This past weekend, I attended NFTY Northern's Fall Kallah. At the even, six of the best teen leaders Judaism has to offer led a program asking what we wanted our legacy to be. We discussed what the word meant and even some ways to attain one.
As much as I hate to say it, I won't be in NFTY forever. The end of the road is near for me. I will, at some point not too far away, have to leave the organization and move forward with my life. I will move on, as will NFTY. While this is happening, though, I am thinking of what I will leave to it? Will I be remembered for the hours I put into the organization? Will I even want to be?
My biggest legacy came, I believe, at Summmer kallah in August. At the event, after one of my services that I had written and led, I had two participants come up to me and say that they wanted to become RCVPs because I had inspired them. They wanted to follow in my footsteps and do what I had been doing for over a year.
Inspiration is the place where I want to leave my legacy. It is my job to help those leaders come up behind me and take my place when I can no longer lead myself. It is my duty to give my heart and soul to the members of my region to hopefully show them how much I care about them, about the movement, and about Judaism as a whole, in the hopes of creating an environment that will foster their growth to be the next leaders.
I also believe that it is my job to fix the problems that I see. We are, as it is commonly explained, a movement, and therefore are constantly looking to move our organization forward in a positive direction. We must continue to grow and develop ourselves so that we do not become stale. I want to make the changes that I see necessary to the motion of our movement so that it can be a stronger, healthier, more vibrant youth group for those to come. This is not making change just for the sake of making change. It is, rather, the ability to look at the way in which we conduct ourselves and improve the areas that we see need a little work. I want to be able to look back and say I did what was best for NFTY and helped it reach its best.
To those NFTY freshmen, sophomores, and juniors, I hope you see how much passion I have for our organization. I hope you see how much I want to do well for it, and for all of you. And I hope you see that I will need someone to be there for NFTY when I can't anymore. Let it be you.
To those NFTY seniors, it is our time to be the transitional leaders. We need to lead, and let others do so. We need to stand up and be in front, yet also have the ability to train our successor. And we need to continue to put everything we have into the youth group we have always loved.
Monday, October 11, 2010
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Remove the Stumbling block
You just won the division and are headed to the playoffs for the first time in your career. What are you going to do now?
For most players the answer would be to go into the clubhouse and celebrate with your friends. Champagne will be flowing and the festivities will continue for the remainder of the night.
This was not the case for Josh Hamilton of the Texas Rangers. After his team clinched a playoff berth, something that is owed to the masterful performance of Hamilton, he chose to skip the post-game elation and instead go with members of the opposing team to discuss his faith with the Oakland fans, a discussion that Hamilton had committed to ahead of time.
Hamilton is a recovering alcoholic and drug addict. After years of addiction and abuse to himself, he finally got clean through religion, throwing himself completely into his own personal faith.
When the idea of celebratory alcohol came up, Hamilton chose to avoid temptation and instead share his faith, the thing that had allowed him to get past that part of his life.
It would have been easy to go to the clubhouse. It would have been easy to grab a bottle and cover his teammates. It would have been easy to be doused in champagne by others. But, most importantly, it would have been easy to relapse and get deep into trouble that he had worked so hard to get himself away from.
Having the courage to admit that something that you want to do may bring about a problem is admirable. Having the ability to avoid situations that will cause events that may harm you takes an incredible amount of maturity and self-respect.
Hamilton's ability to use spirituality and faith to keep his life on track makes him one of my biggest heroes. I have so much respect and admiration for the experiences that he has endured, and the ability for him to take responsibility for his actions and learn from them makes him the type of individual who is a good role model for not only baseball fans, but all people.
For most players the answer would be to go into the clubhouse and celebrate with your friends. Champagne will be flowing and the festivities will continue for the remainder of the night.
This was not the case for Josh Hamilton of the Texas Rangers. After his team clinched a playoff berth, something that is owed to the masterful performance of Hamilton, he chose to skip the post-game elation and instead go with members of the opposing team to discuss his faith with the Oakland fans, a discussion that Hamilton had committed to ahead of time.
Hamilton is a recovering alcoholic and drug addict. After years of addiction and abuse to himself, he finally got clean through religion, throwing himself completely into his own personal faith.
