May The Force Be With You- Life Lessons

Star Wars- The Force Awakens, the long awaited sequel has arrived. Daniel Perez, in his article, “From Jedism to Judaism: Star Wars as Jewish Allegory,” points out some of the unusual parallels to Judaism found in the the Star Wars movies. Jedi sounds suspiciously similar to Judah- Yehudi. And Yoda- the great rebbe of Luke Skywalker- sounds like “yada”- to know. He continues to point out how Aniken went “off the derech.” But, then in Return of the Jedi, Darth Vader does Teshuva (he returns). Then, of course, there is the Force. According to Obi Wan Kenobi, “it is what gives a Jedi his power. It's an energy field created by all living things. It surrounds us and penetrates us; it binds the galaxy together.” The Force is, clearly, G-d who surrounds us and can be found in all living things. Perez also highlights the Dark Side and the Light found in Star Wars. This clearly depicts the Yetzer HaTov and Yetzer HaRa. And, the source of the light and darkness in Judaism is the same- “Lord, Our G-d, King of the Universe, Who forms light and creates darkness” (Yeshayahu 45:7).

How can we help our teens live lives of the Force? (Okay, maybe this is going a bit too far). In the past two weeks, I've been involved in coordinating two events to help our students find the Force within themselves.

First, our mock bar/bat mitzvah for our sixth graders. Then, later that week, our visit to the homeless shelter in Hackensack, with our seventh graders. Each event contained life lessons that would have made Reb Yoda proud. (Yes, I know he is not in the new movie!) To demonstrate, I will utilize some famous Yoda quotes.

As you might have heard, each year we invite our sixth graders to a mock bar/bat mitzvah celebration as a culmination to lessons we do on bar/bat mitzvah etiquette. They are thereby able to practice that which we had learned in Advisory. They receive invitations the day before the event, and a re told that we at Yavneh are sponsoring a celebration for a boy and a girl. I play the bat mitzvah girl- although they typically don't figure that out until the program begins. The highlight is my wearing my bat mitzvah dress- which brings to mind my first Yoda quote, “When 900 years old you reach, look as good you will not.”

The day has a number of goals:

1. “Patience you must have, my young padawan”- keriat haTorah, speeches, courses, waiting on line for food- all demand patience. We encourage students to imagine themselves at their big day. Wouldn't they like that attention and focus?
2. “You must unlearn what you have learned.” At times we pick up inappropriate behaviors from our friends. Our goal is to help them relearn appropriate behavior.
3. “Control, control, you must learn control.”- It is tempting to take out that phone and text throughout the divrei Torah. That is where self- control comes in.

For our seventh graders, the inspirational culmination of the Respect and Empathy unit in Advisory is their visit to the homeless shelter. We spend over a month preparing for this visit, learning the roots of poverty in the United States today, and its impact on our Bergen County community. We also spend time learning and practicing the skills of empathy. Students spearheaded the campaign to collect hats, gloves and scarves. They are trained as to how to converse with the residents before we go. This year, Mr. Steiner led the students in song, as they sang “One Day” along with the residents. It was wonderful to see the students focus on giving and not only receiving during Chanukah.

What are the Yoda goals for this endeavor?

1. “Size matters not. Look at me. Judge me by my size, do you? Hmm. Hmm. And, well you should not. For my ally is the Force, and a powerful ally it is.” Our theme of 7^th grade Advisory is “Prepare Yourself To Change The World.” We stress with them that even teens can change the world- or at least their corner of it. It does not matter that they are “just kids.” They clearly saw the impact they made on the residents during that visit.
   This quote can also be seen as a declaration not to judge a book by its cover. We spent some time in Advisory speaking with the students about how we often rush to judgment about the homeless when we see them. Often, those judgments are unfair. How often do we do that to each other?
2. “Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter.” We are powerful. We each have light within us- tzelem elokim- a piece of G-d within us. And, so we can truly make a difference as we are made of greatness. Additionally, every person has that neshama- no matter who, and no matter where life's circumstances has led him. Each person deserves our respect and attention. Students interacted with the residents, looked into their eyes, and gave each one respect as they conversed with them on equal footing.
3. “Attachment leads to jealousy. The shadow of greed, that is.” Through learning about the financial struggles of others- even those in their own community with real life struggles- we hope students came to think about the futility in mere objects. Especially during Chanukah, when students receive so many material goods, we want them to think about what really counts in life and to appreciate all they have. One question students often ask is, “If the person is out of a job or struggling financially, why doesn't he go live with his family to help him out?” We often take for granted that we have family or that the Jewish community is like a family.

Just because I can't resist, here are a few last “Yodaisms” which I think are good lessons for our teens.

“No! Try not! Do, or do not. There is no try.” Put your all into everything you do. Don't attempt something half-way.

“If no mistake have you made, yet losing you are, a different game you should play.” Sometimes we need to reinvent ourselves and rethink our plan to solve a problem.

“Named must your fear be before banish it you can.” Identify what's standing in your way. Only then can you overcome it.

“Luke: I can't believe it. Yoda: That is why you fail.” Never stop believing- in yourself, in others and of course, in G-d. (Or as Yoda would have called it, the Force).

May the force be with you and your teens.

Advisory Update:

Sixth Grade- Students finished up the “Hey Dude, That's Rude” unit by focusing on behaviors that help students get along with teachers.

Seventh Grade- Students spent time focusing on scenarios based on real-life situations which stress how expensive it is to live in an Orthodox community today.

Eighth Grade- Students began exploring- what would happen if parents and teens actually switched for the day? Would we understand each other better?