This sourcesheet and learning program is dedicated לעילוי נשמת בתשבע חיה בת נועם יגאל ורנה.
This year's fashion show will feature a component entitled "Walk for a Cause." Our models will be showcasing causes and/or organizations near and dear to their hearts. As some of you may know, during summer 2015 Batsheva z"l volunteered for Bet Elazraki in Netanya, Israel. Bet Elazraki is a home for 250 at-risk children ages 6-18. They were removed from their homes due to alcohol and/or drug abuse, severe neglect, physical and verbal abuse or their parents' inability to care for them due to severe mental illness. The dedicated staff at Bet Elazraki in addition to student volunteers help heal these children. This past summer, Batsheva's brother Hillel and other ICJA seniors volunteered at a similar home called Achuzat Sara in Bnei Brak. The mural pictured above was dedicated in Batsheva's memory. Helping Israeli children heal was a cause Batsheva cared about. Over the course of the day, we want you to consider: what's YOUR cause?
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"Some Nights" by Fun
Some nights I stay up cashing in my bad luck
Some nights I call it a draw
Some nights I wish that my lips could build a castle
Some nights I wish they'd just fall off
But I still wake up, I still see your ghost
Oh, Lord, I'm still not sure what I stand for oh
Whoa oh oh (What do I stand for?)
Whoa oh oh (What do I stand for?)
Most nights, I don't know anymore
Today, we are going to explore:
1. What does it mean to stand for something? We will look at cases and examples of individuals who stood up for and advocated for a particular cause and the reasons they did so.
2. How does one learn to stand for a cause? Are you born caring about a cause, or is it something that only comes with time? Does it differ from person to person?
3. Giving everything for a cause- real examples from our tradition where people were willing to sacrifice material comfort, dignity and status for the sake of the causes they cared about.
By the end of our learning session, we hope you can identify a cause that matters to you and dedicate yourself to advocating for it!
What Does It Mean to Stand for Something?
It's a question many grapple with. Below are a few ways people have chosen to stand for something that matters to them.
Lady Gaga at the GRAMMY Awards, 2019 (link)
"I'm so proud to be a part of a movie that addresses mental health issues. They're so important. A lot of artists deal with that, and we got to take care of each other. So if you see somebody that's hurting, don't look away. And if you're hurting, even though it might be hard, try to find that bravery within yourself to dive deep and go tell somebody and take them up in your head with you."
"Our Story" from Joyful Heart Foundation, founded by Mariska Hargitay
When Mariska Hargitay started playing Olivia Benson on Law & Order: Special Victims’ Unit, the content of the scripts, as well as the work she did to prepare for the role, opened her eyes to the staggering statistics about sexual assault, domestic violence, and child abuse in the United States. She received hundreds, then thousands of letters and emails from survivors disclosing their stories of abuse, many for the first time. She wanted to answer those letters, to address the suffering and isolation they described, and honor the acts of courage they represented.
Her response was Joyful Heart. Inspired by her deep connection and love for ‘Hawai‘i, Mariska founded Joyful Heart in Kona in 2004 to help sexual assault survivors heal and reclaim a sense of joy in their lives. Today, Joyful Heart is a leading national organization with a mission to transform society’s response to sexual assault, domestic violence, and child abuse, support survivors’ healing, and end this violence forever.
Joyful Heart carries out its mission through an integrated program portfolio of healing, education, and advocacy. Our work is paving the way for innovative approaches to treating trauma, igniting shifts in the way the public views and responds to sexual assault, domestic violence, and child abuse, and reforming legislation to ensure justice for survivors.
Questions to Consider
1. How else could Lady Gaga's thank you speech at the Grammy's have gone? Did she HAVE to mention mental health? Why did she?
2. In Mariska Hargitay's case, her work impacted her so much that she decided to found an organization. Can you think of situations where you have been moved or impacted by something and it led you to advocate for a cause or organization?
3. Do you think only celebrities can stand for something?
2. Do you think celebrities are obligated to use their fame to stand for something? Why yes or no?
Let's look at some individuals who may seem closer to us...
"Jew in the City" by Allison Josephs (JewInTheCity.Com)
“Backwards, extreme, judgmental, sexist.” These are the words that too often come to mind when people think of Orthodox Jews and Judaism. Scandals that reinforce these associations hit the papers all too often. Popular culture, including movies, books, and TV shows repeat these negative ideas about religious Jewish people and their lifestyles. Public opinion is at best uneducated about Orthodox Jews and Judaism, and at worst, intolerant of them and their philosophy.
Even more troubling, there is a sizable minority of people who were raised Orthodox but had bad experiences (due to unhealthy upbringings and poor education) who feel just as negative as the critics from without. Their experiences are covered by the media frequently, further solidifying the public’s negative perception of Orthodox Jews. Members of this community reached out to us in 2014 asking us to help them actualize the kind of Orthodoxy they see on Jew in the City, which led to our launching Project Makom.
This is the battle our organization, a 501(c)3, has been fighting since 2007. Jew in the City reverses negative associations about religious Jews by highlighting an approach based on kindness, tolerance, sincerity, and critical thinking and makes engaging and meaningful Orthodox Judaism known and accessible. Jew in the City is reshaping the way the world views Orthodox Jews and Judaism. Our team publicizes the message that Orthodox Jews can be funny, approachable, educated, pro-women and open-minded—and that Orthodox Judaism links the Jewish people to a deep and beautiful heritage that is just as relevant today as it ever was.
"The Layers Project Magazine" by Shira Lankin Sheps (TheLayersProjectMagazine.com)
Where I’ve Been:
I graduated from Hunter College School of Social Work with my MSW in clinical social work. After working in the clinical field, marketing and photojournalism, I decided to start The Layers Project to help break down stigma and promote healing within our Jewish community.
Why I’m Here:
I feel strongly about presenting women, who are so often shown as shallow characters or fully removed from Jewish media spaces, as three-dimensional individuals whose lives are full and rich with resilience. Together with my incredible team, we have launched The Layers Project Magazine as a space for all Jewish women to discuss our triumphs and challenges in an authentic and honest way.
What I Do:
Here at the magazine, I am responsible for maintaining our signature tone of empathy in all our pieces, innovating new media and content, directing our art, managing the backend of the site and social media, and steering the business side of our endeavor.
Questions to Consider
1. Are there uniquely Jewish causes you feel strongly about?
2. Are there organizations that align with the Jewish causes in which you are interested? (Consider what was mentioned above as well as Bnei Akiva, Yachad, NCSY, CTeen, Sharsheret, Shalva, Gift of Life etc). Have you ever volunteered for or otherwise been part of them?
3. What might be a way you could get involved?
Now let's look at our textual tradition, which is filled with examples of people who stand up. Perhaps the most iconic one is presented below.
(טו) וַיֹּ֙אמֶר֙ מֶ֣לֶךְ מִצְרַ֔יִם לַֽמְיַלְּדֹ֖ת הָֽעִבְרִיֹּ֑ת אֲשֶׁ֨ר שֵׁ֤ם הָֽאַחַת֙ שִׁפְרָ֔ה וְשֵׁ֥ם הַשֵּׁנִ֖ית פּוּעָֽה׃ (טז) וַיֹּ֗אמֶר בְּיַלֶּדְכֶן֙ אֶת־הָֽעִבְרִיּ֔וֹת וּרְאִיתֶ֖ן עַל־הָאָבְנָ֑יִם אִם־בֵּ֥ן הוּא֙ וַהֲמִתֶּ֣ן אֹת֔וֹ וְאִם־בַּ֥ת הִ֖יא וָחָֽיָה׃ (יז) וַתִּירֶ֤אןָ הַֽמְיַלְּדֹת֙ אֶת־הָ֣אֱלֹקִ֔ים וְלֹ֣א עָשׂ֔וּ כַּאֲשֶׁ֛ר דִּבֶּ֥ר אֲלֵיהֶ֖ן מֶ֣לֶךְ מִצְרָ֑יִם וַתְּחַיֶּ֖יןָ אֶת־הַיְלָדִֽים׃
(15) The king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other Puah, (16) saying, “When you deliver the Hebrew women, look at the birthstool: if it is a boy, kill him; if it is a girl, let her live.” (17) The midwives, fearing God, did not do as the king of Egypt had told them; they let the boys live.
