Who Would YOU Call A Leader?

I have been accepted onto leadership program which is three seminars that are three days long each, through the non-profit organization which my program is a part of, Masa Israel.  The meaning of "Masa" in hebrew is "Journey" and I have discussed before in my blog how this was the vision of Itzhak Rabin.  In my opinion, this a great organization.  It is in its second year and is now offering partial scholarships to EVERYONE who comes on one of its programs.  These scholarships come from the taxes of the Israelis which are matched dollar for dollar by donors.  At the first of the three leadership conferences, for which they told us 121 people applied and only 50 were accepted, the man who came up with the idea for Masa came and spoke.  He was so excited to see everyone there and had us all go around the room saying where we were from and what program we were on.  Then he told us about how 5 or 6 years ago Ariel Sharon announced to the Jewish Agency that he was looking for a way to use a certain amount of money that had been allotted to helping the image of Israel in the world.  So, he came up with this idea that he thought was going to be rejected for sure-to use the money to bring Jews from the Diaspora to Israel in the image of what Itzhak Rabin has envisioned.  He wanted it to be something that could, potentially, open the door for people who want to make aliyah but that its sole purpose was to bring more young people to Israel to understand it.  Part of his reason for coming to this idea was that he learned about all the Americans who go abroad during University and he thought, "why are the Jewish students not coming to Israel?"  So, he brought it to Ariel Sharon and he thought it was a great idea.  In two years, Masa now has over 8,000 participants!  Only a few of the programs existed before and just became a part of Masa, hundreds of programs were created...all from the idea of ONE man!

Anyhow, we had a great three day Shabbaton about leadership in which we went to Mt. Herzl and to the new Herzyl Museum.  I have been here only a few years ago and it did not exist, in fact the Israelis who were with us got teary-eyed at the end of the museum because they talked about Israel as the vision of Herzl and all of the accomplishments if Israel.  It made me teary-eyed too and reminded me how lucky I am to live at this time because I cannot imagine a world in which there was no Jewish state.  The question came up over the weekend, "where did your Zionism originate?"  For many people, it came from their parents or grandparents or families.  My immediate family is certainly a strong supporter for Israel, but no one would call themself a Zionist like I do.  In fact, my grandfather openly talks about how he was not a Zionist and did not understand the need for a Jewish state when it was forming.  He visited Israel since and now supports it, but still will tell anyone who wants to listen that he is NOT a Zionist.  So where does mine come from?  Well, like everything in my life it came from the support of my family and especially my parents.  When I was a child I wanted to come to Israel and, while I do not think anyone (including myself) knew why I wanted to go there, my family made it happen.  My parents supported my love for Israel and my desire to return on Birthright and for a longer period of time.  My love grew out of curiosity, learning, and visiting this beautiful country which was created for MY people by my ancestors and through the dream and hard work. of another singular man- Herzl.  

We also went to the Menachem Begin center, where I learned a great deal about this former prime minister who grew up escaping Russia and then becoming part of the underground who fought for Israel from the British.  He planned the bombing of the King David Hotel in 1946, which lead to the British handing over Palestine to the Jews.  I had known him only for his harsh politics and destructive end in which he became isolated due to his wife's death and the deaths of many soldiers and civilians as a result of his military tactics.  However, he was actually a promoter of peace and signed the peace agreements with Egypt.  He was a good man, a strong politician and, I think, lead the country to the best of his ability during very difficult times.  However, he did not believe in giving the Palestinians any rights or any land, which I simply do not agree with because they are human and resided here for a long time on their own.  Nonetheless, it was a beautiful museum which walked you through his life and taught me a great deal.

The whole weekend I began to wonder "Am I a leader?"  I am in a group here where I do not feel like the people can be lead because there are such strong personalities and I just do not know how to talk to most of the people in the group.  However, I think I am a leader in the sense that I do not go with the flow.  I do not do things because others are, and I have always prided myself on this personality trait.  Furthermore, I am a leader because I want to be the change I see in the world, as Gandhi put it.  I am here in Israel volunteering my time at a school with underprivledged students who are Arab, Israeli, Russian and Ethiopian and working at a soup kitchen once a week.  I do think partially for my own satisfaction and the experience, but even more for the impact I hope to have on others and the world.  It is my hope that by seeing what I am doing, taking the time to give back to the world and experience it in a new ways, others will do the same.  I also hope to impact the people I work with here both on the Kfar and at the soup kitchen in Tel Aviv.  Finally, I hope to bring what I have learned back to the US and teach people about it.  

As part of the leadership seminar, we are required to do a project to connect our community at home with Israel.  I intend to come up with a penpal system between high school students here at the Kfar and high school students in the US.  There will be seminars and discussions for both the Israeli and American students so that they can learn about one another so that understanding can be built about the multicultural Israelis that live here and the Jews that live in America.  The disconnect is unbelievably huge, and it is important that in a world that is so connected, we make this connection to form understanding.  

So, who would YOU call a leader?  Me, Herzl, Begin, my family?  For me, this seminar is helping me realize how to use my intelligence to become a leader as well as how important it is for leadership in this world-without it where would we be?  What could be accomplished?  Leadership does not need to be someone as famous as Herzl or Begin or Rabin, but someone like the person that started Masa or a mother who encourages her child to be everything they can be so that the world is just a little bit more a better place.