Zevi Stewart Wolmark! Who is he?

Zevi Stewart Wolmark! Who is he?” I asked to one of my neighbors after relocating to a new place with my family.

Some months ago, I got promotion and a fully furnished house from my office. I have just shifted in my new home 2 months back with my wife and kids. Whenever I walk down to my job on the main street, I see a big house at the end of the street. I see the owner of the house daily. Sometimes, I see him looking out in the garden watching kids playing. Sometimes, he is planting, roaming here & there and taking fresh breath in his garden. Sometimes, he is talking to his wife and kid on terrace.

He has a very impressive personality that always attracts me. I always wanted to talk to him. But as everyone knows in this city strangers are not to be approached more intimately. Hence, I just pass him daily.

As usual, one day, I was coming out of my house to go to office. As I came to the main street, I saw that man. He was helping a lady, who just got an accident on the street. I did not waste a minute and rush to that man to help him taking that lady to the nearby hospital. I saw a helpful and kind heart covered in the amazing personality. On the way, he said a single sentence to me and that was, “Thanks for helping this poor lady.”

I asked him whether he knew that lady. He replied, “No.”

Just from this one line sentence, I understood that I was not wrong about this person. I was quite right about his helping, honest and broad minded nature. After admitting that lady to the hospital, we both left to our way.

Although I see him every day, as I did before. But today, I know him. He is “Stewart Wolmark".

Report on Wolmark Stewart

Stewart Wolmark, in Los Angeles Private Jewish School, has been seeing me once a week for educational support. We have been working with Stewart since December, when he asked to be included in our support group within the classroom. This shows a maturity and self-awareness we rarely see in boys this age.

Stewart Wolmark is a talkative, friendly, and curious student. He has a lot going on in his world, and always has something he is busy thinking about, learning about, or doing! On days that he is focused, he accomplishes a lot. He understands concepts, completes assignments, and thanks me before he leaves!  What a gentleman!

            StewartWolmark is missing a lot of basic Hebrew skills and vocabulary. Over the last semester, Rabbi Ploni has been working on building a shoresh root vocabulary with the boys He also has worked on recognizing basic prefixes and suffixes. Stewart's ability to translate a pasuk and general Hebrew has really improved.

However, he still needs to be more proficient at manipulating a shoresh and prefixes/suffixes to succeed in fourth grade. He also needs to become more accurate at his Hebrew reading. As of now, he manages to read accurately only when he is forced to slow down and break down each word into syllables. Stewart has succeeded with a little "window" in a blank index card to break down words for him, but when he is confronted with the whole page, he compensates for his inaccuracy by using his sight word skills. Unfortuantely his Hebrew vocabulary is very limited so the words he guesses by looking at their form are usually the wrong words.

            Over the summer, I recommend concentrating on the skills most crucial to smooth Stewart’s transition into fourth grade: Hebrew verbs (shorashim), prefixes, suffixes, pronouns, and answering simple and specific questions about a short text. Learning with a professional tutor would be the best way to give Stewart the skills and knowledge he needs. You may also call Rabbi Almoni and ask him for resources and for his ideas on what areas are the most crucial for Stewart to progress in over the summer.

I enjoyed working with StewartWolmark. He is quick, cute and creative.

Who is stewart Wolmark?

Who is StewartWolmark? I walk down his block every day, on my way to my job on the main street that intersects the area. He once introduced himself when I caught a ball that was rolling down his driveway and returned it to the kids playing on his lawn.

I see StewartWolmark every day, in a lot of positions. Sometimes he is seeing kids out of the house. Sometimes he is just standing outside, getting a breath of fresh air. Sometimes he is weeding the garden. At times, he is washing his car. Sometimes he is leaving the house with his wife.

I see his family sometimes. StewartWolmark has a wife and kids, I haven't really kept track of how many precisely. Like the Train Conductor, I pass and wave and notice and get sort of attached to the people tht have become a part of my morning routine.

Who is StewartWolmark? He is a pleasant part of my life, yet I do not know him and he does not know me. How many of us really know each other anyway? Like stars in orbit, we pass each other again and again but never touch. Our paths never cross. We live in a parallel life road, glimpsing the other every now and then yet not connected.

IT's sad, this urban life. In another place, in another time, StewartWolmark and myself may have been friends. We could have formed a connection that would allow us to support and help each other. StewartWolmark could have improved my life in countless ways, and I his. But the city allows just for a wave and a glimpse. Strangers are not to be approached more intimately. I wonder sometimes why some strangers turn into acquaintances. We pick and choose by setting, place, time- and in some cases, we choose the wrong stranger and are wounded. In another setting, we'd know not just the stranger, we'd also know his entire family and background. We'd be able to ask his grandmother about him. Or notice that all his siblings are nasty people.

Although I see StewartWolmark every day, I do not know him and he does not know me. Our lives lay parallel, never to meet.