Among the fluorescent cellophane, next to the floral ribbons, under the cushioned paper rolls, between the bottle of wine and the chocolates, at the bottom of the straw basket of food parcels received by the Talmud Torah teacher - a smooth white envelope is hidden.
And what's in the envelope? That's right. Green or red money bills. Or both.
In the inventory count that the teacher conducts at the end of Shoshan Purim, the following map unfolds before his eyes: The children of more affluent parents contributed a considerable amount of money to send the meals. While the children of less affluent parents contributed much less. Or they did not contribute any money, and were satisfied 'only' with sending the meals.
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We truly value our children's teachers. In their hands we entrust what is most precious to us. They are the ones who shape their identity, and they are the ones who faithfully do their work – the sacred work of educating and building the stature of our children.
But do we value the teachers so much that we are sure they will be able to pack the rustling bills in a dark corner of their hearts, without their attitude changing at all towards the children whose parents do not have the ability to add the amount of money to the delivery of the meals?
Are the teachers capable of purifying their hearts with such high purity that they will not distinguish between a child whose parents gave birth and a child whose parents did not?
'"Bribery blinds the eyes of the wise and distorts the words of the righteous," says the Torah in the most explicit way.
Who are these wise men? Who are these righteous men? They are also the teachers of our children, who, God forbid, may cause them to distinguish between blood and blood and not distinguish between law and law.
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We must stimulate a discussion on this issue, and force parents who want to add to the teachers' salaries to do so in a way that does not discriminate between children, and does not cause them to fail in something that could have critical consequences for the souls of young children.
It might be possible to suggest to parents who are truly interested in the teacher's well-being, and who value him for his work, and who believe that he should be rewarded with additional compensation - to establish an internal parent committee for the class. This committee would pool the amounts of money that the parents wish to transfer to the teacher - and they would be the ones to transfer the money anonymously to the teacher.
Some will say that if such a committee were established, almost no parent would give any amount of money, since he would lose the main purpose he sees in giving the money: that the teacher would know that he was the one who gave the respectable amount...
However, if it turns out that this is indeed the case, then it will become clear to us beyond all doubt that giving money to teachers is flawed and inappropriate.
It has become clear to us, to our regret, that the purpose of the grant is to create a discriminatory attitude towards a child whose parents have financial capabilities, compared to a child whose parents do not.
In such a case, it would be appropriate to abolish the custom completely.
• The writer is the head of the Haredi department at the Gesher organization.'
