“I would like to tell a story,” began Rabbi Shalom Meir HaCohen Vlach Shlita…

There was once a poor family who, despite the fact of their poverty, were blessed with many wonderful children. One year, they were blessed to give birth to another child, but unfortunately, the child was born with a physical disorder, causing the family to seek assistance. To their great surprise, their neighbor, a seminary student, came to the rescue. She helped with everything. To bathe, to change, to dress, to feed, to walk. She spent her every free hour in the poor family’s home, helping them with whatever the child needed. She was to them like a guardian angel.

One day, her teacher at the seminary decided to assign a task, requiring each student to choose an act of kindness from those offered by their teacher. The students were enthusiastic. They considered each act, discussed them, chose, and proceeded to perform them. This was for everyone, except one, who informed the teacher that she had no spare time to complete any extracurricular tasks. She was just too busy.

She didn’t want to say that she was already in the middle of performing her act of kindness, which took up every second of her free time. She was taught not to brag about her good deeds and fulfilled that belief to the best of her ability…

Not long after, the time came to choose instructors for various social activities. Of course, her name came up. She excelled not only in her studies, but she also had great character traits and a wonderful personality. Unfortunately, in spite of her being the best candidate for the position, that same teacher made it her mission to make certain that she wouldn’t be chosen. “You all believe that she’s the best one for the position?! Absolutely not!” she said passionately. “Why not?” they asked. She didn’t want to elaborate though. “It’ll be 40Lashon Hara,” she said. “Just take my word and believe me that she isn’t appropriate for the position whatsoever, nor is she suitable to be an instructor or an example to anyone.” The truth is, her intentions were truly good… Whoever can’t make time for an act of kindness surely shouldn’t be made an example for others!

Fortunately, given that she didn’t justify her opposition, she was overruled, and the girl was chosen. It was actually her who was debating whether or not to accept the position. She really didn’t have any free time. An act of providence was definitely at play here, and at the same time, the child was sent to an institution that would care for him. She then accepted the position.

Being an instructor, as is well known, requires a lot of investment and dedication, and she didn’t spare in either of them. She became well-known and recognized by everyone around for her remarkable work. Nevertheless, every time she encountered that same teacher, she would be bombarded by insulting statements. “To be an instructor, you have time, but for an act of kindness, no?! I guess doing kindness doesn’t give you a good name like being an instructor does!” And really, that teacher did it all with the best intentions. It hurt her that her former student had refused to do an act of kindness, turning her back on the foundation of the Jewish religion…

That teacher offended her student for the sake of heaven and yet completely ignored and disregarded the mitzvah of judging others favorable!

It’s possible that the student should have explained why she couldn’t complete the task assigned, showing the teacher that she was wrong about her. That would have been the best thing to do, but it wasn’t done. Instead, she restrained herself and didn’t say a word.

Luckily, the teacher wasn’t asked about her student before she got engaged, and she went on to build an outstanding home and raise wonderful children of her own. She is currently a successful teacher and an admired educator.

And one day, after many years had passed, she again met that same teacher. When she heard that her former student was a teacher, she didn’t hide her shock. She even added, saying emphatically, “If I had only known, I would have done everything I could to prevent that. Someone who doesn’t have time for acts of kindness isn’t suitable to be an educator!"