Jewish Community Partners

Dylan Speigel, son of Melinda and Michael Lejman, is a rising senior at White Station High School. Memphis Jewish Federation’s Lemsky Endowment Fund provided him with a Teen Israel Experience grant to offset the costs of his NCSY Jewish Student Union TJJ Israel program. All rising juniors and seniors are eligible for grants of up to $3,000 to attend a recognized teen summer or semester program in Israel. Teen Israel Experience applications for Summer 2024 are open and can be accessed at Lemsky Endowment Fund | Jewish Community Partners (jcpmemphis.org)

My trip to Israel truly changed my life. I have a different perspective on not only my Jewish life but my school and social life. I am more grateful for every aspect of everything. I had heard it before, “Just waking up in the morning is a miracle,” but I do not think I believed that until my trip to Israel. During one event while we were there, we all were supposed to ask a rabbi a question and see if we could stump him, Of course, none of us succeeded but that was one of the most meaningful moments of my trip. One thing I knew the rabbi instantly was right about was that part of a Jew’s soul is in Israel. He explained this is why some people become more emotional while in Israel, and it was true, I had higher highs and lower lows. Ever since returning, I have been much more in touch with my emotions.

There is something I have realized recently, If I come close to making a mistake but just dodge it, I will notice that and thank G-d for saving me. I realize that if it were not for G-d’s mercy, my life would be a lot worse. I thank G-d that I caught myself when I almost fell. I thank G-d when I remember to turn something in that I had forgotten about. I thank G-d every day, for saving me over and over again. I am determined to find more of these moments in my life, not only when I almost make a mistake, but stop myself, but also when things are going well. Like I said earlier, waking up each morning is a reason to thank G-d.

I have not only been thanking G-d more, but I have been more connected to him as well. We did an activity in our Chavurah (A group of friends formed for religious reasons), we were told to find three things throughout our trip that made us feel connected to G-d. The first time I felt truly connected to G-d was when Rabbi Noam was telling us a story about someone, he knew who went to West Point. Keep in mind I am shortening this story, but I still think it is very powerful. One of his classes covered wars throughout history, the world wars, civil wars, the Trojan wars, the Hundred Years’ War, and more. Not once did the

professor mention a Jewish war, and the student became angrier and angrier until one day he had an outburst in class. The professor told the student to meet him in his office. Of course, the student was horrified. Whenever a student was called into his office it never went well. Flash forward to the student and professor in the office, and the professor asks the student why he disrespected him like that by yelling at him in his class. The student apologized profusely but the professor still wanted to know why he did it. The student explained that he let his anger build up in him and he did not understand why the professor would not talk about the wars of his people, the Jewish nation. The professor explained he does not talk about the wars of the Jewish people because they are impossible to replicate. Every tactician agrees that the Jews should not have made it this far, there is no reason that they should have won all these wars other than that they have G-d on their side. This story was amazing to hear, it made me so proud to be a Jew, and nothing could take that away.

One more thing I want to talk about is the Jewish soul, Neshama. Our soul is split into five different pieces. One-fifth of our soul is cut into thousands of pieces, and every time we do mitzvot, an angel will collect a little of our soul. One resides in us, one in our best friend, one in our spouse, and one in Israel. When we die the pieces of our soul are poured onto a table and if we reach the required amount, we will face our punishment and then our reward, however, if we do not, we will be reincarnated to do those mitzvot which we lacked. We are naturally attracted to our souls, which is how we find our spouse, our best friend, and of course Israel.

Thank you to the Memphis Federation’s Lemsky Endowment Fund for helping me find the fifth piece of my soul, and I am eternally grateful for the opportunity for making my Israel trip possible.

Note: This essay was written before the horrific events of October 7^th.