Questions to Consider
1. What do you think it means that the midwives feared God? Why would that lead them to disobey Pharaoh, the most powerful man in the kingdom?
2. What do you think you might have done in this situation and why?
3. What kind of character traits and attributes do you think the midwives must have had to be able to do this?
4. Do you think the midwives were Jewish?
(2) שפרה SHIPHRAH — This was Jochebed; she bore this additional name because she used to put the babe after its birth into good physical condition (משפרת) by the care she bestowed upon it (Sotah 11b). (3) פועה PUAH — This was Miriam, and she bore this additional name because she used to call aloud and speak and croon to the babe just as women do who soothe a child when it is crying (Sotah 11b).
…שפרה ופועה מצריות היו מתחילה ונתגיירו דאל”כ היאך ציוה אותם להרוג את היהודים…
Yehuda HaChasid (1150-1217)
…Shifra and Puah were originally Egyptian and then converted. If this were not the case, how could it be that [Pharaoh] commanded them to kill Jews? …
ולא היו עבריות כי איך יבטח לבו בנשים העבריות שימיתו ולדיהן אבל היו מצריות מילדות את העבריות ר”ל עוזרות אותן ללדת כמ”ש בילדכן את העבריות.עברית
Don Isaac Abarbanel (1437-1508)
They were not Hebrews, since how could [Pharaoh’s] mind be confident that Hebrew women would murder their own [people’s] babies?! Rather, they are the “midwives of the Hebrews,” i.e., they assist the [Hebrew women] in the birthing process, just as [the next] verse says (v. 16), “when you deliver the Hebrew women.”
Questions to Consider
1. According to Rashi, were the midwives Hebrews?
2. According to Abarbanel, were the midwives Hebrews?
3. How does R' Yehuda HaChasid homogenize the two views?
4. Which reading of the story do you find more powerful- that these were Hebrew midwives or Egyptian midwives? Why?
Note that only much later in the פסוקים does it say...
(כ) וַיֵּ֥יטֶב אֱלֹקִ֖ים לַֽמְיַלְּדֹ֑ת וַיִּ֧רֶב הָעָ֛ם וַיַּֽעַצְמ֖וּ מְאֹֽד׃
(20) And God dealt well with the midwives; and the people multiplied and increased greatly.
Questions to Consider
1. Did the midwives know in advance that they would be rewarded for refusing to follow Pharoah's decree?
2. What then gave them the confidence not to follow it?
To understand more of what leads people to stand up even in dangerous situations, let's look at a more contemporary example. Known as חסידי אומות העולם or Righteous Among the Nations, below you will find stories of non-Jewish individuals who helped save Jews and/or other persecuted individuals during the Holocaust. Feel free to read just one biography or all of them.
Adolf & Maria Althoff
Adolf Althoff was lucky enough to be born into a family that owned a circus! After growing up in a circus, it was no surprise that at age 26, he decided to start his own, naming it the Adolf Althoff circus. It was made up of about 90 artists and their families. It toured all over Europe- even during World War II, which is when the Holocaust was occurring.
In the summer of 1941, the circus stopped near the city of Darmstadt in the state of Hesse in the country of Germany. One of the visitors was a girl named Irene Danner. Her father was not Jewish but her mother was. Under German law, she was considered a Jew. Because of this, she had been expelled from school, could no longer take violin lessons and was not allowed to fulfill her dream of going to ballet school. She asked Adolf Althoff whether she could join his circus.
Althoff agreed, and Irene joined his circus under a different name. She fell in love with a clown named Peter Storm-Bento and had children with him. In 1942, Irene’s mother, Alice, and sister, Gerda, managed to escape to the circus and asked Althoff to care for them as well. Irene’s father, Hans, also joined them because he refused to divorce his Jewish wife.
It was very dangerous to shelter these four illegals. Anyone in the circus could have betrayed them- and once, there was even a very close call. Whenever the circus reached a new city, the Danner family had to hide because there would be an inspection by the Gestapo (German secret police).
Althoff explained that he “couldn’t simply permit them [the Danners] to fall into the hands of murderers...that would have made me a murderer.”
(Bio from Yad Vashem-link)
Jan & Antonina Zabinski
In the 1930s, Dr. Jan Zabinski was director of the Warsaw Zoo (located in Poland). The zoo was large and beautiful. However, when World War II began, large portions of the zoo were destroyed by bombings, many animals were killed and other animals, including their special attraction- the elephant Tuzinka- were taken to Germany.
Dr. Jan Zabinski was a well known author and radio show host who loved animals. As a public employee, he was allowed to enter the Jewish ghetto (a place where all the Jews had been segregated and forced to live). He pretended to be overseeing the welfare of trees and gardens in the ghetto, but really helped Jews. He helped Jews get over to the non-Jewish side of the ghetto, gave them personal documents, looked for places where they could hide, and when necessary even temporarily hid them in his own home or in the zoo’s abandoned empty animal cells. He was not alone in his efforts; his wife Antonina and son Ryszard brought food to and cared for the Jews hiding on their property. Their home had become a version of “Noah’s Ark.”
Rachel Auerbach, a writer who documented what was happening in the Warsaw Ghetto, gave her manuscript to Dr. Zabinski. He put it in a glass jar and buried it on zoo property. In April 1945 she was able to get it back and publish it.
Dr. Zabinski was also a member of the Polish underground, and due to his activities, was taken prisoner to Germany. His wife continued helping Jews even so.
Zabinski explained that he saved Jews due to his “progressive-humanistic upbringing at home as well as in Kreczmar High School.”
(Bio from Yad Vashem- link)
Chiune Sempo Sugihara
Chiune Sempo Sugihara was a Japanese career diplomat. A diplomat is a person who can represent a country’s government in a foreign country. In 1939, Sugihara was sent to Kovno, the capital of Lithuania. This was important because Lithuania was located right between Poland (which was under German rule and law) and the Soviet Union (who had said it wouldn’t fight against Germany). When Germany occupied Poland, desperate Jews fled to Lithuania. From there, they were hoping to run away to any country that would take them.
In 1940, the Soviet Union decided that Lithuania was part of their group. Due to this, Sugihara was asked to leave and go back to Japan. Before he could do so, a Jewish group of refugees begged to see him. They explained that they had found an island called Curacao that didn’t require an entry visa (an official stamp on their passport that would allow them to come in)- so they could leave Lithuania and head there. However, the only way still open for them to leave Lithuania would be by crossing through Soviet Union land. They wanted Sugihara as Japanese Consul to give them what was called a transit visa allowing them to go through the Soviet Union to get to Curacao (or anywhere else that would take them).
Sugihara asked for time to find out whether Japan would allow him to do this. But, being very disturbed by the situation these Jews were in, he started giving out visas even without Japanese approval. In the end, Japan did not want him to do it. Sugihara ignored his orders and gave out between 2100-3500 transit visas. Since he was set to leave Lithuania very soon, he and his staff worked around the clock to stamp passports. Some say that he was even stamping passports at the train station as he was leaving Lithuania.