When the idea of celebratory alcohol came up, Hamilton chose to avoid temptation and instead share his faith, the thing that had allowed him to get past that part of his life.
It would have been easy to go to the clubhouse. It would have been easy to grab a bottle and cover his teammates. It would have been easy to be doused in champagne by others. But, most importantly, it would have been easy to relapse and get deep into trouble that he had worked so hard to get himself away from.
Having the courage to admit that something that you want to do may bring about a problem is admirable. Having the ability to avoid situations that will cause events that may harm you takes an incredible amount of maturity and self-respect.
Hamilton's ability to use spirituality and faith to keep his life on track makes him one of my biggest heroes. I have so much respect and admiration for the experiences that he has endured, and the ability for him to take responsibility for his actions and learn from them makes him the type of individual who is a good role model for not only baseball fans, but all people.
Monday, September 20, 2010
Forgiveness
With the passing of Yom Kippur, the idea of forgiveness is one that has rattled around inside my head for a while. I am constantly puzzled by one thought: I apologize for things and strive to be better, yet I feel like I am inevitably going to make mistakes. These mistakes sometimes happen so quickly, I question whether or not I was really making an attempt to change. Even though I knew I wanted to be better, making a life change is a difficult thing to do.
Forgiveness is something that I struggle with. I have no problem forgiving others. I readily accept apologies that people give me, because I believe everyone is entitled to a second chance. But the hardest thing is to ask forgiveness; it is not easy to say to someone "I screwed up, please forgive me for it."
The person who is most often the hardest to forgive is yourself. So often, it is easy to beat yourself up for mistakes, and to make it impossible to get past our faults. I find it frequently difficult for me to stop thinking about mistakes I make and to move on with my actions.
Being able to admit that we mess up is most of the battle. I don't think anyone expects us to be able to fix our problems at the snap of fingers. I think it is OK for us to screw up. Simply being able to stand up, apologize for our mistakes, and understand how to attempt to be better is what makes it OK.
Being able to look within ourselves is a difficult task, but attempting, making the effort, is what makes us into the people we hope to be.
Forgiveness is something that I struggle with. I have no problem forgiving others. I readily accept apologies that people give me, because I believe everyone is entitled to a second chance. But the hardest thing is to ask forgiveness; it is not easy to say to someone "I screwed up, please forgive me for it."
The person who is most often the hardest to forgive is yourself. So often, it is easy to beat yourself up for mistakes, and to make it impossible to get past our faults. I find it frequently difficult for me to stop thinking about mistakes I make and to move on with my actions.
Being able to admit that we mess up is most of the battle. I don't think anyone expects us to be able to fix our problems at the snap of fingers. I think it is OK for us to screw up. Simply being able to stand up, apologize for our mistakes, and understand how to attempt to be better is what makes it OK.
Being able to look within ourselves is a difficult task, but attempting, making the effort, is what makes us into the people we hope to be.
Monday, September 13, 2010
We remember
Nine years have passed since the attacks on September 11th. Nine years of mourning, of fighting back, of patriotism. Since that day, we have gone to war with two countries to try and take back what we lost on that day. One thing we can never get back, though, are those loved ones who died.
Many people think that, now, nine years later, going to war was a mistake. But defending this country is something that can never be wrong. The way in which we do it may be flawed, but defending ourselves against those who would see our destruction will never be wrong. It is important to remember what we are fighting for, and to give constant and unending support to those who are making sacrifices for our well-being.
Now, nine years later, the time has come to move forward. Not move on; we can never completely move on from this. Instead, we must begin to change the way we think and feel.
Coinciding with the anniversary of September 11th were two events. The first event is the debate over the infamous "Ground Zero Mosque". People are in an uproar about a group of Muslims who are attempting to open a cultural center two blocks away from ground zero. The protest has been immense, and a debate has been going on for weeks.
We need to stop debating this. If the group owns the land, they are entitled to build their cultural center on this place. Just because the terrorists who were involved in the September 11th events were Muslims does not mean all of Islam is a group of terrorists. We have to stop our ignorance. We can no longer be prejudice against people because we choose not to understand their society and culture. It is our obligation to better understand these people and begin to relate to their culture.
