The Ribbon He Carried Alone
Chapter 1The Blue Ribbon
Rebbi set up a walking relay on the clear classroom floor.
Each team had a wide fabric ribbon. The first boy would walk to a marked spot, hand it to the second boy, and wait there. The second would continue to the next marked spot.
Nobody would run, pull, or tie the ribbon around anyone.
Shmuel stood first for the blue team.
He liked being quick. He wanted his team to finish before the green team.
Chapter 2Past the Mark
When Rebbi started the round, Shmuel walked briskly to his mark.
Yossi reached for the ribbon.
Shmuel saw the green team's ribbon moving ahead.
He kept walking.
"I'm faster," he told Yossi. "I'll take it to the end."
He reached the last spot with the blue ribbon held high.
Yossi still stood near the first mark. The two other boys had not carried it at all.
Rebbi stopped the round.
Chapter 3A Different Finish
"We got here first," Shmuel said.
"The ribbon got here," Rebbi answered. "Your team hasn't completed the relay. Each boy has a part."
Shmuel looked back down the row.
Yossi's hand had dropped to his side.
Shmuel had followed the distance but not the handoffs. Being first at the final mark did not replace the other boys' turns.
The green team had passed its ribbon from boy to boy. All four had taken their part.
Chapter 4The Open Hand
Rebbi gave both teams a practice round before the next relay.
Shmuel walked to his own mark and stopped.
Yossi held out an open hand. Shmuel placed the loose ribbon into it and let go.
For a moment, Shmuel wanted to hurry him.
Instead, he stood where the teacher had directed and watched Yossi reach the next boy.
The ribbon moved more slowly than Shmuel alone had moved. It was finally traveling through the team.
Chapter 5From Boy to Boy
In the next round, Shmuel kept his eyes on his own marked spot rather than the other team's ribbon.
He stopped, handed over the fabric, and released it.
Yossi carried it to Dovid. Dovid carried it to Meir.
Meir brought it to the finish.
The green team finished a little earlier.
Shmuel felt the familiar pinch of wanting to win. He also knew that this time the blue team had completed the game Rebbi had actually explained.
Chapter 6Four Carriers
At cleanup, Shmuel brought the ribbon back only after Rebbi asked him to collect it.
"I took your turn in the first round," he told Yossi. "I'm sorry."
Yossi nodded. "You gave it to me in the next one."
Shmuel folded the ribbon flat in the teacher's tray.
He remembered how his empty hands had felt at the first mark.
Waiting there had looked like doing less. In this game, letting go was the part that allowed everyone else to begin.
