ESSAYS| 2017

ESSAYSss|

Marijuana and Chassidus: Should Jews Get Chai?

By Carly Meisel, Washington DC

Essays 2017

MyLife Essay Contest 2017 Itโ€™s 12pm on a Tuesday in sunny Washington, D.C. Four college students sit on aย bench in the center of their universityโ€™s campus, howling with laughter while passingย around a joint of marijuana. As I walk by, I observe that none of them are telling jokes.ย They are laughing at something unnoticeable to the

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You Don’t Need to Become an Artist

By Rivka Nehorai, Brooklyn, New York

Essays 2017

MyLife Essay Contest 2017 I see so many people around me who want to be artists, craving to express themselvesย well. Real artists.To reach inside, through their confusion, fear, and pain, and grab out the pearlsย of insights theyโ€™ve gleaned from their tribulations. They want to be told how to pick out the colors that will reflect

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Consistent Kavanah: Keeping Daily Prayer Alive

By Yehudis Fishman, Boulder, Colorado

Essays 2017

MyLife Essay Contest 2017 THE CHALLENGE Once in my twenties, I attended an OU convention during the Torah portion of Bโ€™haaloscha. A prominent rabbi was referring to the opening comment of Rashi, about Aharonโ€™s lighting the menorah in the same way every day. Rashi says, โ€˜to tell the praise of Aharon that he did not

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Silence in a Crowded Room

By H. Schild, Spring Valley, NY

Essays 2017

MyLife Essay Contest 2017 INTRODUCTION โ€œTalking during daveningโ€ formally known as โ€œSichas Chulinโ€ ืฉื™ื—ื•ืช ื—ื™ืœื™ืŸ [mundane conversation] is not a recent lapse that just started to plagueย our shuls, distracting the speaker as well as others in the congregation fromย connecting to HaShem as they should during prayer, taking it as given thatย this is the goal of

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Seeing through the Darkness

By Aharonย Shollar, Far Rockaway, NY

Essays 2017

MyLife Essay Contest 2017 Today we find ourselves in a terribly dark world. Immorality and corruption are rampant. Peopleย are forgetting the definitions of right and wrong. In such a seemingly bleak time, it may become easy for one to lose faith. If G-d is good then why is the world so bad? With the weight

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In Pursuit of the Pathway
ื“ืขืจ ื•ื•ืขื’ ืื™ื– ื“ืึธืก ืฆื™ืœ

By Gerald Rosenberg, Tel Aviv, Israel

Essays 2017

MyLife Essay Contest 2017 ื“ืขืจ ืคืจืึธื‘ืœืขื ย  ืื™ืŸ ืืœืข ืฆื™ื™ื˜ืŸ, ืึธื‘ืขืจ ืกืคืขืฆื™ืขืœ ืื™ืŸ ืื•ื ื–ืขืจ ื“ื•ืจ ื”ืึธื˜ ื“ืขืจ ืžืขื ื˜ืฉ ื’ืขืฉื˜ืจืขื‘ื˜ ื ืึธืš ื”ืฆืœื—ื” ืกื™ื™ ืื™ืŸ ืžืื˜ืขืจื™ืขืœืข, ื’ืฉืžื™ื•ืชื“ื™ืงืข, ืกื™ื™ ืื™ืŸ ื’ื™ื™ืกื˜ื™ืง, ืจื•ื—ื ื™ื•ืชื“ื™ืงืข ืขื ื™ื ื™ื. ื•ื•ืึธืก ืึธื‘ืขืจ ื˜ื•ื˜ ืžืขืŸ ืื•ื™ื‘ ืืคื™ืœื• ืžื™ื˜ ื“ื™ ื’ืจืขืกื˜ืข ื›ื•ื—ื•ืช ืื•ืŸ ื”ืึธืจืขื•ื•ืื ื™ืข ืงื•ืžื˜ ืžืขืŸ ื ื™ืฉื˜ ืฆื• ืฆื• ื“ืขืจ ืื•ื™ืกื’ืขื‘ืขื ืงื˜ืขืจ ื”ืฆืœื—ื”? ืžืขืŸ ืžื•ื– ื–ื™ืš ื ืคืจืขื’

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The Congruent Life

Author wishes to remain anonymous

Essays 2017

MyLife Essay Contest 2017 As a girl growing up in a chassidishe non-Chabad home, my exposure to Chabad wasย mainly through the stories in the Yiddishe Heim, a Lubavitcher periodical delivered to our home.ย I found myself especially drawn to the stories of the rebbeim, early chassidim and mashpiim.ย Somehow I sensed that there was a common denominator

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Overcoming Perfection

Byย Chavah Golden, Chicago, IL

Essays 2017

MyLife Essay Contest 2017 Standing in the park one day, looking up, I was wondering why a Frisbee looks larger, the closerย it gets….then it hit me. โ€ฆMany classes later, I was wondering why I wasnโ€™t perfect yetโ€ฆ then IT HIT ME! To be perfect and know everything is not the goal. Neither is fixing other

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The Power of Thought

By Mushkie Blesofsky, Brooklyn, NY

Essays 2017

MyLife Essay Contest 2017 In every situation in which we find ourselves, we have two options. We can choose to think the best or worst about our reality. Other than changing our mood, how much of an influence do our thoughts really have? Through exploring the Chassidic perspective how we should channel our thoughts, we

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True Feminism

By Chava Hinsey, Brooklyn, NY

Essays 2017

MyLife Essay Contest 2017 The Issue If Hillary Clinton had won the Presidential Election, a good percentage of the country would have celebrated the first female president of the United States.ย  True, there would have been a woman in the Oval Office. Practically, however, nothing about her way of ruling the country would have been

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