Starting Young

When I was your age, Poppyseed, I was writing letters to President Jimmy Carter and General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev, pleading for visas to be granted to refuseniks. Most especially, a baby girl named Jessica Katz, who was born with a life-threatening digestive disorder. the notion that a little girl was being denied access to medical treatment in another country simply because she was Jewish was profoundly unsettling to my eight-year old mind.

And when I was your age, Beernut, I was writing letters to Senator Alan Cranston, President Reagan, and other international leaders, requesting that they back Israel’s right to exist during the Lebanon War. Even then, I was acutely aware that Israel’s every move was open to tremendous scrutiny.

So it is no surprise, mein kinder, that the both of you take your role of bringing justice to the world very seriously. Your participation in the annual Walk to End Genocide, while encouraged by our family, is motivated entirely by your own desire to help put an end to genocide. Your decision to pass out information cards to friends and teachers at school exemplified that you have taken to heart the values taught by our Tradition.

May you continue to work towards AND see a future that is devoid of the systematic annihilation that has haunted so many.