GRADUATION ADDRESS 2025
By: Rabbi Seth Grauer
Good evening and welcome to all.
Honored Rabbis, fellow administrators and faculty, members of the Board of Directors, parents and of course our wonderful graduates – welcome and thank you.
I must admit that this is the second speech I’ve prepared for tonight. Once the news broke about Israel’s astonishing pre-emptive strike against Iran and the war that we find ourselves in, my earlier remarks draft version seemed completely tone deaf much less relevant.
This past Friday night, I was walking back from shul with Michael Lax and Rabbi Elan Mazer, National Director of Mizrachi Canada. R. Mazer was staying at my home and joining me for Friday night dinner as we closed out our election campaign.
Michael turned to R. Elan and said – we have met so many soldiers in top units over the last two years – who were the soldiers who were involved in this precision miraculous mission and do we know them?
R. Mazer turned to Michael and I and he said – 100%. Those pilots could have been one of many young soldiers who we have met over these last two years, because those pilots are regular guys.
And therein lies something incredibly phenomenal.
You see, I spent much of the day on Friday reaching out to many people throughout Israel. I texted and emailed and even made a few phone calls to various alumni of BAS, some current students studying in Yeshiva and seminary, some of our supporters and some family as well. My texts were very brief and to the point. Something to the effect of – we are thinking about you, stay safe, we are praying and hoping – and that it is incredible to watch the nesim ve’niflaot happening all around us.
As an aside – it is really a wonderful idea and my reaching out was very much well received. Consider even reaching out to former shelichim – they will really love it.
I texted the father from one BAS family who recently made Aliyah and he wrote back – let’s not forget that these kids who are on the front lines are young women and men who in most cases are just regular people who are fighting this war on behalf of the Jewish people around the world.
Arutz Sheva even reported a story on Friday of a young pilot – a graduate of the Hesder Yeshiva in Sderot – who got married on Thursday night. After the wedding he drove his new bride to her parents’ house and continued to his base to participate in the attack.
You see, in Israel, the heroes working in the secret units or the courageous pilots could be the person standing in front of you in the supermarket, or sitting next to you on the train. They could be your neighbor and you simply wouldn’t know it! Ordinary Israelis who are superheroes!
My dear graduates, although you’re over 5,000 miles away from Yerushalyim – please understand that Jewish destiny rests on your shoulders too!
There were no communal tefillot allowed in Israel over Shabbat – all Jews were forced to daven by themselves at home. A friend told me he never felt so much responsibility in his prayers.
It’s exactly the same here. Our prayers can and do make a difference.
But it is not just prayers.
Each and every one of you has that power to impact the lives of others.
Not just with your thoughts and your words but with your actions as well.
The next chapter in the history of our people is being written and you will be its authors.
Since October 7th, we have learned many lessons as a people, one of which is indeed the power and impact of the individual.
Last year on Yom Ha’atzmaut, Medinat Yisrael bestowed the honor of lighting a torch on 12 heroic individuals who risked their lives and accomplished amazing feats on October 7th. These were regular people.
Recently, author Nachum Avniel published a book called – “Anachnu Baderech” – “We Are on Our Way” – highlighting tales of ordinary citizens who became superhuman and did extraordinary things on October 7th.
In many cases, some of the heros in his tales were just stepping up to help in small ways. We do not need to be heros to make a huge difference. We simply need to try and be the best version of ourselves.
Israel author Chaim Be’er once recounted:
“Once, when I was a child in Jerusalem, I couldn’t restrain myself and asked Rav Aryeh Levin, the great Tzadik of Yerushalayim:
‘Is it true that you are one of the Lamed-Vav Tzadikim?’
Rav Aryeh smiled and replied with one word: ‘Sometimes.’
How true is that for all of us. Sometimes we do great things.
I remember when Rabbi Moshe Taragin’s son, Noam, got injured. I called him periodically and I marveled to Rabbi Taragin at his (Rabbi Taragin’s) strength as he continued to give lectures, shiurim, classes and even wrote a book.
Rabbi Taragin said to me: “Really Seth, I am not that special – I am only doing what all of us would do.” Lo Aleinu of course- and none of us should ever be tested, but his point was that deep down we all have the capacity and the ability to accomplish great things.
I want to be very clear and make sure that my words this evening are not misunderstood:
Some of you will make Aliyah and some of you will serve in various roles within Tzahal, however, you do not need to live in Israel or fight in the IDF to accomplish extraordinary things.
Jewish growth and success in the diaspora is built on leaders and active participants – women and men / young and old – each of whom is passionate about helping our people.