Many rabbis and Talmud students received these visas, and because they got out, were able to rebuild their yeshivot elsewhere.
Sugihara’s wife, Yukiko, said that she and her husband were scared to do what they did- they had three young children and realized that when they got back to Japan, Sugihara might lose his job for going against orders. In the end, Sugihara and Yukiko decided that saving people was more important than the consequences they might face.
In June 1941, Nazi Germany invaded Lithuania and began killing Jews. If not for Sugihara, thousands more would have died.
(Bio taken from Yad Vashem-link)
Questions to Consider
1. What were some of the reasons given as to why the Righteous Among the Nations chose to save Jews?
2. How might this inform our understanding of the Hebrew midwives and their choices?
How Does One Learn to Stand for Something?
Are people born upstanders? Or does life experience or education/ deliberate instruction contribute to their ability to stand for a cause? Below are examples from our tradition that shed light on this...
The Story of Judah
This story begins with Judah's role in the sale of Joseph. It takes us through Judah reluctantly learning that he must accept and be accountable for his own actions, and finally using that self-knowledge to attempt to fix the behavior that led to the sale of Joseph.
׃ (כה) וַיֵּשְׁבוּ֮ לֶֽאֱכָל־לֶחֶם֒ וַיִּשְׂא֤וּ עֵֽינֵיהֶם֙ וַיִּרְא֔וּ וְהִנֵּה֙ אֹרְחַ֣ת יִשְׁמְעֵאלִ֔ים בָּאָ֖ה מִגִּלְעָ֑ד וּגְמַלֵּיהֶ֣ם נֹֽשְׂאִ֗ים נְכֹאת֙ וּצְרִ֣י וָלֹ֔ט הוֹלְכִ֖ים לְהוֹרִ֥יד מִצְרָֽיְמָה׃ (כו) וַיֹּ֥אמֶר יְהוּדָ֖ה אֶל־אֶחָ֑יו מַה־בֶּ֗צַע כִּ֤י נַהֲרֹג֙ אֶת־אָחִ֔ינוּ וְכִסִּ֖ינוּ אֶת־דָּמֽוֹ׃ (כז) לְכ֞וּ וְנִמְכְּרֶ֣נּוּ לַיִּשְׁמְעֵאלִ֗ים וְיָדֵ֙נוּ֙ אַל־תְּהִי־ב֔וֹ כִּֽי־אָחִ֥ינוּ בְשָׂרֵ֖נוּ ה֑וּא וַֽיִּשְׁמְע֖וּ אֶחָֽיו׃
[...]
(לא) וַיִּקְח֖וּ אֶת־כְּתֹ֣נֶת יוֹסֵ֑ף וַֽיִּשְׁחֲטוּ֙ שְׂעִ֣יר עִזִּ֔ים וַיִּטְבְּל֥וּ אֶת־הַכֻּתֹּ֖נֶת בַּדָּֽם׃ (לב) וַֽיְשַׁלְּח֞וּ אֶת־כְּתֹ֣נֶת הַפַּסִּ֗ים וַיָּבִ֙יאוּ֙ אֶל־אֲבִיהֶ֔ם וַיֹּאמְר֖וּ זֹ֣את מָצָ֑אנוּ הַכֶּר־נָ֗א הַכְּתֹ֧נֶת בִּנְךָ֛ הִ֖וא אִם־לֹֽא׃
\(25) Then they sat down to a meal. Looking up, they saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead, their camels bearing gum, balm, and ladanum to be taken to Egypt. (26) Then Judah said to his brothers, “What do we gain by killing our brother and covering up his blood? (27) Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, but let us not do away with him ourselves. After all, he is our brother, our own flesh.” His brothers agreed.
[...]
Then they took Joseph’s tunic, slaughtered a kid, and dipped the tunic in the blood. (32) They had the ornamented tunic taken to their father, and they said, “We found this. Please examine it; is it your son’s tunic or not?” (33) He recognized it, and said, “My son’s tunic! A savage beast devoured him! Joseph was torn by a beast!”
Questions to Consider
1. What is Judah's role in the sale of Joseph (is he the leader, merely a participant etc)?
2. How do the brothers make their father believe that Joseph is dead?
3. If you had to come up with some adjectives to describe Judah in this narrative, what would they be? Why?
The following text requires some context. Judah left his brothers and went to live elsewhere. He married a Canaanite woman and had three sons with her. The first son was then married to a woman called Tamar. Due to a sin on his part, he died. Tamar was then married off to the next brother, but due to his sin, he too died. Tamar was then promised to the third son, Shelah, but Judah was afraid that he would also die. Therefore, he put Tamar off with excuses and would not allow her to marry him. She, meanwhile, wanted children. She dresses up as a harlot and Judah decides to sleep with her (not knowing that she is his daughter-in-law). At a later date, the following events occur...
(כד) וַיְהִ֣י ׀ כְּמִשְׁלֹ֣שׁ חֳדָשִׁ֗ים וַיֻּגַּ֨ד לִֽיהוּדָ֤ה לֵֽאמֹר֙ זָֽנְתָה֙ תָּמָ֣ר כַּלָּתֶ֔ךָ וְגַ֛ם הִנֵּ֥ה הָרָ֖ה לִזְנוּנִ֑ים וַיֹּ֣אמֶר יְהוּדָ֔ה הוֹצִיא֖וּהָ וְתִשָּׂרֵֽף׃ (כה) הִ֣וא מוּצֵ֗את וְהִ֨יא שָׁלְחָ֤ה אֶל־חָמִ֙יהָ֙ לֵאמֹ֔ר לְאִישׁ֙ אֲשֶׁר־אֵ֣לֶּה לּ֔וֹ אָנֹכִ֖י הָרָ֑ה וַתֹּ֙אמֶר֙ הַכֶּר־נָ֔א לְמִ֞י הַחֹתֶ֧מֶת וְהַפְּתִילִ֛ים וְהַמַּטֶּ֖ה הָאֵֽלֶּה׃ (כו) וַיַּכֵּ֣ר יְהוּדָ֗ה וַיֹּ֙אמֶר֙ צָֽדְקָ֣ה מִמֶּ֔נִּי כִּֽי־עַל־כֵּ֥ן לֹא־נְתַתִּ֖יהָ לְשֵׁלָ֣ה בְנִ֑י וְלֹֽא־יָסַ֥ף ע֖וֹד לְדַעְתָּֽה׃
(24) About three months later, Judah was told, “Your daughter-in-law Tamar has played the harlot; in fact, she is with child by harlotry.” “Bring her out,” said Judah, “and let her be burned.” (25) As she was being brought out, she sent this message to her father-in-law, “I am with child by the man to whom these belong.” And she added, “Examine these: whose seal and cord and staff are these?” (26) Judah recognized them, and said, “She is more in the right than I, inasmuch as I did not give her to my son Shelah.” And he was not intimate with her again.
Questions to Consider
1. What assumption did Judah make about Tamar's guilt?
2. Note the wording Tamar uses to ask Judah who the father is. What does it echo (look at the previous source we learned)? What is the message for Judah?
3. In this scenario, Judah has the opportunity to completely deny guilt if he wishes. What do you think makes him admit צדקה ממני- She is more righteous than me? and save her from death by fire?
4. How might this scenario change Judah/ force him to accept responsibility for his actions and choices?
Questions to Consider
1. In the scenario above, Judah is offering himself to his father Jacob as surety for his brother Benjamin. Do you think the Judah in this scene is the same as the one who suggested the sale of Joseph? How yes or no?
2. Why do you think Judah is willing to say that if he does not bring Benjamin back he will "stand guilty before you (Jacob) forever"?
