Listen Closely for the Spark; Fan the Flame (Summer Reading 2019; Beha'alotecha 5779)

Mike Norbert, former NCAA All-American, founder of
Swim with a Purpose swim school in Atlanta

Summer was time for fun in my family. But it also was a time for learning with a purpose -- whether it was beginning swim lessons or lifeguarding courses at the local pool, learning new social skills at public school enrichment day camp, theater and literature classes at summer school, or reading one of my parents' favorite childhood adventure books. Summer was a time for exploration, taking risks, and pursuing a passion or two.

As I got older summer also became a time for work to earn bus and gas money and learn new skills. While we couldn't afford big vacations, our summers were rich with experiences. Many of those experiences have informed important life choices -- working with children, encouraging others to pursue their passions, being open to learning from all experiences and people, celebrating diversity and honoring differences among people.

Are You a Journey Person or a Destination Person: Graduation 2019 (Bamidbar 5779)

My precious students*, I had a high school teacher who on the last day of class put a snow globe on her desk. Then she directed each of us to make a list of the most important things we’d be leaving behind when we finished high school. She asked us to imagine putting those things in a snow globe. That way, she explained, our imagined snow globe would be a kind of high school souvenir. Then she warned us to consider carefully whether it would be a journey snow globe or a destination snow globe. 

A journey snow globe would have artifacts from one's daily experience: maybe a pair of soccer shoes, a picnic lunch we enjoyed with a friend, and a park bench where we sat with a bestie up all night talking. A destination snow globe would have big memorable buildings,, the college we would be moving to in August, and a favorite swimming pool.