Grades 7, 8 and Grade 9 Boys were treated to a special lecture this morning by renowned speaker and author Rabbi Manis Friedman who is in Montreal this weekend for a Chabad Shabbaton. Rabbi Friedman regaled the students with humour and personal anecdotes and highlighted the central role of the Torah – which he likened to the Jewish People’s “family album” – in our lives. Rabbi Friedman also stressed the importance of Kibbud Av Va’Em (honouring one’s father and mother) and encouraged students to do things for others daily.
“You cannot enjoy life without friends,” he said. “A person was crying and his friend asked him, ‘why are you upset?’ The person replied, ‘if you were really my friend you would know why I’m upset.’ Take the time to get to know your friends and do something for someone else. You will be happier and you will make someone else happier.”
Rabbi Friedman also encouraged the students to take pride in their peers’ achievements rather than to view them with jealously. “Be proud of your friends. One day, when your friend is famous, you will boast and say, ‘he or she was in my class.’ Imagine if Albert Einstein had a brother who was always jealous of his accomplishments.”
Fittingly, Rabbi Friedman is himself the brother of celebrated singer Avraham Fried, and the father of the ever-popular vocalist Benny Friedman.