Another situation has dominated our news recently. A man in Florida had planned a Quran burning to commemorate the date of 9/11. He and his church congregation thought that this was a way to remember that day.
To be perfectly clear, this behavior is unacceptable. To use destruction of an important, holy object to remember those lost is an insult to the lives that were taken. Hatred is not an acceptable or tolerable way to remember others, for it is that very hatred that brought about the attack in the first place.
One of the biggest problems with this situation is that we are lumping people together. We are making the assumption that because a few Muslim extremists did a horrible thing, that must mean all of Islam is a religion full of terrorists and America-haters. This is, at its most basic, a ridiculous assumption. We cannot overlook the fact that the "bad Muslims" are a small group within an overall peaceful religion. This assumption is on par with thinking that, because the Ku Klux Klan members are technically "White Christians" that all white Christians must be bad people. In truth, the KKK is a small group of protestants who are taking the horrible actions that the KKK does. Even more important, the KKK hates and targets Catholics, another sect of the same basic religion. This is the same way for jihadist Muslims. They killed other Muslims during the 9/11 attacks. How can we say, therefore, that we can never forget the lives that were lost, and yet we forget that it was not simply white Americans who died that day.
This all being said, we now have an obligation. We have an obligation to change the way we think about others. We have an obligation to buck our ignorance and get better at accepting others. And we have an obligation to move our world toward peace.
זכרונם לברכה
May their memories be for a blessing.
Many people think that, now, nine years later, going to war was a mistake. But defending this country is something that can never be wrong. The way in which we do it may be flawed, but defending ourselves against those who would see our destruction will never be wrong. It is important to remember what we are fighting for, and to give constant and unending support to those who are making sacrifices for our well-being.
Now, nine years later, the time has come to move forward. Not move on; we can never completely move on from this. Instead, we must begin to change the way we think and feel.
Coinciding with the anniversary of September 11th were two events. The first event is the debate over the infamous "Ground Zero Mosque". People are in an uproar about a group of Muslims who are attempting to open a cultural center two blocks away from ground zero. The protest has been immense, and a debate has been going on for weeks.
We need to stop debating this. If the group owns the land, they are entitled to build their cultural center on this place. Just because the terrorists who were involved in the September 11th events were Muslims does not mean all of Islam is a group of terrorists. We have to stop our ignorance. We can no longer be prejudice against people because we choose not to understand their society and culture. It is our obligation to better understand these people and begin to relate to their culture.
Another situation has dominated our news recently. A man in Florida had planned a Quran burning to commemorate the date of 9/11. He and his church congregation thought that this was a way to remember that day.
To be perfectly clear, this behavior is unacceptable. To use destruction of an important, holy object to remember those lost is an insult to the lives that were taken. Hatred is not an acceptable or tolerable way to remember others, for it is that very hatred that brought about the attack in the first place.
One of the biggest problems with this situation is that we are lumping people together. We are making the assumption that because a few Muslim extremists did a horrible thing, that must mean all of Islam is a religion full of terrorists and America-haters. This is, at its most basic, a ridiculous assumption. We cannot overlook the fact that the "bad Muslims" are a small group within an overall peaceful religion. This assumption is on par with thinking that, because the Ku Klux Klan members are technically "White Christians" that all white Christians must be bad people. In truth, the KKK is a small group of protestants who are taking the horrible actions that the KKK does. Even more important, the KKK hates and targets Catholics, another sect of the same basic religion. This is the same way for jihadist Muslims. They killed other Muslims during the 9/11 attacks. How can we say, therefore, that we can never forget the lives that were lost, and yet we forget that it was not simply white Americans who died that day.
This all being said, we now have an obligation. We have an obligation to change the way we think about others. We have an obligation to buck our ignorance and get better at accepting others. And we have an obligation to move our world toward peace.
זכרונם לברכה
May their memories be for a blessing.
Monday, August 30, 2010
Changing it up
As school gets started, we all get into a groove. We wake up, we go to school or to work, we learn or work all day, we get home, do our homework, eat something, go to sleep and begin again the next morning. It can get rather monotonous day after day of the same basic schedule every day.
Even the people we interact with can become stale. Seeing the same people in the morning, the same people at lunch, the same people in the evening. It can get rather tedious.
