The Seeds We Plant

Along the road of our lives, we touch others and plant seeds, and we often don’t know the impact we are making or what comes from our efforts.

This week I was given the pleasure of finding out that The Almighty watered some seeds that we were privileged to plant, and gave me the joy of actually knowing what grew.

It began with receiving an email that someone who heard me talk about my kidney donation decided to donate her kidney to someone too. Then I found out that a woman who heard me speak about my adventure in Malawi witnessing Israel technology bringing electricity and clean water to remote villages, decided to make that her son’s bar mitzvah project, raising money to make it happen.

And if that wasn’t enough, I went to a wedding in Israel, and a beautiful young woman came up to me, told me her name, hugged me and said, “I am Jewish because of you.” It turns out she was the daughter of a woman who used to come to my classes years ago who decided to convert.

All of these stories this week came because I was vocal about my values. You think your kids and others are not listening, but they are. Don’t be afraid to share what you believe in. Don’t preach, reach. If you are clear on your values, speak about them, and try to live them. Those around you can hear it, put it in their hard drives, and perhaps one day makes a real change because of them.

There are people out there who you have impacted, and you don’t even know it. We may not always get to hear “the end of the story,” but every once and awhile G-d lets us in on it, to give us pleasure and inspire us to keep going and try to do even more.

Good Shabbos, Shabbat Shalom–