What is This?

Rabbi Moshe briskly entered the classroom and told all his students to take their seats. He had a riddle for the class, and if they could answer correctly, they would be awarded an extra hour of recess. All the students grew eerily silent, and you could practically hear a pin drop in the room. Rabbi Moshe then proceeded to the blackboard, picked up a piece of chalk, and drew a hexagram (Magen David) on the board. 

“If any one of you can tell me objectively what I have drawn, you will all get extra recess”, he reiterated. Immediately a bunch of students shot their hands up in the air, anxiously waiting to be called upon. 

He called on Dave first, as he was the most energetic student, and his hand went up practically before R’ Moshe had even finished asking the question. “You drew a Magen David”, Dave shouted excitedly. Dave was thrilled to have earned the class extra recess; yet the teacher didn’t look impressed. “Not the answer I’m looking for”, replied R’ Moshe.

“Wait, then it’s a Magen Avraham”, Dave blurted out. “That’s what it’s historically called; plus Avraham lived before David, so he named it first”, said Dave. “It’s nice to see that you’re persistent, and that even when you get it wrong you keep trying”, R’ Moshe said to Dave. “I’m sure that with a heart like yours, you’ll eventually reach the right answer; but how about we give the other students a chance to answer as well.”

“Would anyone else care to guess?”, R’ Moshe asked the class.

Immediately, hands shot back up in the air. 

There were significantly fewer hands than last time, but still plenty of students to call upon. 

This time the teacher chose Yossi, he was the class bookworm and there was rarely a question asked which he was unable to answer.

“You drew the Seal of Solomon.”, said Yossi. As always, everyone was very impressed by Yossi’s knowledge. “That’s what it’s referred to by both the Jews and the Muslims, so that’s more of an objective term”, Yossi explained. “I’m very impressed that you tried to reach the answer by combining two different traditions”, replied R’ Moshe. “But that’s still not the answer I’m looking for. All the names you are telling me are still from a Torah perspective. If you were telling someone who didn’t learn Tanach what I drew, what would you tell them?”

“In Hinduism it’s called a Shatkona”, someone shouted from the back of the classroom without raising their hand. It took the Rebbi a few seconds to regain his composure. “I’m not sure if I’m more surprised that someone knew that word, or that someone shouted out without raising their hand”, R’ Moshe told the classroom. “Either way, that’s also not the answer I’m looking for.”

“Can you give us a hint?” one of the students pleaded. 

“I want the most objective answer possible”, R’ Moshe reminded them. “Try not to start with spiritual and religious traditions.”

“You drew a star?” Suggested one child rather sheepishly. It sounded like he was asking the Rebbi, not actually proposing an answer. 

“That’s a great guess Hilly!”, R’ Moshe replied to the nervous student. “It’s important to speak up in order to learn, no matter how uncomfortable it makes us feel. But alas, even that is not the answer I’m looking for.”

By now there was only one student whose hand was still up in the air. This was Eli, the class genius. It was normal for teachers to call on him last, in order to give all the other kids a chance to answer. “Yes Eli”, said R’ Moshe. “What do you think the answer is?” “It’s a hexagram”, answered Eli. “Clearly math holds the objective reality.”

“Who wants technical and mathematical answers”, exclaimed R’ Moshe as he rolled his eyes. Eli was shocked that he had gotten the answer wrong on his first guess, but he was not deterred. “Well, technically you didn’t draw a hexagram, you drew two overlapping triangles on the board. We perceive them as a hexagram”, Eli explained. 

From the way Eli had recalibrated and adjusted his answer it was clearly evident how smart he was. “I’m impressed at your ability to analyze and break things down”, R” Moshe complimented him. “However, I said not to get too technical or mathematical and yet your second answer was even more technical and math based than the original one”, he pointed out to Eli. 

“Any other guesses?” R’ Moshe asked the class. 

The class remained silent. It appeared that nobody had a clue what their Rebbi wanted to hear as an answer. If even Eli had not gotten the answer then surely it could not be answered by anyone in the class, probably not even by anyone in the entire school. 

The students all sat there quietly as reality slowly started to set in. They would not be receiving their extra hour of recess after all. Suddenly there was a knock at the door and all heads turned to see who was there. “Come in” shouted R’ Moshe towards the door. The door quickly sprung open, and in entered a young and exhausted looking boy. It was Yisroel, R’ Moshe’s youngest son. 

Yisroel had come to beseech his father. Surely he came up to the front of the classroom and whispered into his fathers ear: “Abba, one of the new teachers gave me detention for something I didn’t do. It was absolute torture. They finally let me go when they realized who my father is. Now that I finally got out of detention, I was walking through the hallway with classes on both sides and I decided to stop and ask if I can go home early with you today?” 

“It’s painful to hear what they put you through. I’m so glad you came to tell me about what happened”, R’ Moshe replied to little Yisroel. “ It sounds like you suffered enough today. Of course you can go home early with me. Also, tell me which teacher punished you and I’ll personally have a word with them and make sure that they pay for what they’ve done.” Yisroel was so excited to hear that he could go home early. He then turned to exit the classroom from a different door which was further away from detention. 

Suddenly one of the students had an idea, and he decided to jump on it. 

“Rebbi!”, shouted Nachi from the front row. “Can we ask Yisroel the riddle?” “Sure, why not”, said R’ Moshe. The entire classroom erupted as all the kids started telling Yisroel the riddle and describing the answers they had given so far. “Everyone just be quiet for a second”, Yisroel said to them. “Let me hear it directly from my father’s mouth”. 

Rabbi Moshe bent down to Yisroel’s height and asked him what objectively had been drawn on the board. Yisroel looked up at the board and saw only one thing there. He raised his right hand, pointed with his finger at the Magen David, and proclaimed “This is what you drew!”

He kissed Yisroel twice on top of his head, and shouted “Who revealed the secret to my son?! Finally, someone who sees and knows!!”

“Extra recess for everyone!!”

They were all so excited and amazed. Suddenly, everyone jumped out of their seats and began singing praise. Moshe sang and Yisroel sang, and the one star on the board shone brightly down upon them. Indeed, in the moment it felt like they were all one. Even the poorest student in the class was able to tap into something in that moment that the best students never experienced. Throughout the school people could hear them singing. In fact, the praise they sang then, still reverberates throughout the entire school until this very day. 

“This is my God, and I will glorify Him.”