We woke up bright and early this morning, at 6:30 a.m. for some, to start off our wonderful day with the all-important breakfast. After finishing breakfast and congregating in front of the hostel, we began our subway transit to the CLAL, a program named for the Hebrew word for inclusive. Once there we had the pleasure and honor to meet Rabbi Brad Hirschfield, a brilliantly thoughtful man who not only challenged our perceptions of ourselves but more importantly our perceptions of true leadership. Rabbi Hirschfield said that, “the important choices in life are not between good and bad, the important choices in life are between good and good.” This single “pearl” (as Karen says) illustrates the true nature of a leader’s decisions, something that drastically stretched each of our minds. After finishing with the Rabbi, and after learning many other all-important “pearls” we left, and began our journey to the innocence project. This amazing program delivers justice to wrongly-convicted inmates on death’s row.
Then came another true experience of a lifetime. We had the tremendous privilege to meet with Russell Simmons and Rabbi Schneier, under the eye of the cameras, and talk about trans-racial dialogue. Both men were truly amazing people and had each, in their own way, contributed greatly to Black/Jew relations while furthering other equally important causes such as animal rights. After this enlightening experience we got to get free roam of Times Square! It was exhilarating seeing all the unbelievably diverse people, and talking with a few of them, learning all the time. Overall this day was definitely one we will remember for the rest of our lives, partially due to Russell Simmons and partially due to Times Square.
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