"And Hashem said: My spirit shall not always strive on account of man, for that he also is flesh, and his days shall be a hundred and twenty years."

In the portions of sefer Bereishis which deal with the genesis of the world, what is concealed far surpasses what is revealed and understood. Chazal, before whom these esoteric mysteries were revealed, who fathomed the workings of the world and the secrets of Creation, cloaked their teachings with thick veils that obscured the primeval hidden light of Creation from those who are unfit to feast their eyes upon it. Whoever peruses the Midroshim of these portions senses that they shroud and shield the enigmas of "white fire upon black fire," matters which are beyond our puny comprehension.

Here and there, Chazal allow the light to shine through; they opened apertures to the heavens so that we could glimpse a minuscule fraction of the depths of Hashem's mind. A blink, a mere dazzling flash.

Similarly inscrutable is the topic of the generation of the great flood. We are all familiar with the simple text to which we are exposed from early childhood on, that all living beings corrupted their ways and became thoroughly perverted. People were very evil, were punished and were effaced from the earth.

Chazal open up a crack the size of a needle's eye into a hidden world when they say, in Chulin 139: "What is the origin of Moshe in the Torah? `Beshagom hu bosor -- for that he is also flesh.'

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More stories and insights from a veteran educator.

We must treat children and talmidim with much patience and genuine love. Never, never should we belittle any student or child, and we should always conduct lengthy discussions with each one. No talk is wasted. Even if we do not see its immediate influence, it is absorbed by the talmid and years later he remembers it. When he is more mature he understands better what was once said to him. Many times students have told me that now they understand what I told them many years ago.

A godol beTorah, a rosh yeshiva, recently came over to me and said he wanted to speak to me. He said: "I want you to know that the shmuessen you once said in Yeshivas Beer Sheva had a tremendous effect on the talmidim. Twenty years ago you had a talmid who came from a secular home. He did not understand gemora too well, and therefore after two weeks left the yeshiva. He managed during these two weeks to hear four shmuessen, on Shabbos and during the middle of the week, and you befriended him warmly at the time. He heard about simple concepts: that the world is not hefker, the Creator of the World runs the world, we must do what the One in charge tells us, a Jew does not die like a donkey, and every Jew has a holy neshomoh. A Jew has an olam haboh. Gehennom and Gan Eden exist, and through Torah and mitzvos a person is zoche to techiyas hameisim. Without Torah and mitzvos, why should a person be considered Jewish? -- All of these truths he absorbed well and it got into his blood.

"Even when he left the yeshiva he always thought about these simple concepts. Although in fact he behaved like a completely secular Jew and served in the army the same way any secular Jew does, these simple words always bothered him. `Whether HaRav Einfeld was correct or not' disturbed his conscience continuously. After he finished his army stint he decided that it was true that a Jew is not a donkey nor is he like a person of any other nation. He became a full baal teshuvah.

"Today he studies in our kollel and is one of the most prominent talmidei chachomim there. This is the talmid who studied under you for only two weeks, and because of the shmuessen he heard and thought about over the years, and his close relationship with you, he did teshuvah. I said to myself that I must come and tell you about this, since it is important for us to know that no heartfelt talk is wasted."

In short, the most pivotal principle in education for each parent and educator is possessing a bottomless well of patience.