This was happening to me today. It was a rather boring Monday, and everyone was going about their regular week. As I was walking to my lunch table, I saw a member of the staff at my school. I know her from around the building, and she is always friendly, but today she looked a little down. As I past her, I stopped and asked her how her weekend was.
Instantly, her face lit up and she smiled. She replied that she had had a nice weekend but it was short and asked me how my weekend had been.
This whole interaction took less than 20 seconds. There were no insightful conversations, no deep intellectual thoughts. But it was my favorite part of the day.
There is a concept that I learned in my time on youth group board called disrupting the pattern. This exercise teaches me to do things that one does not encounter on a regular basis to make some one's life a little nicer.
This experience with the staffer at school is a perfect example of this. I disrupted her monotonous routine by simply stopping and giving her the time of day. In truth, I did it for selfish reasons: It makes me feel as good to see someone else feel better as it does for them to feel good in the first place. But being able to make this woman's day a little more meaningful helped her to feel like she mattered to someone, and helped me to feel like I've made someone feel important to me.
So tomorrow, do something small to disrupt some one's monotony. Do something, even the most minuscule of actions to make someone feel good about themselves. Hopefully, the same will happen to you.
Even the people we interact with can become stale. Seeing the same people in the morning, the same people at lunch, the same people in the evening. It can get rather tedious.
This was happening to me today. It was a rather boring Monday, and everyone was going about their regular week. As I was walking to my lunch table, I saw a member of the staff at my school. I know her from around the building, and she is always friendly, but today she looked a little down. As I past her, I stopped and asked her how her weekend was.
Instantly, her face lit up and she smiled. She replied that she had had a nice weekend but it was short and asked me how my weekend had been.
This whole interaction took less than 20 seconds. There were no insightful conversations, no deep intellectual thoughts. But it was my favorite part of the day.
There is a concept that I learned in my time on youth group board called disrupting the pattern. This exercise teaches me to do things that one does not encounter on a regular basis to make some one's life a little nicer.
This experience with the staffer at school is a perfect example of this. I disrupted her monotonous routine by simply stopping and giving her the time of day. In truth, I did it for selfish reasons: It makes me feel as good to see someone else feel better as it does for them to feel good in the first place. But being able to make this woman's day a little more meaningful helped her to feel like she mattered to someone, and helped me to feel like I've made someone feel important to me.
So tomorrow, do something small to disrupt some one's monotony. Do something, even the most minuscule of actions to make someone feel good about themselves. Hopefully, the same will happen to you.
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Part 4: Now is better than ever
This is the fourth in a four part series of posts that deal with some of my most significant feels about change in the current world.
Over the past three weeks, I have been very critical of a lot of things. Some people may not have agreed with me on many of my ideas; in fact, there are some that won’t agree with ANY of the ideas I put out. That, though, was not the point that I want people to take away from all of this. The point that I am hoping to make is that there ARE things in the world that need changing. There are areas where the world still needs fixing; our society needs to be brought together. Finding those areas that need attention and planning initiatives to ease the problems is what is the most important thing.
There is a phrase that I have heard frequently when discussing the ideas for these blog posts. That phrase is “That isn’t how the world works”. Frankly, I’m sick of that. That is no longer a good enough excuse. When we say “That isn’t how the world works”, we are accepting the way things are now, and refusing to allow ourselves to get any better. We are standing in our own way, preventing change that can lead to better. I agree that is important to understand how things work as of now, but to use that as a reason NOT to work harder and not to fix it is frankly not ok. The world is what we make it.
Every step that we take toward solving a problem is one step closer together.
These past few posts may sound as if I am sounding like a socialist. That is not the case. Pure and simple, I do not feel that things in the world are the way they should be. I feel like certain people are not getting a fair shot at life and are not being allowed to live the best way that they can to contribute to society. I feel that we can make strides toward helping to fix these issues and giving everyone the chance to have a chance. What they do with that chance is up to them.
Good enough is no longer good enough. It is time we start making this world the best that it can be, and the best that we can be.
