What legacy do we want
to leave?
Brazil
My Father’s Best Bequest
Mexico
The Impact of Legacies
What legacy do we want to leave?
Avi Gelberg
Brazil
What do we want to pass on to our children and grandchildren? What legacy do we want to leave? Our people have miraculously survived for millennia without a country. They have suffered and been persecuted, but even so, we have developed values that we pass on from generation to generation. And one of these is Tikkun Olam, the repair
of the world.
I’d like to tell you a story:
A scientist, greatly concerned about the world’s problems, was determined to find a cure for the viruses that are attacking everyone. He spent days and nights in his lab to find answers to his questions.
One day, his seven-year-old son invaded his place of solitude, determined to help his father in his work. The scientist, already nervous about viruses and research, tried to get the child to go elsewhere, but realizing that the boy would not leave, he looked for something to distract the boy.
He took a little book containing a world map, cut it into many pieces and gave it to the boy, along with a roll of duct tape. He said to him, "You like puzzles, right? You want to help me fix the world? I'll let you fix the world all by yourself."
When I managed to fix the man, I turned him over and saw that I could fix the world.
He thought it would take the boy days to assemble the map, but a few hours later, he heard his son's voice calmly calling him. "Dad, I'm done. I managed to fix the whole world."
At first, the father did not believe it: it was not possible that at the age of seven the child would be able to reassemble a map that he has never seen before! But he left his notes and went to his son, confident that he would see a complicated mess, full of errors.
To his surprise, the map was perfect-all the pieces were in place. How was this possible? How did he do it? "You didn't know what the world was like," the scientist said to his son. "How did you do this?"
"Dad," said the boy, "I didn't know what the world was like, but when you tore the page out of the booklet, I saw that there was a picture of a man on the other side of the page. When you gave me the world to fix, I tried, but I couldn't. Then I remembered the picture of the man on the other side, so I turned all the pieces over and started to fix the man, because I knew how he should be. When I managed to fix the man, I turned him over and saw that I could fix the world.
We live in this world and we want to fix it, but first we have to fix ourselves: we have to fix and heal mankind. If we can do this, we will already have taken a giant step toward healing the world.
We also contribute to Tikkun Olam when we invest in the State of Israel. Doing so, creates an insurance policy for future generations.
We must teach our children that helping one person can help to fix the whole world.
Le Dor Va Dor-that should be our lesson for the generations to come.
My Father’s Best Bequest
Tania Rudelman M.A. Political Management
Mexico
What I heard that night marked me for life. During dinner, they not only talked about the news from Israel, on that occasion they remembered that my father, along with a group of Costa Rican Jewish doctors, had enlisted to respond to the call for help made by the State of Israel during the war of the Six Days.
Wow, I thought, I can't believe Dad would have been willing to leave the family and risk his life to travel to a war zone. His love for Israel was profound.
The generation of my father, Dr. Samuel Rudelman Z’l, grew up under the gray trail that the Shoah left in the heart of the Jewish people. By his example, Dad took every opportunity to turn pain into conviction in fighting for a solid and strong Eretz Israel. He took advantage of every opportunity to achieve his goal. One of the ways was his involvement with Israel Bonds, which he was always passionate about. For him, standing with Israel was a central pillar of his life and, indeed, all our lives.
It was to show responsibility towards our spiritual home and the only country in the world willing to defend the Jews in its territory or in any corner of the world.
His love for Israel was profound.
I recently had the opportunity to visit several universities in the United States with my children. Words would not be enough to express the sadness and indignation I felt when I perceived how the hatred spread by the network of the BDS (boycott, divestment and sanctions) movement against Israel and Jewish students has been normalized. But, beyond my appreciation, various studies show that anti-Semitic incidents have shown a drastic increase around the world.
Dad is gone. But his legacy lives on. It is to face our enemies together, to continue the work of those who have given their lives to build Israel, and even more, of those who died longing for the certainty and security that Israel, our Jewish home, provides us.
What I heard that night marked me for life. During dinner, they not only talked about the news from Israel, on that occasion they remembered that my father, along with a group of Costa Rican Jewish doctors, had enlisted to respond to the call for help made by the State of Israel during the war of the Six Days.
Wow, I thought, I can't believe Dad would have been willing to leave the family and risk his life to travel to a war zone. His love for Israel was profound.
The generation of my father, Dr. Samuel Rudelman Z’l, grew up under the gray trail that the Shoah left in the heart of the Jewish people. By his example, Dad took every opportunity to turn pain into conviction in fighting for a solid and strong Eretz Israel. He took advantage of every opportunity to achieve his goal. One of the ways was his involvement with Israel Bonds, which he was always passionate about. For him, standing with Israel was a central pillar of his life and, indeed, all our lives.
It was to show responsibility towards our spiritual home and the only country in the world willing to defend the Jews in its territory or in any corner of the world.
His love for Israel was profound.
I recently had the opportunity to visit several universities in the United States with my children. Words would not be enough to express the sadness and indignation I felt when I perceived how the hatred spread by the network of the BDS (boycott, divestment and sanctions) movement against Israel and Jewish students has been normalized. But, beyond my appreciation, various studies show that anti-Semitic incidents have shown a drastic increase around the world.
Dad is gone. But his legacy lives on. It is to face our enemies together, to continue the work of those who have given their lives to build Israel, and even more, of those who died longing for the certainty and security that Israel, our Jewish home, provides us.