Perhaps the strangest commencement speeches of all time began with a few opening remarks given in a high-pitched awkward stutter, followed by the words: “You are all here to listen to a frog.” By frog, he was referring to perhaps the most famous amphibian on the planet, Kermit, who was there in the tiniest cap and gown imaginable, to offer the following three pieces of advice to the Class of 2025:
- Find your people, “Because” as he told the graduates, “Life is not a solo act. No, it’s not. It’s a big, messy, delightful ensemble piece.”
- When you find your people, take a leap.
- And, lastly, after you have completed the first two steps, stay connected, not just to one another, but to your dreams as well.
Dreaming is about what we want, what we hope, and what we can achieve. Dreaming is also very Jewish. From Joseph’s dreams in Biblical times, to Theodore Herzl’s in modern ones, Jews have always been able to look beyond the wilderness of our existence into Promised Lands far beyond our imagination. Sadly, as Moses acknowledges at the beginning of this week’s Torah portion Vayeilech, not every dream works out exactly as planned. As he tells the People of Israel: “I am now one hundred and twenty years old, I can no longer be active. Moreover, G-d has said to me, ‘You shall not go across yonder Jordan.’ (Deuteronomy 31:2). The sadness of this admission still pains us thousands of years later.
A few weeks ago, the Jewish community gathered at the Buffalo History Museum to mark the 200th anniversary of a remarkable dream that manifested itself right down the road on Grand Island. On September 2, 1825, Mordecai Manuel Noah announced to the world the creation of a City of Refuge for the Jews he called Ararat. The only problem, despite all his planning and effort, including the purchase of land and the creation of a cornerstone, was Noah had forgotten Kermit the Frog’s first principle of dreaming, “finding your people.”
His people though, it turned out, found him. Noah’s journey to Western New York lasted only a day, but he helped create the necessary ingredients for Jewish life in this area. By taking a leap, he encouraged all of us to do the same. As we prepare our hearts for Yom Kippur, may we continue to take the leaps necessary for making holy communities.
Shabbat Shalom and Shanah Tovah,
Rabbi Alex
(adapted from my Rosh Hashanah Day One Sermon)