By Shira Kramer, Editor-in-Chief
Last year, when Hersh Goldberg-Polin was murdered, I wrote a YU Observer article about how that affected me and how in order to ensure this didn’t happen again, we needed to bring back the rest of the hostages immediately. It’s hard to believe that a year later we are still davening for the same things.
Hersh and the other five beautiful Israeli souls were stolen on the 25th of Av last year. Aligned with our tradition, their families held services this month to mark their first yahrzeit. For that one day, the Goldberg-Polin family asked in an Instagram post that people around the world “do something during those 24 hours to make our complicated world a bit better.”
The post was simple. They weren’t asking for anything crazy, nothing political was referenced and the request was something everyone could fulfill no matter their resources. It was a reminder that each of us can change the world in small ways.
As I tried to think about what I was going to take on, I thought about all of the things I’ve put off over the past year. I thought about how privileged I am to continue making decisions every day regarding which activities are worth my time. With all of the tragedies that have occurred over the last two years in Israel, the thought that we don’t know what tomorrow will bring has really penetrated my psyche.
So, in honor of the hostages who were murdered on the 25th of Av and the ones who are still held in Gaza today, I challenged myself to start living with no regrets, making decisions and being proud of them no matter what resulted because of them.
People are always telling me that I’m too busy, involved with too many things. In addition to being the editor-in-chief of the independent student-run newspaper of Yeshiva University with the sole focus on promoting student voices (quick plug for our “About” page), I’m also the chief justice of the Beren Campus Student Government court, a regular freelance writer for the Baltimore Jewish Times and the head tour guide for Stern College for Women’s Office of Admissions. All of these jobs are extremely important to me, and I wouldn’t change a thing about my schedule if it meant having to cut one of them despite the time commitments.
But, if you can believe it, this list was twice as long during my first year at Stern. When I went to the Shevet Glaubach Center for Career Strategy and Professional Development and told them I was stressed, they weren’t surprised. I was told to write out a list of the activities I was involved in and rank them in order of importance.
When I reached number 15, I realized I had a problem: I love to overcommit. Another problem I had was that I didn’t genuinely enjoy all of these activities; I was just doing them because that’s what I thought I needed to do.
That was something I regretted. Not because the activities were bad but because they weren’t mine. They were obligations I put on myself, and they took away from things that mattered more to me.
The beginning of the school year is an exciting time. It’s a time for new opportunities and trying a bunch of new things. But, it can be easy to forget who you are in the process. Take it from me, the president of everything she touches — getting involved in too many things is not always a good thing.
Living with no regrets doesn’t mean saying yes to everything, it means choosing wisely. We have to say yes to what matters and unapologetically say no to what doesn’t. In Pirkei Avot we learn, “If not now, when.” While a lot of people take that to mean, “Do everything you can in the little time you have,” I think it is a reminder to ourselves that “now” is really the only time we have. When I scroll on my phone instead of studying or say yes to yet another responsibility I’m not passionate about, that is not taking care of my “now.”
All of these small decisions add up. When I think about Hersh and all of the things that every murdered hostage wanted to do with their lives, I realize how important that truly is. We don’t get to control what happens tomorrow, but we do get to make decisions on how we spend today.
As the new semester begins, my challenge to all of us is to say yes to things that matter and leave regrets behind. Join a club you’re interested in or quit the one that’s draining you. Don’t just add things to your list for the sake of your resume, choose things that are authentic to you.
If we are going to turn Hersh’s death into a revolution like his family has asked for, we must spend our life wisely because it’s the only one we’ll get.
Photo Caption: Hersh Goldberg-Polin Memorialized at Nova Festival Grounds
Photo Credit: Esti DeAngelis