The recess bell rang, and the fifth-grade boys ran out of the classroom. They wanted to continue the soccer game they had started during recess that morning. Shimon hurried between the desks, and his jacket caught on a stack of Torah books, knocking them all to the floor.
""He's so careless," exclaimed Yehuda.
""All he cares about is the game," Itzjak muttered.
Meir had been busy copying the homework from the blackboard. The sound of books falling caught his attention, and he looked up. Yehuda was pointing accusingly toward the door, through which Shimon had disappeared, but Meir wasn't looking in that direction; he was only concerned about the Torah books lying on the floor. He quickly picked them up and arranged them on the desk.
After school, Shimon walked home with Meir. "Thanks for carrying my books for me. I was in a hurry because of the game," Shimon said.
Meir shrugged. He didn't think he'd done anything special. He saw something that needed fixing and just did it.
We should learn from Meir. There's no need to judge others, find fault, or blame people when we can fix things ourselves.
Were the books on the floor? Pick them up and that's it. Don't make a big deal out of it.
Meir was following the example of Noah's two sons, Shem and Japheth. Noah planted a vineyard after leaving the ark. Then he drank the wine, which made him feel heavy and dizzy. His third son, Ham, found him lying in an immodest manner.
Jam ran to tell Shem and Japheth, who quickly brought a blanket to cover their father. Holding the blanket between them, they walked backward to cover him, so as not to see his immodesty.
Why does the Torah tell us that they did not see their father in this condition? We can certainly understand that someone walking backward cannot see what is behind them!
The Torah teaches us that they did not see their father in a state of immodesty because they were not interested in finding fault with other people. They only wanted to correct the situation.
We should do the same. If we see something that needs fixing, let's not make a big deal out of it or try to find someone to blame. Let's just deal with the issue, that's all.
Extracted from Please tell me what The Rebbe says.