A few weeks ago, two important events happened
one day apart, both are related to each other, both are related to my portion
and both are related to my life.
The first thing, which you might have heard
about, was that Apple came out with its new iPhones, the iPhone 6 and 6
Plus. That relates to my portion in two
ways: first is that my portion is all about Creation and creativity. God was the first great out of the box
thinker. In fact, God had to invent the
box first in order to think outside it!
I’d like to think of myself as an out of the box thinker too. For example last year, I wrote a letter to
Prince William, and Princess Kate, congratulating them on their baby and
received a reply.
Of course the other connection to my portion
is that the company’s name is Apple – all of which brings us back to the Garden
of Eden – even though, I must add, the Hebrew word used there is “fruit” and
not specifically “apple.” But go with me
on this. In some ways, the products
created by Apple are very similar to the apple that Adam and Eve ate in the
Garden. Like the apple in the Garden,
the iPhone gives people added knowledge and power and potential, but like the
apple, it carries with it dangers and consequences.
Despite these dangers, I would like a new
iPhone for my bar mitzvah. Just saying.
And that relates to the second event. A couple of days after the new iPhones came
out, we had a special guest at school. A
state senator came to speak with us about the kinds of dangers that teenagers
of this generation should be aware of when using social networks. That includes people being able to track you
down within minutes – so you have to be careful what you post and who you let
follow you. You have to be careful about
what you say online, because once it’s there, it never goes away. Even when we apply to college in five years,
the colleges might be to track what we are saying now. So the key is to take responsibility and
ownership for everything we do online. This is also a reminder that we need to
take responsibility and ownership for everything we do offline.
That was the lesson learned by Adam and Eve in
the Garden. When God asked them about
the apple, neither of them took ownership of what they had done. Adam blamed Eve and Eve blamed the
snake. In a sense this was their sin,
even more than the fact that they disobeyed God’s command that they not eat the
fruit. We learn right away that people
are going to make mistakes, and that’s somewhat OK. But not taking ownership is a much bigger
problem. For example, when I get
stressed from homework, sometimes I take it out on my brother, but at the end
of the day I realize my mistake and own up and apologize to him.
Becoming a Bar Mitzvah is all about learning
how to make good choices. It’s not a
quick fix, like eating from the tree of knowledge was supposed to be – but the
lessons we learn from our choices last forever.
One very special choice I made was my mitzvah
project. I created and captained a team
for the most recent “Hope in Motion” Bennett Cancer Center Walk. I raised about $3,000 in my mom’s memory. That was one way I wanted to connect her to
my becoming a bar mitzvah and to this day.
And I know that as I continue to grow, I will be faced with many tough
choices – and that she will be there, helping to make them.
No comments:
Post a Comment