My brothers had great self-esteem, while I was always struggling to find a reason to feel good about myself
Nebbish.
That title still gives me the chills whenever I remember it. I don’t know who first described what a “neb” was to me, but ever since I can remember, it was a character I dreaded being associated with.
“Don’t let your glasses slip onto the tip of your nose!” my older brother Nachum Aryeh would tell me in a serious tone. “Everyone will think that you’re nebbish.”
“And don’t even think about looking into the English translation on your Mishnayos sheets for help. It’s nebby…” Nachum Aryeh’s identical twin, Motty, would say as I did my homework.
“Don’t listen to your brothers, Binyamin,” my mother would always chime in if she overheard their “neb” comments. “Just because they didn’t need a little extra help with their Mishnayos homework doesn’t mean you have to be the same. Everyone is different. Just be you and don’t worry about anyone else!”
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