By: Romi Morales
Legacy is the sum of values, achievements and actions we did, which resonate with the people around us and are considered important to pass on. The parasha Chayei Sarah, while mentioning the deaths of Sarah and Abraham, focuses on the ideas and actions that became a legacy, and are still valid today.
What legacy do the characters in the parashah leave us? What legacy do we want to leave? How do these things relate when we educate in Tnua? We will delve into this in the next article.
Abraham, leadership that looks to the future.
Abraham is admirable: having the choice to remain in his comfort zone all his life, he decides to be loyal to his principles and leave everything he knows, taking on the challenge of starting a new path, knowing that it will not always be easy. His vision is what drives him forward and inspires others to follow him. His legacy motivates us to make drastic changes when the reality in which we live is not right and to sacrifice important personal things today for a better collective future tomorrow. Abraham is a great leader, with a great vision. His legacy lives on in Tnua as we educate to take a critical look at society and take an active stance for change based on the age-old values of our people.
But is it enough to have a vision to realise it? Sometimes, no. Alongside this, you need leadership focused on the cause, like Sara’s. Perhaps this is what helps to bring about change. Perhaps this is what helps this couple to preserve their legacy.
Sara, cause-focused leadership.
It is said that great leaders are highly charismatic, propose great changes and initiate profound revolutions. But a leader’s greatness should not be measured by what happens in their presence, but by what they leave behind when they are gone. Often, when striking leaders leave, they take their ideas with them, leaving a great void around them. On the other hand, there are leaders who, even in absence, inspire people to follow the vision they built together and to preserve the foundations that will deepen the changes that were initiated in the past, so that they remain active in the present and into the future. Sara is an example of this kind of leadership. So when Sara is gone, her dream does not collapse, but lives on in those who remain.
What is the deepest cause for which you wish to educate in Tnua? What is the cause that motivates you to give your best so that your legacy will continue to inspire future generations even after you are gone? Identifying causes is important, but so is strengthening action-based leadership, as in Rivka’s case.
Rivka, action-based leadership.
Why does Rivka receive credit for being the second matriarch? After all, she is chosen as Yitzchak’s wife for offering water to Eliezer and his camels. Oddly enough, this is her great legacy. Rivka teaches us that effective leadership is not one that is based on big speeches about how to make our environment a better one. To be successful, leadership must be practical and based on small acts of kindness that inspire others to make their environment a pleasant one for all who inhabit it. It is this leadership that allows big dreams to become vibrant realities.
At Tnua, we embrace Rivka’s legacy as we choose to lead by example. It is the implementation of our values, ideas and principles that is one of the main pillars underpinning our right to educate. By our example we foster an authentic commitment to the community and the Jewish people, a responsibility that translates into constant and generous action by our chaverim and chaverot wherever they are.
Now: Are there leaders who, even if their actions go unseen, still manage to impact their environment and empower the people around them? Yes, such was Eliezer’s leadership, humble and empowering at the same time.Eliezer, liderazgo que empodera.
There are people who, although they do not stand out at first glance, it is their leadership that makes important processes happen, ensuring long-term continuity. This is the case of Eliezer, Abraham’s assistant. Eliezer accompanies Abraham at critical moments in his life to help him face great challenges (going to war, rescuing Lot, finding a wife for Yitzchak). Eliezer is the kind of person that every leader wants to have by his side. He represents the model of humble leadership focused on empowering those around him. Eliezer is that noble person who does not need credit for his actions. He understands that the success of others is his success. This leads him to assume leadership at delicate moments, making him a strong leader and to some extent, indispensable in the success of the causes of those around him.
This is the legacy we take from Eliezer and the one we want to transmit to our chanichim and chanichot in the Tnua: When people assume leadership with the common good as a shared goal, synergy emerges. Empowering each other enables us to get through the challenges that come our way, no matter how difficult they may be.
Now: If this is easy when the goal is shared, what happens when the goal is not? Here, we will need to develop responsible leadership, such as that represented by Yitzchak and Yishmael.
Yitzhak and Ishmael, responsible leadership.
Yitzchak and Ishmael represent two different ways of looking at the world. Yet, when Abraham dies, both decide to unite and say a final farewell to their father. Central to the parashah is the understanding that, despite their differences, there are times to take responsible leadership in order to highlight commonalities, based on the legacy of those who came before them. To be a leader who relies on divide and conquer is simple. Choosing to be a leader who seeks unity in diversity, identifying when opportunities arise to pause conflict and making room to create moments of unity, is not. Such leadership requires strength and courage, qualities that are rare in world leaders.
Educating strong and courageous young people is a commitment we have made as part of our Tnuati legacy. With strength and courage we can dream of a better future, where the cruellest of enemies can see each other as brothers and remember that the things that unite them can be far more powerful than those that separate them. Educating responsible leaders is a great way to build a future of peace for the next generation.
In conclusion
To educate in Tnua is to secure the legacy of the Jewish people, to inspire our chanichim to build a future rooted in the values and principles that have been with us since the dawn of our millennia-long history that began long ago with Abraham and Sarah. Since then, this legacy has been passed down through the generations by different leaders who have left their mark, until it reached our hands. Today, as educators, we choose to take this legacy, a valuable treasure that we are committed to care for, to pass it on to those who come after us. Therefore, we take on the very important task of educating: we want to be the leaders who enrich the Jewish identity of our chaverim and strengthen their bond with Israel, for these have always been, and still are today, the fundamental bases to ensure the continuity of our people. We are ready to take on the challenges facing Am Israel as our own, and we pledge to work together, despite the differences that may exist between us, to overcome them successfully, based on responsible leadership, which puts into practice the values on which it preaches.
Now: in order to be the leaders that our people need, we must take responsibility for knowing our history and recognise in ourselves the legacy left to us by those who are part of it. Therefore, I invite you to think: What legacy does each of the characters in this parasha leave you? How much of who you are is part of the legacy of those who came before you? What of all that you received as a legacy do you choose to pass on in the Tnua? And more importantly, what legacy of your own would you like to leave to the generations to come?
