation by Yehoshua Siskin
These are stressful days. School vacation, Pesach cleaning , cooking and Seder preparation. During a week that marks 25 years since the passing of Professor Nehama Leibovtiz, the great Tanach (Bible) teacher, Yael Dar sent me the following story:
"I grew up in a house with eight children. In the center of our home was a large table where we ate, read the mail, did our homework and practically everything else. Once a week, mother sat at this table together with a friend to study Nehama Leibowitz's commentary on the weekly Torah portion, to answer the questions that Nehama would ask and to send their answers by mail. This is what thousands of her students did, and then they waited to receive her comments, famously written with a red pen, in return.
"We children were always hanging around the table and one of us once scribbled on an answer sheet that was already completed and ready to be sent. In those days, it was impossible to type and print like today, and mother did not have the time to copy everything all over again. So mother wrote this comment at the bottom of the page: "I apologize for one of the children who scribbled here." As is well known, Nehama did not have children of her own. After several days had passed, we received Nehama's comments on mother's answers to her questions, and next to the scribbling of my brother she wrote: 'Blessed are you to have someone who scribbles!'"
"Many years have passed and our family has kept this page closely guarded throughout that time. In these hectic days, It can serve as a reminder to every parent who feels frustrated and stressed out by the kids: Blessed are we to have someone who scribbles."