(יח) וַיִּגַּ֨שׁ אֵלָ֜יו יְהוּדָ֗ה וַיֹּאמֶר֮ בִּ֣י אֲדֹנִי֒ יְדַבֶּר־נָ֨א עַבְדְּךָ֤ דָבָר֙ בְּאָזְנֵ֣י אֲדֹנִ֔י וְאַל־יִ֥חַר אַפְּךָ֖ בְּעַבְדֶּ֑ךָ כִּ֥י כָמ֖וֹךָ כְּפַרְעֹֽה׃ (יט) אֲדֹנִ֣י שָׁאַ֔ל אֶת־עֲבָדָ֖יו לֵאמֹ֑ר הֲיֵשׁ־לָכֶ֥ם אָ֖ב אוֹ־אָֽח׃ (כ) וַנֹּ֙אמֶר֙ אֶל־אֲדֹנִ֔י יֶשׁ־לָ֙נוּ֙ אָ֣ב זָקֵ֔ן וְיֶ֥לֶד זְקֻנִ֖ים קָטָ֑ן וְאָחִ֨יו מֵ֜ת וַיִּוָּתֵ֨ר ה֧וּא לְבַדּ֛וֹ לְאִמּ֖וֹ וְאָבִ֥יו אֲהֵבֽוֹ׃ (כא) וַתֹּ֙אמֶר֙ אֶל־עֲבָדֶ֔יךָ הוֹרִדֻ֖הוּ אֵלָ֑י וְאָשִׂ֥ימָה עֵינִ֖י עָלָֽיו׃ (כב) וַנֹּ֙אמֶר֙ אֶל־אֲדֹנִ֔י לֹא־יוּכַ֥ל הַנַּ֖עַר לַעֲזֹ֣ב אֶת־אָבִ֑יו וְעָזַ֥ב אֶת־אָבִ֖יו וָמֵֽת׃ (כג) וַתֹּ֙אמֶר֙ אֶל־עֲבָדֶ֔יךָ אִם־לֹ֥א יֵרֵ֛ד אֲחִיכֶ֥ם הַקָּטֹ֖ן אִתְּכֶ֑ם לֹ֥א תֹסִפ֖וּן לִרְא֥וֹת פָּנָֽי׃ (כד) וַיְהִי֙ כִּ֣י עָלִ֔ינוּ אֶֽל־עַבְדְּךָ֖ אָבִ֑י וַנַּ֨גֶּד־ל֔וֹ אֵ֖ת דִּבְרֵ֥י אֲדֹנִֽי׃ (כה) וַיֹּ֖אמֶר אָבִ֑ינוּ שֻׁ֖בוּ שִׁבְרוּ־לָ֥נוּ מְעַט־אֹֽכֶל׃ (כו) וַנֹּ֕אמֶר לֹ֥א נוּכַ֖ל לָרֶ֑דֶת אִם־יֵשׁ֩ אָחִ֨ינוּ הַקָּטֹ֤ן אִתָּ֙נוּ֙ וְיָרַ֔דְנוּ כִּי־לֹ֣א נוּכַ֗ל לִרְאוֹת֙ פְּנֵ֣י הָאִ֔ישׁ וְאָחִ֥ינוּ הַקָּטֹ֖ן אֵינֶ֥נּוּ אִתָּֽנוּ׃ (כז) וַיֹּ֛אמֶר עַבְדְּךָ֥ אָבִ֖י אֵלֵ֑ינוּ אַתֶּ֣ם יְדַעְתֶּ֔ם כִּ֥י שְׁנַ֖יִם יָֽלְדָה־לִּ֥י אִשְׁתִּֽי׃ (כח) וַיֵּצֵ֤א הָֽאֶחָד֙ מֵֽאִתִּ֔י וָאֹמַ֕ר אַ֖ךְ טָרֹ֣ף טֹרָ֑ף וְלֹ֥א רְאִיתִ֖יו עַד־הֵֽנָּה׃ (כט) וּלְקַחְתֶּ֧ם גַּם־אֶת־זֶ֛ה מֵעִ֥ם פָּנַ֖י וְקָרָ֣הוּ אָס֑וֹן וְהֽוֹרַדְתֶּ֧ם אֶת־שֵׂיבָתִ֛י בְּרָעָ֖ה שְׁאֹֽלָה׃ (ל) וְעַתָּ֗ה כְּבֹאִי֙ אֶל־עַבְדְּךָ֣ אָבִ֔י וְהַנַּ֖עַר אֵינֶ֣נּוּ אִתָּ֑נוּ וְנַפְשׁ֖וֹ קְשׁוּרָ֥ה בְנַפְשֽׁוֹ׃ (לא) וְהָיָ֗ה כִּרְאוֹת֛וֹ כִּי־אֵ֥ין הַנַּ֖עַר וָמֵ֑ת וְהוֹרִ֨ידוּ עֲבָדֶ֜יךָ אֶת־שֵׂיבַ֨ת עַבְדְּךָ֥ אָבִ֛ינוּ בְּיָג֖וֹן שְׁאֹֽלָה׃ (לב) כִּ֤י עַבְדְּךָ֙ עָרַ֣ב אֶת־הַנַּ֔עַר מֵעִ֥ם אָבִ֖י לֵאמֹ֑ר אִם־לֹ֤א אֲבִיאֶ֙נּוּ֙ אֵלֶ֔יךָ וְחָטָ֥אתִי לְאָבִ֖י כָּל־הַיָּמִֽים׃ (לג) וְעַתָּ֗ה יֵֽשֶׁב־נָ֤א עַבְדְּךָ֙ תַּ֣חַת הַנַּ֔עַר עֶ֖בֶד לַֽאדֹנִ֑י וְהַנַּ֖עַר יַ֥עַל עִם־אֶחָֽיו׃ (לד) כִּי־אֵיךְ֙ אֶֽעֱלֶ֣ה אֶל־אָבִ֔י וְהַנַּ֖עַר אֵינֶ֣נּוּ אִתִּ֑י פֶּ֚ן אֶרְאֶ֣ה בָרָ֔ע אֲשֶׁ֥ר יִמְצָ֖א אֶת־אָבִֽי׃
(18) Then Judah went up to him and said, “Please, my lord, let your servant appeal to my lord, and do not be impatient with your servant, you who are the equal of Pharaoh. (19) My lord asked his servants, ‘Have you a father or another brother?’ (20) We told my lord, ‘We have an old father, and there is a child of his old age, the youngest; his full brother is dead, so that he alone is left of his mother, and his father dotes on him.’ (21) Then you said to your servants, ‘Bring him down to me, that I may set eyes on him.’ (22) We said to my lord, ‘The boy cannot leave his father; if he were to leave him, his father would die.’ (23) But you said to your servants, ‘Unless your youngest brother comes down with you, do not let me see your faces.’ (24) When we came back to your servant my father, we reported my lord’s words to him. (25) “Later our father said, ‘Go back and procure some food for us.’ (26) We answered, ‘We cannot go down; only if our youngest brother is with us can we go down, for we may not show our faces to the man unless our youngest brother is with us.’ (27) Your servant my father said to us, ‘As you know, my wife bore me two sons. (28) But one is gone from me, and I said: Alas, he was torn by a beast! And I have not seen him since. (29) If you take this one from me, too, and he meets with disaster, you will send my white head down to Sheol in sorrow.’ (30) “Now, if I come to your servant my father and the boy is not with us—since his own life is so bound up with his— (31) when he sees that the boy is not with us, he will die, and your servants will send the white head of your servant our father down to Sheol in grief. (32) Now your servant has pledged himself for the boy to my father, saying, ‘If I do not bring him back to you, I shall stand guilty before my father forever.’ (33) Therefore, please let your servant remain as a slave to my lord instead of the boy, and let the boy go back with his brothers. (34) For how can I go back to my father unless the boy is with me? Let me not be witness to the woe that would overtake my father!”
