Kids and Your Lamborghini


Reading time – 1:48; Viewing time – 2:32  .  .  .

It was just an accident of timing that Rabbi Tamar Manasseh spoke the day after the March For Our Lives. Just a coincidence, of course, yet poignant and significant, because not all the shootings of children happen in well-to-do, suburban schools.

Tamar’s work is done in her Englewood neighborhood, the deadliest part of Chicago – really, the deadliest in any city in America. What she does gets kids fed, provides a safe place for them to play and encourages them to stay in school. For now, though, set aside all the good that she does and let’s focus on some of the wisdom she offered in her presentation.

  • Do something because you can. Do something because you must.
  • I don’t want you to feel sorry for me. I want you to stand up and do what you know is right.
  • If you don’t speak up, the very worst will happen. Apathy is not an option.
  • I want you to live the best life you can.
  • Here’s Tamar’s metaphor for your life: You’re doing 20 mph in your Lamborghini. Get it out on the highway and open it up!
  • Normally, people don’t choose things that are hard.
  • Find a way to shine your light.

My experience is that Tamar is right, that normally, people don’t choose things that are hard. Which got me to thinking about what would be possible if for some unknown reason we did decide to do what is hard. In that spirit, answer these three questions:

  1. There’s a kid in Englewood who has what it takes to learn and grow and to then to cure Alzheimer’s Disease. Wanna fund his education?
  2. There’s a kid in Englewood who has what it takes to learn and grow and then to find the way to to cure cancer and even prevent it . Wanna fund her education?
  3. What do you think of the radical notion of investing in their neighborhood so that each of these kids survives to adulthood?

Have a look at Tamar’s website, Mothers Against Senseless Killings, and her FaceBook page. Feel free to offer your actions and your dollars in support of the love, peace and opportunity she’s bringing to these otherwise frightened children. And as you look at the pictures on Tamar’s sites, keep in mind that, but for an accident of the universe, you might be living in Englewood.

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Ed. note: There is much in America that needs fixing and we’re on a path to continually fail to make things better. It’s my goal to make a difference – perhaps to be a catalyst for things to get better. That’s the reason for these posts. To accomplish the goal requires reaching many thousands of people and a robust dialogue.

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Copyright 2024 by Jack Altschuler
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