Candles and Ahavas Yisrael

While learning about Lag Ba'omer and Rabbi Akiva's students, we discussed the concept of Ahavas Yisrael. We had on display all different types of candles. We discussed what it means for things to be the same and for things to be different. We then looked at the candles and discussed what was different about each of them.
Morah then lit all of the candles. Now, they all had a flame in common!
We looked around the classroom and saw many different looking boys. Some were tall, some liked soccer, some had blue eyes. But we all have a Neshama, a part of Hashem inside of us. This is the link that connects us all. So just like the candles were all different but shared the same flame, so too all of us might be different but share the same "flame" - our Neshamas!
This helps us to realize that even though we might not have too much in common with someone else, we can still be friends and love each other, because we all share a part of Hashem!