Questions to Consider
1. What is Judah doing/ advocating for in this scene?
2. Was Judah always an upstander?
3. How did Judah develop a willingness to become an upstander and advocate for a cause?
4. How has Judah changed in general over the course of these פרקים?
5. What messages can we take away from Judah in terms of our own growth/ potential advocacy for a cause?
The Story of Moses
There are some major scenes we associate with Moses (you'll see them below). What or who is he standing up for? And more importantly...who did he learn that from?
(יא) וַיְהִ֣י ׀ בַּיָּמִ֣ים הָהֵ֗ם וַיִּגְדַּ֤ל מֹשֶׁה֙ וַיֵּצֵ֣א אֶל־אֶחָ֔יו וַיַּ֖רְא בְּסִבְלֹתָ֑ם וַיַּרְא֙ אִ֣ישׁ מִצְרִ֔י מַכֶּ֥ה אִישׁ־עִבְרִ֖י מֵאֶחָֽיו׃ (יב) וַיִּ֤פֶן כֹּה֙ וָכֹ֔ה וַיַּ֖רְא כִּ֣י אֵ֣ין אִ֑ישׁ וַיַּךְ֙ אֶת־הַמִּצְרִ֔י וַֽיִּטְמְנֵ֖הוּ בַּחֽוֹל׃
(11) Some time after that, when Moses had grown up, he went out to his kinsfolk and witnessed their labors. He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his kinsmen. (12) He turned this way and that and, seeing no one about, he struck down the Egyptian and hid him in the sand.
(יג) וַיֵּצֵא֙ בַּיּ֣וֹם הַשֵּׁנִ֔י וְהִנֵּ֛ה שְׁנֵֽי־אֲנָשִׁ֥ים עִבְרִ֖ים נִצִּ֑ים וַיֹּ֙אמֶר֙ לָֽרָשָׁ֔ע לָ֥מָּה תַכֶּ֖ה רֵעֶֽךָ׃
(13) When he went out the next day, he found two Hebrews fighting; so he said to the offender, “Why do you strike your fellow?”
(טז) וּלְכֹהֵ֥ן מִדְיָ֖ן שֶׁ֣בַע בָּנ֑וֹת וַתָּבֹ֣אנָה וַתִּדְלֶ֗נָה וַתְּמַלֶּ֙אנָה֙ אֶת־הָ֣רְהָטִ֔ים לְהַשְׁק֖וֹת צֹ֥אן אֲבִיהֶֽן׃ (יז) וַיָּבֹ֥אוּ הָרֹעִ֖ים וַיְגָרְשׁ֑וּם וַיָּ֤קָם מֹשֶׁה֙ וַיּ֣וֹשִׁעָ֔ן וַיַּ֖שְׁקְ אֶת־צֹאנָֽם׃
(16) Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters. They came to draw water, and filled the troughs to water their father’s flock; (17) but shepherds came and drove them off. Moses rose to their defense, and he watered their flock.
Questions to Consider
1. What is Moses doing in each of these scenarios?
2. Who is the first scenario between (for example, two Egyptians, an Egyptian and a Hebrew, other?)
3. Who is the second scenario between (for example, two Egyptians, an Egyptian and a Hebrew, other?)
4. Who is the third scenario between (for example, two Egyptians, an Egyptian and a Hebrew, other?)
5. Does Moses seem to mark any difference between people when it comes to defending the weak against the strong?
6. What do you think led Moses to be an advocate for treating people humanely and/or not allowing the strong to oppress the weak? (Was he born that way? Did someone teach him?)
Excerpt from "Shemot: Devoted Daughter Batya" by Rabbanit Shira Smiles
Link: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Articles/Article.aspx/9248
This lesson of selfless love for other Jews, not just for Moses, that Batya must have exhibited from that time on was not lost on Moses as he grew. As the Torah states, "Moses grew up and went out to his brothers and observed their burdens...." From whom did Moses learn this compassion, this sense of justice, of righting wrongs? His own mother, Yocheved, could have nurtured and taught him only so much in two years of being his wet-nurse. The rest he must have gotten from the mother who raised him to adulthood, Batya. From her he learned not only compassion, but also the drive to attempt to do the right thing even when that appears to be impossible.
"What Moses' Name Reveals" by The Lubavitcher Rebbe
(Link: https://www.chabad.org/parshah/article_cdo/aid/1317557/jewish/The-Origins-of-Moses-Name.htm)
One of the greatest enigmas in the Bible concerns the name of its most oft-mentioned character, Moses.
"Moses" was not his given name…The name Moses is mentioned more than 600 times in Scripture. Yet "Moses" was not his given name… Among all of the heavyweights mentioned in the Bible, Moses' name stands out due to its unusual origins.
"Pharaoh's daughter went down to bathe by the river… She saw a basket among the reeds… She opened it and saw a boy crying…and he was a son to her. She called his name Moses, as she said, 'For I drew him from the water.'"
It turns out that the name the Torah elected to call its key player was the one given him by Pharaoh's daughter!
Why?
It's not as if his parents neglected to name him. The Midrash records four names he was given at birth, one by each of his family members. One of these names was Tuvyah, which means good, for "She [his mother] saw that he was good."
So what possessed the Torah to ignore the name given him by his pious parents at birth, using instead the name given him by a stranger?
This question intensifies according to the mystical teaching that one's name is not just utilitarian and random, but is inherently intertwined with the make-up of the name-bearer's soul and destiny.
If that's the case, doesn't the name Tuvyah – which means goodness – encapsulate Moses' essence and lifetime more than the name Moses, which commemorates but a single (albeit lifesaving) episode in his life?
Sacrificial Choices
Moses had it made.
He was the people's prince and was headed towards a bright political futureHe was being groomed for nobility and honor. His every whim was tended to, and he was pampered with all sorts of luxuries. He was adored by all of Egypt, having been recognized as a brilliant young man who possessed vision and courage. He was the people's prince and was headed towards a bright political future.
But he never quite got there, or at least he took a different route.
[Here the Rebbe lists the three episodes we saw above and how Moses protected the weak in each scenario.]
A pattern emerges.
So much must have happened in young Moses' life until this point, and yet the Torah, being a work of instruction rather than history, saw fit to record only these pitifully few incidents.
Mind you, it can be argued that all three incidents are irrelevant to the story. For the story to be cohesive, all we need to know is that Pharaoh sought to kill Moses and that Moses got away. The question of why Pharaoh sought to kill Moses is nothing but gossip.
Precisely these events capture the spirit of Moses. In truth, however, it can be said that precisely these events capture the spirit of Moses. For each of three episodes outlined are in reality just different expressions of the same characteristic.
Moses identified with the victim, the disadvantaged, the oppressed. At the risk of his own comfort and even his life, he never stood idly by as someone was being hurt.
In each of the documented incidents, the faces of the persecutor and the persecuted may have changed, but Moses did not. He always took the side of the sufferer.
This pattern is illustrated even more clearly by the next occurrence in Moses' life which the Torah chose to record:
"Moses was grazing the sheep of his father-in-law… He saw a burning bush that wasn't being consumed… G‑d said, 'I have seen the affliction of my people in Egypt…and now, go, and I will send you to Pharaoh and you shall take my people out of Egypt!'"
To go back to the land where he was wanted for murder?
To confront and rebel against his step-grandfather, Pharaoh, the man who treated him like a son, and brought him up with love?
To embrace and redeem the people who turned him in to the authorities, facilitating his stint on death row?
