For Each to Discover חובתו בעולמו  : A Hope for the Class of 2022 

 To the Dear Class of 2022,

While each class is unique, you will always be special as not only a class that I have grown with here at KDS since you were in 3rd grade, but as the first that I had the pleasure of teaching in the classroom on a regular basis.  Through our time together every other day in Judaics this year and in so many other surroundings, I have been so impressed with you all.  You are a group of smart, inquisitive, caring and supportive young people.  

While many principals tell their graduates that they have the whole world in front of them, I want to sharpen that blessing with two other ideas about the world for you to take going forward.

The first message about the world comes from R. Moshe Chaim Luzatto as told in his  מסילת ישרים.   He tells us that the most important job of each person is to figure out חובתו בעולמו  their responsibility in their own world.  

The outside world is out there for you to navigate, but also, at the same time, you have to create your own worlds, olamo–you have to create worlds of what is important to you, worlds of your social circles, of your beliefs and of your education.  Find your mission in your world, put yourself in a world where you will be the best you you can be.   Blessing #1–Create the world you want to see and fulfill your potential in it.  

The second message comes from a famous passage in the Talmud.  In Sanhedrin 37a it says, - כל אחד ואחד חייב לומר בשבילי נברא העולם each and every person is obligated to say: The world was created for me.

If we truly believe that the world is just for me, it seems that this is a selfish idea.  All is for me, all is about me. I am the center.

Yet, R. Shai Held tells us that this passage has in mind something totally different.  It actually teaches us not what we are entitled to, but what we are responsible for.  While we should enjoy the wonderful things in the world, the Talmud is saying that the world is fully there not to take from it, but to improve it.  It is there for me to impact it.  

Blessing #2-Realize that every moment and every environment is one that is ripe for impact. 

Yes, you have the whole world in your hands.  Realize that the world you inherit is not only one that is full of possibilities, but it is one that also demands we each fill our responsibilities of  giving to others and also of creating environments where goodness can thrive. 

May you be blessed to fill these worlds with kindness, goodness and growth.

Come and visit often, keep in touch and make our KDS world part of the world you create. 


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