Who was your Jewish Ledaer Role Models?

As a young child my favorite place in our Temple in New Jersey was not my preschool or Hebrew school classroom, but the mail boxes. They were a set of white shelves, with a plastic case on top that held the board members’ name tags. I know a lot of you are thinking why would a replica of a Staples’ display become the heart of my Judaism? Well every time my parents and I entered Temple, they both had to check their mail. My parents for as long as I can remember were active in Temple. They weren’t the most knowledgeable, or the most observant, but they were strong leaders. My mom sat on the Religious School Committee and chaired the Children’s Worship Committee. She organized family retreats to near by camps, set up parallel services for the youth during the high holy days, and planned the second night sedar at our Temple. My dad was co-chair of the Social Action Committee, and organized the Temple’s first Mitzvah Day. He later sat on the Executive Board.
From a young age, I learned about the importance of giving back. I realized how important it was to help make one’s community better. Our Temple was home, some of my family’s closet friends are from my first preschool class at the age of 2. I followed in my parents footsteps. After we moved to Maryland, I wanted to give back to my Temple and my Jewish community. People come up to me and say, “You seem like a natural leader,” but really I attribute it to my parents.
Albert Bandura’s Observational Learning Theory states that if a child observes an action they will do it also. I watched my parents work with others, like deciding on who would sleep at the homeless shelter over Christmas, or how many matzah balls each volunteer would have to make. I saw them organize information, type minutes, and create spread sheets.
My parents are my model for Jewish leadership. You don’t have to be clergy, or the president of the federation or temple to become active. In fact, I believe it is congregants like my parents that help to create the home feeling that many of us feel at our temples. Not to state a cliché, but I would not be here today if it weren’t for my parents’ model of Jewish Leadership.