Besides, hadn't his life finally settled? He'd recently married, had a kid, gotten a job; life was good, so why spoil it?
Because a people was being oppressed in the land of Egypt.
The name Moses now seems to fit him like a glove. The name Moses now seems to fit him like a glove, for it points to the very beginning of this pattern.
"Pharaoh's daughter went down to bathe by the river… She saw a basket among the reeds… She opened it and saw a boy crying. She took pity on him and said, 'This is one of the Hebrew boys,'…and he was a son to her."
When the princess of Egypt first laid on eyes on little Moses, he was quite literally a basket-case. But he was also a Hebrew slave-child, whom her father had decreed should be drowned.
Taking the child in would thus be very risky. Keeping his identity secret would be nearly impossible, especially with all of the palace chitchat.
Yet she didn't hesitate to extend herself towards the victim-child of a victim-people, and "drew him out of the water."
How fitting a name for Moses, who would grow to do the same for others.
Based on Sichos Kodesh 5740 vol. 1 pp. 784-788.
Excerpt from "The Light at the Heart of Darkness" by Rabbi Jonathan Sacks in Covenant & Conversation, page 28
Who then was Pharoah's daughter? Nowhere is she explicitly named. However the First Book of Chronicles (4:18) mentions a daughter of Pharaoh, named Bitya, and it was she the sages identified as the woman who saved Moses. The name Bitya (sometimes rendered as Batya) means "the daughter of God." From this, the sages drew one of their most striking lessons: "The Holy One, blessed be He, said to her: 'Moses was not your son, yet you called him your son. You are not My daughter, but I shall call you My daughter.'" They added that she was one of the few people (tradition enumerates nine) who were so righteous that they entered paradise in their lifetime.
Instead of "Pharaoh's daughter" read "Hitler's daughter" or "Stalin's daughter" and we see what is at stake. Tyranny cannot destroy humanity. Moral courage can sometimes be found in the heart of darkness. That the Torah itself tells the story the way it does has enormous implications. It means that when it comes to people, we must never generalize, never stereotype. The Egyptians were not all evil: even from Pharaoh himself a heroine was born. Nothing could signal more powerfully that the Torah is not an ethnocentric text; that we must recognize virtue wherever we find it, even among our enemies; and that the basic core of human values- humanity, compassion, courage- is truly universal. Holiness may not be; goodness is.
Questions to Consider
1. How might Bat Pharaoh's choice to save Moses have influenced his behavior and future actions (especially if she told him the story of his birth/ identity)?
2. Do you see Moses as someone who was born a savior, someone who lived up to the name he was given and/or someone who was taught to be a savior? What makes the approach you have chosen resonate with you?
3. Do you find there are people in your life who have modeled or actively taught you to stand for certain things/ causes? Who are these people? Did they persuade you- do you still value their causes?
The Story of Esther
We are all familiar with the Purim story and how Esther's ingenuity saved the Jews from destruction. But what or who led her to stand up for that cause? Was it innate? Was she taught to do it? Or was something else in play?
(ו) וַיֵּצֵ֥א הֲתָ֖ךְ אֶֽל־מָרְדֳּכָ֑י אֶל־רְח֣וֹב הָעִ֔יר אֲשֶׁ֖ר לִפְנֵ֥י שַֽׁעַר־הַמֶּֽלֶךְ׃ (ז) וַיַּגֶּד־ל֣וֹ מָרְדֳּכַ֔י אֵ֖ת כָּל־אֲשֶׁ֣ר קָרָ֑הוּ וְאֵ֣ת ׀ פָּרָשַׁ֣ת הַכֶּ֗סֶף אֲשֶׁ֨ר אָמַ֤ר הָמָן֙ לִ֠שְׁקוֹל עַל־גִּנְזֵ֥י הַמֶּ֛לֶךְ ביהודיים [בַּיְּהוּדִ֖ים] לְאַבְּדָֽם׃ (ח) וְאֶת־פַּתְשֶׁ֣גֶן כְּתָֽב־הַ֠דָּת אֲשֶׁר־נִתַּ֨ן בְּשׁוּשָׁ֤ן לְהַשְׁמִידָם֙ נָ֣תַן ל֔וֹ לְהַרְא֥וֹת אֶת־אֶסְתֵּ֖ר וּלְהַגִּ֣יד לָ֑הּ וּלְצַוּ֣וֹת עָלֶ֗יהָ לָב֨וֹא אֶל־הַמֶּ֧לֶךְ לְהִֽתְחַנֶּן־ל֛וֹ וּלְבַקֵּ֥שׁ מִלְּפָנָ֖יו עַל־עַמָּֽהּ׃ (ט) וַיָּב֖וֹא הֲתָ֑ךְ וַיַּגֵּ֣ד לְאֶסְתֵּ֔ר אֵ֖ת דִּבְרֵ֥י מָרְדֳּכָֽי׃ (י) וַתֹּ֤אמֶר אֶסְתֵּר֙ לַהֲתָ֔ךְ וַתְּצַוֵּ֖הוּ אֶֽל־מָרְדֳּכָֽי׃ (יא) כָּל־עַבְדֵ֣י הַמֶּ֡לֶךְ וְעַם־מְדִינ֨וֹת הַמֶּ֜לֶךְ יֽוֹדְעִ֗ים אֲשֶׁ֣ר כָּל־אִ֣ישׁ וְאִשָּׁ֡ה אֲשֶׁ֣ר יָבֽוֹא־אֶל־הַמֶּלֶךְ֩ אֶל־הֶחָצֵ֨ר הַפְּנִימִ֜ית אֲשֶׁ֣ר לֹֽא־יִקָּרֵ֗א אַחַ֤ת דָּתוֹ֙ לְהָמִ֔ית לְ֠בַד מֵאֲשֶׁ֨ר יֽוֹשִׁיט־ל֥וֹ הַמֶּ֛לֶךְ אֶת־שַׁרְבִ֥יט הַזָּהָ֖ב וְחָיָ֑ה וַאֲנִ֗י לֹ֤א נִקְרֵ֙אתי֙ לָב֣וֹא אֶל־הַמֶּ֔לֶךְ זֶ֖ה שְׁלוֹשִׁ֥ים יֽוֹם׃ (יב) וַיַּגִּ֣ידוּ לְמָרְדֳּכָ֔י אֵ֖ת דִּבְרֵ֥י אֶסְתֵּֽר׃ (פ) (יג) וַיֹּ֥אמֶר מָרְדֳּכַ֖י לְהָשִׁ֣יב אֶל־אֶסְתֵּ֑ר אַל־תְּדַמִּ֣י בְנַפְשֵׁ֔ךְ לְהִמָּלֵ֥ט בֵּית־הַמֶּ֖לֶךְ מִכָּל־הַיְּהוּדִֽים׃ (יד) כִּ֣י אִם־הַחֲרֵ֣שׁ תַּחֲרִישִׁי֮ בָּעֵ֣ת הַזֹּאת֒ רֶ֣וַח וְהַצָּלָ֞ה יַעֲמ֤וֹד לַיְּהוּדִים֙ מִמָּק֣וֹם אַחֵ֔ר וְאַ֥תְּ וּבֵית־אָבִ֖יךְ תֹּאבֵ֑דוּ וּמִ֣י יוֹדֵ֔עַ אִם־לְעֵ֣ת כָּזֹ֔את הִגַּ֖עַתְּ לַמַּלְכֽוּת׃ (טו) וַתֹּ֥אמֶר אֶסְתֵּ֖ר לְהָשִׁ֥יב אֶֽל־מָרְדֳּכָֽי׃ (טז) לֵךְ֩ כְּנ֨וֹס אֶת־כָּל־הַיְּהוּדִ֜ים הַֽנִּמְצְאִ֣ים בְּשׁוּשָׁ֗ן וְצ֣וּמוּ עָ֠לַי וְאַל־תֹּאכְל֨וּ וְאַל־תִּשְׁתּ֜וּ שְׁלֹ֤שֶׁת יָמִים֙ לַ֣יְלָה וָי֔וֹם גַּם־אֲנִ֥י וְנַעֲרֹתַ֖י אָצ֣וּם כֵּ֑ן וּבְכֵ֞ן אָב֤וֹא אֶל־הַמֶּ֙לֶךְ֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר לֹֽא־כַדָּ֔ת וְכַאֲשֶׁ֥ר אָבַ֖דְתִּי אָבָֽדְתִּי׃ (יז) וַֽיַּעֲבֹ֖ר מָרְדֳּכָ֑י וַיַּ֕עַשׂ כְּכֹ֛ל אֲשֶׁר־צִוְּתָ֥ה עָלָ֖יו אֶסְתֵּֽר׃ (ס)
(6) Hathach went out to Mordecai in the city square in front of the palace gate; (7) and Mordecai told him all that had happened to him, and all about the money that Haman had offered to pay into the royal treasury for the destruction of the Jews. (8) He also gave him the written text of the law that had been proclaimed in Shushan for their destruction. [He bade him] show it to Esther and inform her, and charge her to go to the king and to appeal to him and to plead with him for her people. (9) When Hathach came and delivered Mordecai’s message to Esther, (10) Esther told Hathach to take back to Mordecai the following reply: (11) “All the king’s courtiers and the people of the king’s provinces know that if any person, man or woman, enters the king’s presence in the inner court without having been summoned, there is but one law for him—that he be put to death. Only if the king extends the golden scepter to him may he live. Now I have not been summoned to visit the king for the last thirty days.” (12) When Mordecai was told what Esther had said, (13) Mordecai had this message delivered to Esther: “Do not imagine that you, of all the Jews, will escape with your life by being in the king’s palace. (14) On the contrary, if you keep silent in this crisis, relief and deliverance will come to the Jews from another quarter, while you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows, perhaps you have attained to royal position for just such a crisis.” (15) Then Esther sent back this answer to Mordecai: (16) “Go, assemble all the Jews who live in Shushan, and fast in my behalf; do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my maidens will observe the same fast. Then I shall go to the king, though it is contrary to the law; and if I am to perish, I shall perish!” (17) So Mordecai went about [the city] and did just as Esther had commanded him.
