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November 6, 2009
Caring together is key
Life with meaning takes collective action.
MICHELLE DODEK
What is our purpose in life? Why are we here? During her address on Thursday, Oct. 29, Amy Hirshberg Lederman asked a group of more than 300 women to consider these questions in the context of the Vancouver Jewish community.
The Lederman lecture was the keynote address at Choices, the annual Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver women's philanthropy division event held, this year, at Beth Israel Synagogue. The focus of the address was connecting with others as a way to bring meaning to life. Lederman spoke specifically of forging ties within the Jewish community in order, not only to help realize personal fulfilment, but also in connection with the three names that the Midrash (exposition of Jewish texts) says will be bestowed upon you throughout your life.
The Midrash says that the first name is the one parents give. The second is given by friends and peers (a nickname) and the third, most important and most lasting name, is the one a person receives by way of the actions undertaken during his or her lifetime. This name addresses what it is that we stand for and what we do about it. Lederman suggested that, as a Jewish people, we need to stand and act together.
She skilfully entertained the audience with vivid storytelling, particularly of a story told in the Book of Exodus. It occurs at the foot of Mount Sinai at the time of the reception of the Ten Commandments. There is a lot of noise from the heavens and the 600,000 people encamped there with their animals, but suddenly there is complete silence. Each person hears the voice of G-d as though being spoken to personally and, at that moment, the entire Jewish people become one and is joined together, forever.
Through this piece of Torah, Lederman hoped to convey that, to this day, we all have a responsibility for each other and it is through the Jewish community that we can follow this directive. "Twenty-five hundred years ago," said Lederman, "the rabbis knew how hard it is to be responsible. They said, 'A community is too heavy for one person to carry alone.'" Lederman posited that one answer to this conundrum is the Jewish Federation.
"I interviewed representatives from your community, from JFSA [Jewish Family Service Agency] and Federation to find out what you have done here," Lederman said. She went on to relate three stories of community members who have received assistance in the past year to illustrate ways in which families and individuals have been able to maintain a connection to the community because the community has reached out to embrace them.
Lederman stressed that it is only through working together to help others that we can truly give our lives meaning and purpose. One of her anecdotes was about a woman who summed up, in Lederman's view, the essence of being Jewish when she said that, "Sharing is part of being human. Giving is as vital as eating and breathing." This, from a woman who has made a donation to Federation religiously, every year, in spite of the fact that she has trouble finding the money to buy food for herself.
Many women at the event commented that Lederman's lecture left them wanting more from the award-winning Jewish educator. Some expected even more from the author who has written two books on finding meaning through Jewish texts and Jewish life. Others, who were not familiar with the work of Federation in Vancouver, were interested and excited to hear what Jews in Vancouver are doing to help one another.
Michelle Dodek is the mother of two small children and a freelance writer living in Vancouver.
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