As many of you know,
I’ve been doing taekwondo for about 4 years. If I’ve stuck to it for that long,
there must be a reason that I like it so much. Well there is. About a year and
half ago I tested for my black belt. To me, this was not just a test to see if my
skill was at a black belt level, but was also a test of willpower. There were
many challenging things I had to do at and leading up to the test. The week
before I went to the real test, I was required to do a meditation. But this was
no ordinary meditation, I had to sit in a room with the lights off for a full
hour, without moving or talking. This meditation was supposed to help me
prepare my mind for the test. For the beginning of it I felt relaxed and thought
the meditation was really working, but after about 20 minutes all I could think
was, “Get me out of this room,” or, “Ugh! My foot is falling asleep.” Even
though I didn’t want to continue with the meditation I knew I had to or else I
would not be able to test the following week.
I realized from this, that
taekwondo was not only about what you can do physically, but also mentally. If
I had not been able to control myself during the meditation, I would not be at
the level I am at today. I had to have the strength to tell myself to sit
completely still when, frankly, I had no interest in being there at that
moment.
Another major challenge
that I had to overcome to earn my black belt was breaking a brick. Now I know what
you are all thinking, that’s impossible, which is exactly what I thought. When
the test came around I was confident about everything… except for the part
where I had to break the brick. When the end of the test came near, we got to the
time that I was dreading. I was standing up in front of over 70 people, ready
to break the brick, but I kept hearing a little voice in the back of my head
saying that it was impossible and that I would never be able to do it. And of
course, because I had this attitude, I was not able to break the brick.
Luckily I was able to schedule
a retest for the brick breaking. When I arrived at the retest the following
week, one of the assistant teachers pulled me aside. He said that I had to
believe that I could break the brick and then I would be able to. If I put more
confidence into what I was doing I’ll be able to do it. So I took his words of
advice and this time when I went up in front of the crowd, I felt better about
myself. And on the very first try of that retest I broke the brick. It felt like I had done the impossible.
This really showed me
the power of the human spirit. I broke through barriers that I never thought
were possible. And that is why I love taekwondo so much. It teaches me that if
I have confidence I can do it. As long as I have the right attitude and I am willing
to work hard enough I can achieve anything. It’s really about the power of the
mind and spirit in helping you overcome any obstacle.
I have seen this in
other areas of my life as well. For my bat mitzvah project I volunteer with the
friendship circle. At first I did a training program where we learned about
various special needs and different activities we could do with different kinds
of people. After I completed this training I was asked if I would like to
participate in the friends at home program, which is when you are assigned a
“special” friend and go to their house for an hour every week. Of course I
accepted the offer.
My buddy’s name is
coincidentally Zoe. She can’t talk. But even though she has this major obstacle
in her life, it doesn’t prevent her from having fun. Whenever I go over to her
house she always has a huge smile on her face.
But Zoe isn’t the only
one who has inspired me with the ability to overcome challenges. What I do by
breaking a brick and controlling my mind and body to accomplish things, my
uncle David did every moment of his life. I was born 10 days before he died and
I feel a strong connection with him. I've heard lots of stories about how he
had such a great sense of humor and how he was so excited about becoming an
uncle when I was born. He also became a bar mitzvah right here on this bimah.
All those things took a superhuman effort for him, like my breaking a brick in
two. And yet no matter how hard things were for him, he did everything with a
smile. Mind over matter, just like Taekwondo.
My portion, Noah, includes
the story of the tower of babel, where people tried to build a tower that would
reach the heavens. The great sin of these people was that they were
materialistic and selfish. They only cared about matter, such as money and the
building they were creating, but they did not care about the people working on
it. There is a Midrash describing how when a brick fell and broke, they would
get extremely upset, but but when a person fell from the tower and died, it
didn’t bother them at all, and they just continued building. The tower of babel story is about human
tragedy caused by selfishness and greed whereas my black belt celebrates a
triumph of the human spirit.
It is very special to
me that I am becoming a bat mitzvah on the same bimah where my family has experienced
so many life events. As I continue to
grow it’s nice to know that I have a strong Jewish background that will always
be with me and that I will have enduring support from the Jewish community at
my synagogue, camp, and school.
Today is kind of like
my Jewish black belt test, luckily I didn’t have to break anything. But leading
the service and reading from the Torah takes the same kind of discipline, hard
work, and the ability to put mind over matter.
And what I’m doing today really does matter.
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