Our kids once asked my father if he had electric lights when he was a boy. He said ‘no,’ that when he was a boy there were still dinosaurs roaming the Minnesota farmlands by his home. When I was a boy, he had told me this as well – which is why I spent a…
The Calculus of the Vulnerable
Not long ago while working in the Polack Food Bank, I noticed an older woman who seemed to be weighing her food before she put it in her basket. Each can, each piece of fruit, every vegetable. Some things she would take and others she would set back in the box on the table. She…
The Graduation Speech I’d Give
When my son was in kindergarten, his teacher challenged a group of us parents saying, “You shouldn’t worry about what your kids will become. You should be concerned with who they will become.” I’d issue the same challenge to this year’s college graduates: Forget about your career and what you will become. Don’t worry that…
Tapping Into Hidden Potential
While studying in England when I was much younger, I had a conversation with an elderly nun who dedicated her life to serving the vulnerable on the streets of London. While we were talking, she shared a story about the origins of Michelangelo’s statue of David. “One of the most beautiful sculptures ever created,” she…
Forged in Adversity
Everything is on the line. Know it or not, our very survival hangs in the balance. With a few meager possessions we hurry out the door, running to an unknown destiny. Every year we are told to see ourselves as if we are leaving Egypt. The desert to which we fled isn’t just a wilderness…
Punching Holes in the Darkness
Will Berkovitz originally delivered a version of these remarks as a keynote speaker at the 2014 University of Washington MLK Day of Service. The tradition tells of a blind man walking a dark road late one night holding a blazing torch. A rabbi coming from the other direction recognizes the man as he approaches and…
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