When my son Jon graduated from Brandeis, the New York Times columnist David Brooks was the commencement speaker. He challenged the students to find the question that needed THEM to answer, to passionately pursue this question throughout their lives.

Anat Hoffman’s question is “Why should we?” Why should we accept being second-class citizens in Israel? Why should we allow the Orthodox to dictate what is and is not acceptable Jewish practice? Why should we stand idly by as self-appointed “morals police” harass and shame women into sitting in the back of the bus? Why should we accept that there is religious freedom in Israel for everyone except progressive Jewish women?

I am inspired by Anat, and the challenging ways she responds to her life-question.
My question is “What changes could we make to Jewish education so that it helps people make a life of meaning and purpose?” Part of my answer lies in finding stories that inspire and people who inspire. As we encounter remarkable people with dedication to their dreams, it reminds us that we too have dreams, and we have to have dreams to make change a reality. The Talmud teaches us that the work is hard and the task is great, and that while we are not required to finish the job, we are not free not to try. So far, Anat’s the answers are Women of the Wall Rosh Chodesh services and organizing non-confrontive bus riding and Israeli Supreme Court actions to testify for changes that need to happen in the modern State of Israel.

I come from a family that changes the world — whether it’s my inspirational songs or my Grandpa Harry’s* invention of the printed circuit or my Grandma Florrie’s* innovative children’s clothing design, or my bigger family of Jews whose legacy of change has been well-catalogued, we have not been content to just accept things as they are.

What’s your question and how will you devote yourself to finding the answers?

This article originally appeared as a response to Anat Hoffman’s post in Jewels of Elul.

*Harry Rubinstein and Florence Eiseman