No I don't need a better travel agent. I have been in Omaha NE for the past day on business. I leave for Atlanta from here tomorrow afternoon and then on to Tel Aviv. But despite the rather roundabout logistics of these flights, there is great irony in me being in Omaha that I have spent the last few hours thinking about.
There are people who enter our lives and stick around, there are those who walk through our life once and are never heard from again, but then there are those who we seem to cross paths with many times. I once read a book (the Celestine Prophecy) that hypothesized that if someone has a purpose in your life that is still unfinished they will keep crossing your path, until the purpose is complete. I am not sure I come close to believing in a world that mystical, but you have to wonder.
Ironically, Omaha is home to one of those people who keeps crossing my life, Joel.
There are five people as I look back on my interactions with Israel and philanthropy in general that played pivotal roles. They helped me realize the true value of Israel in my life and the role of my life in Israel. They helped me understand the world is bigger than each of us, but despite that we are responsible for helping those we have never met, for giving what we can and then some and for doing our part.
One of those five was Joel. I first met Joel when I was 25 or so and living in Syracuse NY. Joel was a friend of two of the other people I count in those 5. He was speaking at a Young Leadership event. I remember hearing him speak. Joel is one of those speakers who can pull you, in make you feel like you have shared his experiences with him and leave you charged for action. Even if you have heard Joel's stories many times you are still moved by them (and if you have known Joel a while you HAVE heard his stories a few times....including the wrong house for a football game story *smile*) .
I remember looking at Joel that day and feeling so envious, he was somewhere in his life I thought I could never get, successful, involved, respected and he was able to use that to help heal the world. But instead of that envy being paralyzing, I used it to learn, to better my life, and to set goals, that I thought that day so unreachable.
The next time Joel and I crossed paths was somewhere around 2002. I was now a member of YL Cabinet, was involved in UJC and got my chance not only to tell Joel what an impact his lessons had had on me but to use what he taught me. Over the next couple years we got to work together on a few different events as he was chairing a UJC group I was on the executive committee of. In that time I saw Israel for the first time, and I remember sitting in Atlanta after the trip for the first time with the tables turned...Joel sitting in the audience and me at the podium, sharing my experiences hoping to inspire others. I can admit now that no one in that room made me nervous except Joel. It is always hard to have your heroes watching, but he had set the bar very high. And ironically I was scheduled to speak right after him. But the smile on his face as I spoke helped me see how far my life had come in those 7 years. That I had learned his lessons well and was a place in my life I never thought possible.
Fast forward another 7 years....here I am in Omaha, his hometown, and about to leave to do what he taught me so many years ago. Go where you are needed. Be there. Make your voice heard. Do more than write a check to help, make sure you do write the check, but do more than that. If you are able, there is no excuse for inaction. Never be silent. Tell the world about those in need. Challenge others to action. Never consider the effort over. We owe the world, the world doesn't owe us. And most of all, never take no for an answer when you believe in what you are doing. Whether the no you are hearing is your own self doubts, naysayers, financial challenges, or personal safety risks. Anything is possible if we give it our all.
Tomorrow I will travel physically from Omaha to Tel Aviv, but in some ways I have been making that journey for the last 14 years.
No comments:
Post a Comment