President Obama’s recent winning of the Nobel Peace Prize stirred much debate. He is the youngest person to even have won the prestigious award and many said he really has not done anything to merit it. They say that his accomplishments thus far are primarily rhetoric and aspiration. They represent his hopes and dreams for a better America and a better world. Noble and grand though they may be, those aspirations are yet unfulfilled and those dreams are but visions of reality, but not yet reality.
Aspirations…dreams and hopes…visions of reality. They may – or may not be – the stuff worthy of a Nobel Prize. I am not sure. But, on a different level and in a different arena, aspirations, dreams and visions of the future are the stuff of everyday existence.
Just ask parents. Parents cannot possibly know precisely how their children will turn out, but it does not prevent them from investing seemingly never ending energies in making aspirations, dreams and visions of the future a reality.
Just ask any teacher. Do teachers know how any of their students will ultimately turn out? Of course not, but it does not prevent them from doing all they can to inspire, encourage, challenge, cheer on and yes, educate, those who have been entrusted to their care.
As a rabbi and educator, I often think about the many Jewish children growing into adulthood without a significant Jewish education. I then think about my students here at Cardin. I don’t always know why they chose Cardin. I have no idea what role Judaism will ultimately play in their lives. All I know is – these are the ones that have been entrusted to me. These are the ones I have dreams about. These are the ones I have hopes for.
What will come of those hopes and dreams? I can’t say for sure, but experience has already taught me that some dreams very definitely come true!
Rabbi Yaakov Chaitovsky
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