Babylonian Talmud Ta’anit 24a - 2

Once Rab came to a certain place and decreed a fast but no rain fell. The prayer leader then stepped down at his request before the ark and recited, “God causes the wind to blow,” and the wind blew; he continued, “God causes the rain to fall”, and rain fell. Rab thereupon asked him, “What is your special merit?” The latter replied, “I am a teacher of young children and I teach the children of the poor as well as those of the rich; I take no fees from any who cannot afford to pay; further, I have a fish pond, and any child who is reluctant to learn I bribe with some of the fish and prepare them, and entice the child so that they come and learn.” This text was compiled by Rabbis J. Rolando Matalon, Marcelo Bronstein and Felicia Sol of Congregation B’nai Jeshurun in New York, NY, for Rabbi Matalon’s teaching on the American Jewish World Service Rabbinical Student Delegation. Their work was based on and inspired by The Dignity of Difference by Rabbi Jonathan Sacks. Edited for gender neutrality.