Episode 502 - 17 Nissan (Regular Year) - How to Get Your Students To Pay Attention

In this episode of the It Is Taught podcast, host Sarit Switzer reflects on her challenging experience as a gym teacher at Base Rifka, where she struggled to gain students' attention due to being overly friendly on the first day. She draws a powerful parallel between classroom management and the spiritual concept of fear (yira) and awe of God as taught in Chapter 41 of The Tanya. The episode explores how, just as students misbehave when the teacher leaves the room, people often forget God's presence in their lives when they don't actively cultivate awareness of His constant presence. The Tanya teaches that fear and awe of God—rooted in the recognition that God is always present, filling all realms (memalekol amen and soviv kol amen)—must precede genuine love and service. Switzer emphasizes that this fear is not terror, but reverence, akin to standing before a king. She encourages listeners to use spare mental time, especially before Torah study or mitzvot, to meditate on God’s omnipresence, using the metaphor of a king to make the abstract tangible. The episode concludes with a call to internalize this awareness daily, ensuring that 'the cat is never away.'