Over the past three weeks, I have been very critical of a lot of things. Some people may not have agreed with me on many of my ideas; in fact, there are some that won’t agree with ANY of the ideas I put out. That, though, was not the point that I want people to take away from all of this. The point that I am hoping to make is that there ARE things in the world that need changing. There are areas where the world still needs fixing; our society needs to be brought together. Finding those areas that need attention and planning initiatives to ease the problems is what is the most important thing.
There is a phrase that I have heard frequently when discussing the ideas for these blog posts. That phrase is “That isn’t how the world works”. Frankly, I’m sick of that. That is no longer a good enough excuse. When we say “That isn’t how the world works”, we are accepting the way things are now, and refusing to allow ourselves to get any better. We are standing in our own way, preventing change that can lead to better. I agree that is important to understand how things work as of now, but to use that as a reason NOT to work harder and not to fix it is frankly not ok. The world is what we make it.
Every step that we take toward solving a problem is one step closer together.
These past few posts may sound as if I am sounding like a socialist. That is not the case. Pure and simple, I do not feel that things in the world are the way they should be. I feel like certain people are not getting a fair shot at life and are not being allowed to live the best way that they can to contribute to society. I feel that we can make strides toward helping to fix these issues and giving everyone the chance to have a chance. What they do with that chance is up to them.
Good enough is no longer good enough. It is time we start making this world the best that it can be, and the best that we can be.
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Part 3: College Prep
This is the third in a four part series of posts that deal with some of my most significant feels about change in the current world.
Teenagers are expected to go to college. College has become an absolute necessity for all young people after high school. I see that as an excellent thing. I love the idea of more people receiving a higher level of education.
Students look at college as a great way of getting an education, as well as a great place to get a whole bunch of other things, including a plethora of social experiences. But colleges don’t always look back the same way. Often times, students are a dollar value to a college. We, as prospective students, are a number, a business investment. This is not always the case, but unfortunately it is the case sometimes.
Students, therefore, need to be much more selective about which college they choose to attend. This is most specifically important because college is just that: a choice. The possibilities are endless as to the locations one can attend. Someone can attend anything from an Ivy League school to a Big 10 school, to a private, small college and even a community college. The bottom line for the students is that college is a stepping stone for becoming professionals in certain fields of trade.
Universities should shift some of the focus as well. Some colleges spend so much money and time on athletic programs when there are thousands of bigger issues at play. Why spend so much extra money to make an already large stadium all the larger when that same money could have gone to technological advancements in science equipment or into scholarships toward making education less of a financial detriment to families.
Life is not always fair, but education should not be something that is a frustration and burden upon the people who are out attempting to get a good job or delve into a new market. Universities should be focusing on sculpting the young people of this nation to become the doctors who will save lives, the politicians who will lead justly and intelligently, the authors who will inspire, and the artists who will bring beauty to the world. There is no price-tag that can be attached to the value of a person bringing light to the world through their chosen area of expertise.
Teenagers are expected to go to college. College has become an absolute necessity for all young people after high school. I see that as an excellent thing. I love the idea of more people receiving a higher level of education.
Students look at college as a great way of getting an education, as well as a great place to get a whole bunch of other things, including a plethora of social experiences. But colleges don’t always look back the same way. Often times, students are a dollar value to a college. We, as prospective students, are a number, a business investment. This is not always the case, but unfortunately it is the case sometimes.
Students, therefore, need to be much more selective about which college they choose to attend. This is most specifically important because college is just that: a choice. The possibilities are endless as to the locations one can attend. Someone can attend anything from an Ivy League school to a Big 10 school, to a private, small college and even a community college. The bottom line for the students is that college is a stepping stone for becoming professionals in certain fields of trade.
Universities should shift some of the focus as well. Some colleges spend so much money and time on athletic programs when there are thousands of bigger issues at play. Why spend so much extra money to make an already large stadium all the larger when that same money could have gone to technological advancements in science equipment or into scholarships toward making education less of a financial detriment to families.
Life is not always fair, but education should not be something that is a frustration and burden upon the people who are out attempting to get a good job or delve into a new market. Universities should be focusing on sculpting the young people of this nation to become the doctors who will save lives, the politicians who will lead justly and intelligently, the authors who will inspire, and the artists who will bring beauty to the world. There is no price-tag that can be attached to the value of a person bringing light to the world through their chosen area of expertise.
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