Questions to Consider
1. What does Mordechai inform Esther of in this section?
2. How does Esther react (does she immediately want to go save the day?)
3. What do you think of Esther's initial reaction- is it understandable?
4. What is Mordechai's rebuke to Esther?
5. Does Mordechai's rebuke work- does Esther become more willing to stand up for her people?
6. Why do you think Mordechai's telling Esther that she might have been FATED or DESTINED to help out at this moment had such an impact? Do you think it would have had a similar impact on you?
Being fated or destined to do something echoes interesting research on how individuals find their calling. Below is an article that discusses this concept in more depth.
Finding One's Calling (The Cause That Really Matters)
7 Lessons About Finding the Work You Were Meant to Do from Dave Isay, StoryCorps founder (link)
1. Your calling is at the intersection of a Venn diagram of three things: doing something you’re good at, feeling appreciated, and believing your work is making people’s lives better. “When those three things line up, it’s like lightning,” Isay says. He doesn’t suggest that a person has to be a surgeon saving lives to feel like they have a calling; think of the diner waitress who talks to customers and makes them feel loved. How do you find this overlap? “You have to shut out all the chatter of what your friends are telling you to do, what your parents are telling you to do, what society is telling you to do,” Isay says, “and just go to that quiet place inside you that knows the truth.”
2. Your calling often comes out of difficult experiences. What lurks in that quiet place will be a defining experience — quite possibly a painful one. Isay points to an interview in Callings with 24-year-old teacher Ayodeji Ogunniyi. “He was studying to be a doctor when his father was murdered. He realized that what he was really meant to do was be a teacher,” says Isay. “He says that every time he walks into a classroom, his father is walking in with him.” This theme of people turning their hardest experiences into a new path runs throughout the book. “Having an experience that really shakes you and reminds you of your mortality can be a very clarifying event in people’s lives. Oftentimes, it leads to changes,” he says. “We spend a lot of time working, so it can really change your priorities in terms of work life.”
3. Calling often takes courage and ruffles feathers. Elsewhere in Callings, we hear about Wendell Scott, who became the first African-American NASCAR driver in 1952, and kept on driving despite threats against his life. From scientist Dorothy Warburton who dealt with extreme sexism as she conducted research to break the stigma around miscarriage. From Burnell Cotlon, who opened the first grocery store in the Lower 9th Ward after Hurricane Katrina because he wasn’t about to let his old neighborhood’s spirit fade. Calling, says Isay, very often starts with taking a stand against a status quo that simply isn’t acceptable, and then dedicating your work to changing it: “It’s work ignited by hope, love, or defiance — and stoked by purpose and persistence.”
4. Other people often nudge you toward calling. Sharon Long had worked odd jobs most of her life. As Isay tells it, “Her daughter was going to college, and as the bursar was helping them with financial aid forms, she said quietly to herself, ‘I wish I could’ve gone to college.’ The bursar responded, ‘It’s not too late.’” Sharon enrolled in an art program, and on her advisor’s suggestion, took forensic anthropology as her science. “The advisor suggested it for no other reason than he thought it was the easiest science course for the science requirement,” says Isay. “But the minute she sat in that class, it was boom — this is what she was meant to do.” Isay tells this story to illustrate how calling, while very personal, is also relational. “People bump you this way and that way,” he says, often without realizing it. “When people find their callings, they want to honor those people who helped them get there.”
5. What comes after identifying your calling is what really matters. The old ‘finding your calling’ phraseology makes it sound like a calling is a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow — you find it, and the story’s over. But Isay stresses that your calling is an ongoing process. “Understanding what your calling is — that’s very different than the blood, sweat and tears of actually doing it,” he says. Pursuing a calling may require going back to school or apprenticing; it may require starting a business. Often, notes Isay, it leads a person into a line of work that’s in service of others. “This book is basically a love letter to nurses, teachers, social workers — the people who don’t often get celebrated for the work they do,” he says.
6. Age is irrelevant. Isay found his calling when he was 21 and interviewed a man who’d been part of the Stonewall riots. “The minute I hit record, I knew that being a journalist and interviewing people was what I was going to do for the rest of my life,” he says. “I feel very lucky that lightning struck when I was very young.” But collecting stories for the book reminded him that a calling can be discovered at any age. The book includes an interview with someone who knew they wanted to be an NBA referee at age 15, and another who worked as an accountant for 30 years before discovering his passion for slicing lox. “Doing the work you’re meant to do is one of the most satisfying, remarkable experiences that a person can have,” says Isay, “so never give up.”
7. Calling often doesn’t come with a big paycheck. Another trend Isay sees in stories of people who find their calling: they often involve leaving a high-paying job for one that’s lower-paying but more satisfying. “The message we send to young people is that you want to do as little work as you can to make as much money as you can — that’s the dream,” says Isay. “But the wisdom in the StoryCorps archive is that there’s another, much more rewarding dream of taking risks and working very hard to live with integrity.” In the end, that’s the lesson he took away from writing this book. “There are no millionaires, no billionaires, no celebrities, nobody with a big Twitter following,” he says. “Just stories can teach us a lot about lives fully lived.”
