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Who Are Your Heroes?

by Gabby Kaplan-Mayer

Who are your heroes? It’s a question that we adults don’t ask ourselves often enough. These days, I’m reminded of my heroes most often when they pass away; I mourned Joan Rivers death last year not only because of her amazing wit and humor but because of how her example of believing in her abilities has inspired me to continue to push my own limits.

Heroes embolden and motivate us; they lift our spirits and call our best selves forward.  While we can dwell on the negative examples of human beings that fill the nightly newscasts, we can also choose to open our eyes to the heroes in our communities and in our Jewish traditions.

Young children naturally—and in some cases quite frequently—think about heroes. Developmentally, children ages three to five, face the challenge of learning so many new skills at once and may feel small compared to older siblings and the adults who surround them. Superheros, by contrast are strong, even all-powerful—and so it’s no wonder children are drawn to them. For my son at that age (now 12) it was Spiderman, all the time—books, toys, clothes. I thought I might wake up someday to see him climbing our walls.

With the Passover holiday approaching, we have an opportunity as parents to frame the characters in the Exodus story as another set of heroes for our children. Miriam, Moses, Yocheved, Bat Pharoah--each act with extraordinary tenacity and selflessness in the face of great danger.

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