“Shimi, good morning, it’s time to get up,” said my mother as she woke me from a sweet dream.
“Ima, I’m tired. I’ll get up soon,” I whispered with my eyes closed.
“Shimi, it’s late.” My mother sounded worried. “If you don’t get up now, you’ll be late for school.”
I unenthusiastically washed my hands and began to slowly get myself ready. I arrived late at school, of course. I walked into class right after davening and the teacher still hadn’t come. I davened during recess and avoided being punished for being late. That’s the way it went nearly every day.
“Hey, Shimi, wake up,” whispered Yisroel in my ear. He sits near me.
“Oy, I’m tired. Let me sleep,” I retorted.
Yisroel tried to wake me a few more times and finally left me alone. He seemed to have made peace with the fact that he would have to help me complete the material for the who-knows-how-many time. It was afternoon and I was so tired. The lesson did not interest me and the opportunity to nap a little near the air conditioner was appealing.
My eyes had nearly closed a second time when I heard the math teacher’s voice saying, “Now I will choose one of you to solve the exercise on the board. Let’s see …”
I thought, oh please, I hope he does not call on me. For most of the class I was in dreamland and for some reason, math examples refuse to appear in my dreams.
“Okay, Shimi, come up,” said the teacher. I got up on tottering legs, having no idea what I would do with the math problem on the board. Then I felt a note being quickly shoved into my hand. Yes, it was from Yisroel who sat next to me. He would never allow someone to manage on his own. He is always ready to help out. He knows me, and he knows that my failure in front of the entire class would not contribute anything to my diligence in my studies.
On my way to the board I peeked at the note and immediately knew what the solution to the math problem was. I crumpled the paper behind my back and after stuffing it into my pants’ pocket I stood calmly next to the teacher. Apparently, my calm was premature for the teacher asked, “What do you have in your pocket?” I felt my face turn red.
“Um, uh, nothing,” I stammered, in the hope that he would leave me alone. “Just a piece of paper.” But he had seen that I hadn’t paid attention during the lesson and he did not want to give me a break.
“Take it out,” he ordered. The eyes of the entire class were upon me and I dearly wished the ground would swallow me.
I felt for the note and began taking it out of my pocket and then, at the last minute, I heard Yisroel say, “I gave him the note. It’s not his fault.”
I stood for a long time outside the principal’s office until he called me to come in. Although Yisroel had taken the blame for the note, the teacher had sent me to the principal, saying he wanted to speak to me.
When I heard the buzz I pushed open the door and walked in apprehensively.
“What’s going on with you Shimi? Why are you late so often?” the principal asked me after I had sat down. Seeing him from up close, he looked less scary, and his white beard gave him the appearance of a dear grandfather. “Is something bothering you?” he went on to ask.
I decided to cooperate and to tell the principal what was on my mind. “I don’t want to be late but I don’t feel like going to school. The daily routine of classes does not interest me and I’m always waiting for recess. In the morning too, I’d rather continue sleeping than get up and hurry off to class.”
“Aha,” said the principal understandingly, “but what happens on a day when you know your class is going on a trip. Is it also hard for you to get up then?”
I smiled and said, “When I know that we’re going on a trip, I come on time, even for the week before the trip because the fun begins when we start looking forward to it, so I feel altogether different.”’’
“If so, I want to tell you something,” said the principal, as though imparting a secret.
“The truth is, there is always an enjoyable trip awaiting us.”
I sat up. I thought he was going to give me details about the upcoming annual trip. “It’s a trip that nobody ever experienced before. It’s something on a global scale.” The principal paused and then went on, “The final timing of the trip is still unknown but it will definitely take place soon. Don’t worry, when it happens, you’ll know about it.
“You can leave, and I hope that from now on, your academic standing will improve because of the trip we are looking forward to.”
The principal winked. My state of mind changed completely when I left his office without a penalty, and I began to look forward to the big trip.
The week following my conversation with the principal was the best week I had since the beginning of the year. At home, my mother was surprised that I had started getting up in the morning on my own. In class, the teachers were pleased to discover a diligent Shimi who was alert and who excelled in class. My friends also noticed the change in me and some of them even came over and complimented me. I did not tell them about my talk with the principal and I continued to look forward to the trip as my enjoyment of routine continued to improve drastically.
When two and a half weeks had passed and there were still no announcements about a trip, I became suspicious. Then, after Shacharis on Shabbos, I came across a booklet in shul with an excerpt from a sicha of the Rebbe. I read it and was surprised. The Rebbe says that the anticipation for the imminent Geula makes us constantly happy because human nature is such that when you look forward to something good and joyous, like a trip, the enjoyment begins from the anticipation!
I instantly understood what trip the principal was referring to – the Geula trip, including flying on clouds, delicacies as plentiful as dust, a zoo where a wolf and lamb are together, and most importantly, a huge farbrengen with the Rebbe and all the Jewish people.
I wasn’t at all disappointed. I began looking forward to the Geula even more, and began enjoying the classroom routine. It’s not that I, G-d forbid, want to continue for one more moment in the galus routine, but I did become a diligent student because at any moment I expect the galus routine to change to the Geula shleima.