Page 10 - Issue 20

connection we build show them that we care about them
and want them to avoid danger because of that.
On this particular evening, the kids who had climbed
onto the roof were two kids who earlier had requested
potato chips from me, which I had declined to take out
because I was on a zoom call. They had climbed onto the
roof as a sort of protest, or perhaps because they were
bored and hungry. In any case, as I was trying to
convince them to come down, Afik told me that if I
brought him potato chips they’d come down.

I felt that this demand was unacceptable. I couldn’t
allow chanichim to threaten harm or danger to
themselves as a way of extracting the things they want
from me. And at that point, I decided to yell. During
the course of the next minute, lights in the
neighboring buildings started to come on, as people
came to see where the ferocious noise they were hearing
was coming from. “You’re making a scene” said Dani,
“The neighbors all hear you.” “Good,” I yelled, “maybe
everyone in the neighborhood should see what you’re
doing, if that helps get you off the roof I’m all for it”.
The debate continued for a minute or so longer, but the
atmosphere had changed. The kids on the roof were no
longer having fun putting on a show for us and their
friends. They were feeling awkward, not amused.

After each of these incidents, I took stock and
reflected on what had happened. This is not how I want
to be a madrich. And yet, there are times when I see
danger that chanichimot don’t. And there are times
when the needs of the chanichimot are too great to
meet, but where I still feel the need to somehow make