BH

A few weeks ago on A Shabbos morning, I couldn’t help but notice a young girl davening in Shul
in a manner that seemed very much beyond her years. I understood that Karina is a special
Jewish girl as you (have seen) (will see in a moment), proud of her Judaism, of which she has a
lot to be proud of. I also understood that Karina you are blessed to have parents, who are giving
you the greatest gift of your life. I believe every parent wants only the best for their child and
your parents are indeed giving you the best. They invest a lot of time and effort into seeing that
you and your sisters receive a strong Jewish education and they demonstrate to you the
importance of the Jewish community in a way that will be with you for your entire life.
Why is it the greatest gift?
There is a parable told of two people sitting at the entrance of a vineyard, filled with ripe
delicious grapes that from the smell itself you can almost get drunk. The problem is one man is
blind – he doesn’t see the grapes. The other sees the grapes, is so tempted by them, but cannot
reach them – he is lame. The lame person turns to the blind person and says, listen here you can
walk, but you cant see where you’re going I can see but I can get anywhere. Put me on your
shoulders and I will guide you, so that we can both benefit. Each of us are the story of these 2
people.
Each and every Jew, indeed each and every human being is born into this world with a mission.
Birth is not coincidence it is G-d’s way of saying to each of us - you matter. The desire to
connect to G-d, to fulfill the mission that each of us are entrusted with as we come down into the
world, to express the beautiful language of our soul and our spirit, is inherent in each of us. That
is the part of us that sees with a clear vision and that is really who we are. On the other hand,
sometimes the world tries to blind us. Our values, our pride are bombarded by what society tries
to dictate is important. And we vacillate between thee 2 worlds, the world of the soul and the
world of the body. How do we bring the 2 together, so that everything I know and feel deep
down will have an effect on my life? What are the tools to express that inner Jewishness, that
Jewish pride in the world that we live in on a daily basis?
That my friends is Jewish education in all of its forms, formal and informal, in the home and in
the school, through example and through study. And that is the gift Karina that your parents give
you.
A person is created with a desire to long to something greater than he or her. When we give a
child the gift of belonging to a community a sense that they are a part of a 3000 year chain that is
coming from somewhere and going somewhere and we’re ot here just to live our lives with a
making a difference, that is the greatest gift we can give them. Karina you are blessed to have
such wonderful parents and I am sure that in a few years from now you will be scuh a wonderful
parent yourself, building a home that is based upon a strong foundation, a foundation that I can
see you are clearly working diligently towards, a home that will be a source of pride to your
family, a home that will be a strength for your community and a home that will make great
contributions to the Jewish People.