
Sometimes on ordinary mornings you meet extraordinary people.
On a recent work trip to New York, I started my morning by attending a local Sephardic synagogue in Brooklyn for prayer services. Weekday services are usually fast-paced so people can pray and still catch the subway to get to work on time.
As I was rushing to make my way out, I was stopped by a woman at the door who asked me if I could please stay for her son’s bar mitzvah ceremony right after the service. I’ll admit, my gut reaction was one of hesitation. I had just flown in from Los Angeles and had a day jam-packed with meetings to get to. But the woman gave me this pleading look that broke my heart, and I could tell that she really needed me to stay. So I turned around and went right back inside the synagogue.
I saw the young bar mitzvah boy sitting alone with his grandfather and mother. It became pretty clear to me that he did not understand what to do and that he must have come from a secular upbringing. The Rabbi of the synagogue was nowhere in sight, so I took the liberty of stepping up to help the boy put on his tallit and tefillin. I stood there with him and helped him say the blessings over the Torah. Then I gave him a big hug. He was beaming and so thankful.
Afterwards, his mother came over to thank me. She explained how her ex-husband had abandoned their family a few years ago. But she had promised her elderly father that she would give her son a bar mitzvah. Her eyes filled with tears and she declared, “I am committed to giving my son a Jewish life, no matter how hard the world tries to keep me down.”
I walked out of that synagogue not just emotional, but more inspired than ever to fight on behalf of the Jewish People and every grad student that JGO serves.
If you pay attention, you’ll find hidden Jewish heroes like that single mother and her bar mitzvah boy all around us. People fighting to stay connected to their Jewish faith despite all odds. People like our thousands of grad students who are building strong and proud Jewish communities on campuses throughout North America amidst sometimes tough surroundings. Go out and meet some of them. You’re never too busy to be inspired.