Questions to Consider
1. Is there something you feel fated or destined to do?
2. Has there been an experience in your life that has led you to feel strongly about a cause that might become your calling? What was it?
3. Based on what you've read, is standing up for a cause and/or pursuing your calling easy?
Giving Everything for the Cause
We're going to look at two fascinating women and how they gave up status, material comfort and even personal dignity for their causes. The first is Ruth, of the famous Megillat Ruth. The second is a fascinating Talmudic figure, Rachel, who ends up becoming the wife of Rabbi Akiva.
(ט) וַיִּשְׂאוּ לָהֶם נָשִׂים מֹאֲבִיּוֹת (רות א, ד), תָּנֵי בְּשֵׁם רַבִּי מֵאִיר לֹא גִּיְּרוּם וְלֹא הִטְבִּילוּ אוֹתָם וְלֹא הָיְתָה הֲלָכָה [...]. רַבִּי בֵּיבַי בְּשֵׁם רַבִּי רְאוּבֵן אָמַר, רוּת וְעָרְפָּה בְּנוֹתָיו שֶׁל עֶגְלוֹן הָיוּ,
And they married Moabite women: Rabbi Meir states that they did not convert [...] Ruth and Orpah were the daughters of King Eglon (who appears in the book of Judges), Moabite princesses.
(15) So she (Naomi) said, “See, your sister-in-law has returned to her people and her gods. Go follow your sister-in-law.” (16) But Ruth replied, “Do not urge me to leave you, to turn back and not follow you. For wherever you go, I will go; wherever you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God my God. (17) Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. Thus and more may the LORD do to me if anything but death parts me from you.” (18) When [Naomi] saw how determined she was to go with her, she ceased to argue with her;
(2) Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, “I would like to go to the fields and glean among the ears of grain, behind someone who may show me kindness.” “Yes, daughter, go,” she replied; (3) and off she went. She came and gleaned in a field, behind the reapers; and, as luck would have it, it was the piece of land belonging to Boaz, who was of Elimelech’s family.
Questions to Consider
1. What was Ruth's lineage and status?
2. What does that suggest in terms of her having property, material possessions and wealth?
3. What was the cause that Ruth was committed to (which she explains to her mother-in-law, Naomi) ?
4. What is Ruth reduced to doing when she returns to Israel with Naomi- and is this something we would imagine a princess coming from means and wealth WANTING to do?
5. What does this show about Ruth's commitment to her cause?
Now let's consider Rachel, yet another woman who traded material comfort for something that mattered more to her.
§ In connection to the above incident concerning the poverty of scholars and their potential to become wealthy through remarkable circumstances, the Gemara relates an incident: Rabbi Akiva became betrothed to the daughter of bar Kalba Savua (an extremely wealthy individual). When bar Kalba Savua heard about their betrothal, he took a vow prohibiting her from benefiting from all of his property. Despite this, she went ahead and married Rabbi Akiva. In the winter they would sleep in a storehouse of straw, and Rabbi Akiva would gather strands of straw from her hair. He said to her: If I had the means I would place on your head a Jerusalem of Gold, a type of crown. Elijah the prophet came and appeared to them as a regular person and started calling and knocking on the door. He said to them: Give me a bit of straw, as my wife gave birth and I do not have anything on which to lay her. Rabbi Akiva said to his wife: See this man, who does not even have straw. We should be happy with our lot, as we at least have straw to sleep on.
ר"ע רעיא דבן כלבא שבוע הוה חזיתיה ברתיה דהוה צניע ומעלי אמרה ליה אי מקדשנא לך אזלת לבי רב אמר לה אין איקדשא ליה בצינעה ושדרתיה שמע אבוה אפקה מביתיה אדרה הנאה מנכסיה אזיל יתיב תרי סרי שנין בבי רב כי אתא אייתי בהדיה תרי סרי אלפי תלמידי שמעיה לההוא סבא דקאמר לה עד כמה קא מדברת אלמנות חיים אמרה ליה אי לדידי ציית יתיב תרי סרי שני אחריני אמר ברשות קא עבידנא הדר אזיל ויתיב תרי סרי שני אחריני בבי רב כי אתא אייתי בהדיה עשרין וארבעה אלפי תלמידי שמעה דביתהו הות קא נפקא לאפיה אמרו לה שיבבתא שאילי מאני לבוש ואיכסאי אמרה להו (משלי יב, י) יודע צדיק נפש בהמתו כי מטיא לגביה נפלה על אפה קא מנשקא ליה לכרעיה הוו קא מדחפי לה שמעיה אמר להו שבקוה שלי ושלכם שלה הוא
The Gemara further relates: Rabbi Akiva was the shepherd of ben Kalba Savua, one of the wealthy residents of Jerusalem. The daughter of Ben Kalba Savua saw that he was humble and refined. She said to him: If I betroth myself to you, will you go to the study hall to learn Torah? He said to her: Yes. She became betrothed to him privately and sent him off to study. Her father heard this and became angry. He removed her from his house and took a vow prohibiting her from benefiting from his property. Rabbi Akiva went and sat for twelve years in the study hall. When he came back to his house he brought twelve thousand students with him, and as he approached he heard an old man saying to his wife: For how long will you lead the life of a widow of a living man, living alone while your husband is in another place? She said to him: If he would listen to me, he would sit and study for another twelve years. When Rabbi Akiva heard this he said: I have permission to do this. He went back and sat for another twelve years in the study hall. When he came back he brought twenty-four thousand students with him. His wife heard and went out toward him to greet him. Her neighbors said: Borrow some clothes and wear them, as your current apparel is not appropriate to meet an important person. She said to them: “A righteous man understands the life of his beast” (Proverbs 12:10). When she came to him she fell on her face and kissed his feet. His attendants pushed her away as they did not know who she was, and he said to them: Leave her alone, as my Torah knowledge and yours is actually hers.
. אלו הן עטרות כלות זו עיר של זהב. ר' עקיבה עשה לאשתו עיר של זהב וקניאת בה איתתיה דרבן גמליאל. אמר לה מה הוית עבדת היך מה דהוות עבדה דהוות מזבנה קליעתא דשערה ויהבה ליה והוא לעי באורייתא.
These are the Jerusalem of Gold crowns. Rabbi Akiva made his wife a Jerusalem of Gold crown. The wife of Rabbi Gamliel was jealous of it. Rabbi Gamliel said to her: "What is your work compared to hers? She (Rachel) cut off the tresses of her hair and sold them (to support Rabbi Akiva in his learning.) Would you have done the same?"
Questions to Consider
1. Who was bar Kalba Savua?
2. What did bar Kalba Savua do when he found out what his daughter wanted to do?
3. What kind of character traits must Rachel have had to follow through on her belief in Akiva?
4. Give examples of the hardships Rachel dealt with because of her commitment to Akiva.
5. Does Rabbi Akiva show acknowledgement or respect for what Rachel did for him? How do you know?
6. Although in the end Rachel receives recognition & a Jerusalem of Gold crown from her husband, there was no guarantee things would have ended that way. Do you think you could have made similar sacrifices for someone/ something/ a cause that you loved?
Takeaways/ What This Means to You
Over the course of this learning session, you've seen examples of celebrities and ordinary people who did meaningful work for a cause they cared about. You've also seen numerous examples within our Jewish tradition of people acting as upstanders- protecting the weak, saving their people and even willing to sacrifice material comfort for the causes they valued.
The causes you care about do not have to be religious ones. It could be that you find great meaning in reading to children at a local public school, volunteering at an animal shelter, or being part of a hockey team. What is important is that you consider what you stand for, which causes you support and why they matter to you.
So what moves you? What cause matters enough that you would invest time and effort into it, maybe even sacrifice for it? Why?