Shabbat shalom everyone.
My Torah portion of Emor focuses on many different
things. What interested me the most was the theme of
leadership. Judaism has many different models of leadership…
rabbi, king, prophet and teacher. The model of leadership found in
my portion is the priest, who led the people in worship back then. What’s
interesting is that the priest had to be PERFECT in many ways that had very
little to do with leadership. He had to LOOK like a
leader, without necessarily BEING a leader.
Last fall, I went to a National Young Leaders conference in
Washington DC, where I learned all about how to become an effective
leader. However, these lessons about leadership had absolutely nothing to
do with physical appearance. Instead, I
learned that in order to be a strong leader, you need to develop six critical
qualities: goal setting, communication, character, teamwork, respect and
problem solving.
I also learned that “Obstacles are those frightful things
you see when you take your eyes off your goal.” This advice came in
handy as I began preparing for my Bat Mitzvah. At first, as I began
my lessons, I was a bit nervous about learning so many new things. But
I imagined myself here today, standing in front of all of you, at the end of
the process, filled with confidence. And here I am!!
The
Torah states that a priest could not serve as a leader when he was
injured. I certainly understand why it would be hard to serve as a
leader in that condition. I love to dance and play basketball, but when you
have a sprained ankle, it’s certainly difficult to do either one of those
activities. Believe me, I’ve tried and it’s painful!
A close friend of mine hurt her ankle while
dancing last year and couldn’t dance for a very long time. But that
didn’t stop her from being a leader at her ballet school. She
continued to go to every one of her dance practices even though she had to sit
on the side and simply watch. At times, I had to help my friend when
she was on crutches at school. Sometimes being disabled,
or helping someone who is disabled, can teach us critical lessons
about leadership.
Judaism teaches an important lesson, not to judge a book by
its cover. In the Talmud it’s worded a little differently: Don’t
look at the surface of the flask, but at what’s inside.
There’s another saying from the rabbis, “There’s nothing
more whole than a broken heart.” Sometimes when we are injured, we
become MORE whole – we learn from our challenges, and we get stronger from
the things that make our lives harder.
My grandma Mimi has been an inspiration to me in how she has
fought through her many challenges, including having a heart transplant around
the time I was born. Back then, she wasn’t even sure she would see
me be born, but now here she is at my bat mitzvah! I guess miracles really do
come true. Mimi, I suppose you didn’t really need to
rush Mom and Dad to have a baby, but I am sure glad you did!
For my mitzvah project, I’ve been trying to help people who
are facing different kinds of challenges. During the past year, I’ve collected
over $900 by selling “Just Dance” bracelets. I’ll be donating that
money toward a scholarship for a disadvantaged child to attend my dance school,
Locust Performing Arts Center. I’ll also be donating dance attire
and costumes to an organization called “Dancing Dreams”, a dance school for
kids with disabilities.
As I become a Bat
Mitzvah today, I realize just how many lessons about leadership I’ve learned
over the past several months. This reminds me of a quote that has
inspired me since I first heard it in Washington DC:
‘What lies behind us and
what lies before us are small matters compared to what lies within us.”
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