01/30/2015
GREETINGS FROM NECHAMA LABER:
We celebrated JGU's third Virtual Rosh Chodesh Celebration on January 18, 2015 for mothers and daughters from around the world. At the virtual Celebration, we celebrated the life of the Prophetess Devorah, which is the Haftorah reading for this Shabbos Parshas B'shalach. We also welcomed Rus Devorah Wallen, a musician and psychologist as our woman of the month. I was inspired and gained an important life lesson, which I recently discussed with Susan Axelrod, consultant for Jewish Girls Unite.
FOCUS
“Devorah Judged from under a Palm Tree”:
Every word in the Torah is precise, so what lesson can we learn from the fact that she judged from under a palm tree?
A palm tree has one heart and no branches and symbolizes that Devorah influenced the Jewish people to serve Hashem with one heart. In a palm tree, the nourishment comes up from the ground straight to the top where the fruits grow and it does not get sidetracked by other branches, so too they had one focus and didn’t get distracted from serving Hashem. (Talmud)
Rus Devorah shared a relevant quote from the Lubavitcher Rebbe:
Living in the NOW, wherever you are:
"In every situation the journey of your life may bring you, you must be fully present where you are. You may only be passing through on your way to somewhere else seemingly more important - nevertheless, there is a purpose in where you are right now.”
In a world with so many distractions, we can lose focus and forget to prioritize. We must realize how valuable our time is with our family and friends. Let's make a conscious effort to truly listen to others and be fully present.
During our meeting, Susan illustrated a picture of my tasks and activities being 'poured' into a funnel - the result looked like a palm tree! As we listed my activities, we discussed the most important things that I should allow into the funnel such as: My Family, My JGU/JGR Family, Obtaining A Permanent Home for JGR, Chabad activities, JGU programming. However..........Pesach in Lake George didn't fit into the funnel because it was diverting a huge amount of my energy from our mission to inspire Jewish girls.
Suddenly, I saw Devorah’s palm tree before me and remembered the lesson! I recognized that my family and the JGU tree required my undivided attention in order to get the proper nourishment. I realized that I needed to let go of Pesach in Lake George for now in order to have one main focus to grow a stronger Jewish Girls Retreat with a permanent home for JGU. It was a difficult decision because we will miss our Pesach Retreat family until we resume the program again!!
Leshana Habaah B'yerushalayim!!!
