Sunday, January 8, 2017

TBE Bar/Bat Mitzvah Commentary: Daniel Segal on Vayigash


The rabbi was asking me what my goal in life is and, you know, I like to think small, so I just said I want to create the next Apple. 

Or maybe, if that doesn’t work out, the next Tesla.

When Apple released the first iPhone, there was nothing like it.  I want to do something like that.  To Break The System

I’ve started small (but for real this time) by just building Lego structures and designing videos

I’m not sure what I will invent, but I already know the name of the company

I guess I’m a bit of a dreamer.  I’ve always been that way.  By the time I was 8, I already knew which colleges I will apply to, and I even have a backup plan if I don’t get into those. 

My Ultimate Goal Is To Have People use what my company creates Which brings me to my portion and to Joseph.

From day 1, Joseph was a dreamer.  Everyone thought he was crazy.

Eventually, he ended up in Egypt, where he was able to interpret Pharaoh’s dreams.  He understood the need for long range planning, so that food could be stored during the seven years of plenty, and then shared during the seven years of famine.

But the grain that was stored didn’t just feed the people of Egypt.  It also fed the people of surrounding nations, including his own family.  With this visionary strategy, he was able to achieve what I hope to do someday too  he Had Many People Us His Product.

His brothers came to ask for food and Joseph said, “Bring me your youngest brother.”  So they did bring Benjamin to him, and Joseph wanted to take him as a prisoner.  The brothers pleaded for his release and said their father will die if Benjamin doesn’t return.   Judah begged and brought Joseph to tears.  At that point, Joseph finally revealed himself to them.

The brothers were afraid that Joseph would want to gain revenge on them, but Joseph explained to them that everything had turned out as God wanted.  If the brothers hadn’t sold him into slavery, he never could have saved Egypt and its neighbors from the famine including THEM.

An old Apple commercial that I watched, says, “Here’s to the crazy ones,” and shows people who have changed the world, people like Einstein, Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., and John Lennon Who were Crazy Enough To think they could change the world!

Joseph was a “crazy one.” He was able to Plan And Understand The Things No One Could, and he was also able to overcome anger and resentment in doing it.

The key to being a real leader is to be able to share what you don’t need and in that way encourage others to be leaders too.

My Mitzvah project is the SE4A Project.  I’m a SE4A Buddy, and I help kids on the autism spectrum gain social skills that are more challenging for them.  In my small way, I’m helping them gain the skills that will help them later in life, whether at school, work or home. I’m Sharing Some extra Time that I don’t need and I’m encouraging them to try to share too.

As I become a bar mitzvah today, I may or may not be one step closer to making the next iphone, but I certainly am one step closer to helping more people and making this a better world.

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