Learn the words in Hebrew to figure out the joke below:

Once – פַּעַם

Zoo – גַּן חַיּוֹת

He did – עָשָׂה

Lions – אֲרָיוֹת

With a lot of  respect – בְּכָבוֹד רַב

Doctor – רוֹפֵא

He took care of – טִפֵּל

He worked – עָבַד

All of the animals –  כָל הַחַיּוֹת

Solution: Jack shared with his friend a story about David who used to work at the zoo. What did David do, asked his friend? Jack answered: He was a veterinarian and took care of the animals. So how did he treat the lions? With a lot of respect…

Teacher’s Corner: When one of my relatively new students was gossiping unkindly with her friend about another student in the class, I asked her how she would feel if her friend treated her in the same way? She immediately said, “It was just a joke. I did not mean anything by it.”

After class, I sat with my student and discussed why she liked to gossip; which we discovered she did in order to fit in, make friends and feel important.

All are understandable motivations, I commented, but has it helped you to fit in, make friends and feel important? Has gossiping and saying unkind things about others helped you to achieve your goals? She sheepishly said that it wasn’t working out so well. Do you think your friends don’t confide in you because they think that you will gossip about them? In fact, if you come to them with a juicy story, they might feel that you will go to others with a juicy story about them.

Are you open to trying a different approach? Perhaps you can try treating your classmates with respect; not only the person but their information as well.

Whatever they share with you must be treated with respect. Their information belongs to them. It is not yours to give away. If your friend entrusted you with their summer savings you would not give it away to win favor with another student. You would hold it safe and sound. The same is true with secrets.

I shared with my student that if people really get to know her, they will like her. They will like her because they share similar values of trust, kindness and respect.

People will never remember what grades you got or what jokes you told at recess. They will always remember how you treated them.

Every successful relationship is built on trust, kindness, and respect. When you have that, people will feel safe with you. That is where real friendships can grow and grow! Real friendships can last a lifetime.

For individual, family or group tutoring in Hebrew, all levels, please email [email protected]. Maya Yehezkel is a Hebrew teacher at Yeshivat Noam middle school.