I adore good teachers.
Rabbi Chaim Burston, my 1st-grade teacher, Rabbi Mendel Zeiler, my 4th-grade teacher, and Rabbi Nachman Yosef Twerski, my 9th-grade teacher, are three people that I cherish until this very day. They didn’t just teach; they made going to school fun and something I looked forward to every day. The Jerusalem Talmud refers to Torah teachers as "guardians of the city". Without education, delivered by soulful teachers, society inevitably falls apart.
"My heart is always filled with gratefulness to those who give my children their heart and soul, their 'Gantze Neshama.' "
In Montana, the average annual starting wage for a teacher is $30,895. While it is $46,205 for a police officer, $45,970 for a garbage collector, and $46,141 for a snowplow driver. I don’t, G-d forbid, want to see anyone’s salary lowered as it is already close to impossible to live on these salaries in much of our state.
Yet, teachers are the crème de la crème of our communities. They give heart and soul to teach our children, to help with their special education needs, and to be there when they are struggling. They should be placed on a pedestal and given well-deserved gratitude verbally and financially.
I don’t have solutions for all real-world challenges, including fixing the Education Department of the Federal Government, but my heart is always filled with gratitude to those who give my children their heart and soul, their "Gantze Neshama." Whether they are online Jewish studies teachers or general studies teachers at our local schools. As the Japanese proverb says, "Better than a thousand days of diligent study is one day with a great teacher".
Honor a good teacher; they are worth our all.