We have the support of America (and sometimes even Canada) in this war because of hundreds of Jews around the world who work so hard on behalf of the Jewish people. There are Jewish leaders in all countries who have organized hundreds of millions of dollars of support to be sent to Israel over these last two years. Some leaders have been able to give and some leaders have been able to collect. Others helped pack goods.
Our physical missions to Israel have brought great chizuk and strength to our sisters and brothers in Israel. They have felt our love and care. The letters we have written and all the videos we have sent them have made an impact. Our shelichim have led many of these efforts and each of you – our graduates have stepped up on a big way.
As Rabbi Sacks writes in his short work – Letter to the Next Generation:
“Jews have had an influence out of all proportion to their numbers, because they believed in the individual and his or her power to change the world for the better.”
The question to think about as you near your graduation is how I can join that list of leaders? Join that list of Impactful members of the Jewish world community?
How can I contribute meaningfully to Klal Yisrael?
It could be in business or in a not-for-profit organization – it could be as a teacher or in media. It could be as a doctor or even a volunteer. There are so many ways.
And if you’re not thinking so far ahead yet, no worries.
Being a leader can also mean just being there for a friend in need.
Looking out for people in your community.
Doing what’s right. Not what’s always easy.
Being the best version of yourself.
We’re about to read Parashat Shelach, in which Yehoshua and Calev could easily have followed the crowd and not gone against the tide.
But they did speak up and they changed the course of history.
Or Pinchas, who’ll we’ll read about in a few weeks.
His name is written with a little yud, which indicates, according to some commentators, that he was a ‘little’ Jew, an ordinary guy. He could have chosen to do nothing. Who was he, after all, compared to all the other great Jews and leaders who chose not to intervene? He could have stayed in his comfort zone.
He didn’t. He stepped up and saved Jews.
The Kli Yakar writes that Pinchas knew the other tribes would regard his actions with disdain, but he stepped up nevertheless, because Hashem’s honor was more important to him than his own prestige.
On this past Shabbat we read about how Moshe went ahead and appointed 70 elders to help him.
Rav Baruch Gigi, Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivat Har Etzion, writes that in each generation a different 70 “elders” are chosen to lead. You – our 70 graduates – you could be those next 70.
Similarly, in the words of Rabbi Sacks (in his Covenant and Conversation on this past weeks’ parsha) he writes:
Judaism is about diffused responsibility, making each individual count… This calls for leaders who inspire others with their vision, delegating, empowering, guiding, encouraging and making space. That is what God was hinting to Moses when He told him to take seventy elders and let them stand with him in the Tent of Meeting.’
My dear graduates, I hope your time at BAS has taught you that you can be one of these 70 elders. You can step up and take responsibility.
I hope that your rabbaim and teachers here at BAS have instilled in you an unshakeable and steadfast belief and trust in your own potential and your own abilities to create, to contribute, to give, to grow and to make a difference in the lives of others and the world around you.
I hope that we have instilled within you an iron clad commitment to Torah and Mitzvoth. I hope we’ve grounded you in an unshakeable and committed faith in HKBH.
We are living through remarkable times. I was in tears when I heard a report that the entire security cabinet in Israel sat around a table and finished sefer tehilim while our planes were in route to Iran on Thursday evening. The news reported that Bibi Netanyahu first went to the Kotel, put a talis over his head and put the name of the operation – quoting from a pasuk in Tanach – in the walls of the Kotel – all prior to sending off our young pilots.
Many of these Israelis are not necessarily Shomrei Torah U’Mitzvoth, however, they understand that HKBH is running the show in every single way. We are merely actors and shelichim of Hashem.
And as such – there is so much you can do.
Do not be afraid to step up. Do not be afraid to stand up to antisemitism or to evil in any form. You have more strength and power than you can imagine.
And if you’re doing the right thing, Hashem is at your side.
As Rabbi Sacks writes in his book To Hear a Fractured World:
“When God calls, He does not do so by way of universal imperatives. Instead, He whispers our name – and the greatest reply, the reply of Abraham, is simply hineni: ‘Here I am’, ready to heed Your call, to mend a fragment of Your all-too-broken world.” (To Heal a Fractured World, p. 262)
Rabbi Sacks continues (again in To Heal a Fractured World):
“There is no life without a task; no person without a talent; no place without a fragment of God’s light waiting to be discovered and redeemed; no situation without its possibility of sanctification; no moment without its call.”
I hope that when the call comes – whether it’s defending Israel, inventing a product that can heal millions, being a shul president, joining a board of your local school or just helping someone up after a physical fall or a difficult time, each of you will have the courage, faith and fortitude to declare “Hineni“! I am here and ready to help.
Closing with Rabbi Sacks who says: “the Shaper of history summons us to shape history.”
The graduates of Ulpana and Or Chaim always punch above their weight and you will be no different.
Thank you for listening.
Am Yisrael Chai!
