Rabbi Tzipi Radonsky broached the subject of waking up in the morning to a group of sleepy eighth graders this morning. She divided the class into "alefs" and "bets" and asked them to describe how they started the day. They then evaluated how authentic they were in describing the day to each other, recognizing that familiarity allows for greater authenticity.
Jessie said, "Authenticity and self-awareness are characteristics that leaders should have." Tzipi answered with the story of Zusia and Elimelech. "When I get to heaven, they will ask me why I wasn't more like Zusia," explaining that the rabbis picked Zusia to tell the story of authenticity and to emphasize that each person must be himself or herself.
Tzipi reminded students that Moshe was told, "Take your shoes off your feet; you are standing on holy ground." "In the Torah," she said, "every word is there for a reason." Why, then, are the words "off your feet" necessary? The Hebrew word for shoe, "na-al" נעל comes from the root "to lock, or to hold in," and the word for foot, "regel" רגל comes from the Hebrew word for "pattern." Tzipi continued, "To be on holy ground, then, is to be authentic. Know the patterns that hold you. Find your comfortable patterns."
Leadership depends on core values. Students chose their top three values in yesterday's session; Tzipi reminded them that these may change over time. "Each one of you," she said, "has a mission."
Students also participated in an exercise called Social Identity Map. They filled out sheets defining their social identities, marking those characteristics they thought would make them good leaders as well as those that might challenge them in leadership.
A few student ideas of what attributes would make them better leaders:
- Dima: a good education
- Jessie: do well in school
- Russell: academics
- Jake: be a good friend
- Evan S.: a good education
- Evan B.: being smart
- Micah: being 13 - young is what I am
- Jennie: education
- Matt: friendliness
- Samuel: education.
Tzipi reminded them that leaders need left-brain and right-brain attributes in order to truly succeed at leadership.Students mentioned characteristics that might inhibit leadership: youth, talking a lot (not listening), bad (physical) vision, confusion, place in family (youngest child).
As the hour drew to a close, students examined their core values and identified those that might be useful in leading others: knowledge, self-respect, happiness, achievement, wisdom ("being smart"), patience, independence.
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