Sam Moller's Sinai Statement: Celebrating Confirmation and Tikkun Olam

Ed. Note: The third in our series of our Confirmand's Sinai Statements comes from Sam Moller. Sam talks about his views on Tikkun Olam and how his trip to the RAC during his confirmation year has helped shape these views.

Throughout my life I have always been drawn to perform Tikkun Olam, the Jewish principle of repairing our world through acts of social justice. Throughout my time at The Rashi School, I was under the impression that most of the people in our society were involved in social justice projects. After my trip to the Religious Action Center this winter my impression of Tikkun Olam completely changed. I realized from my trip to the RAC that very few people participate in social justice projects or have a clue about the injustices in our world. The trip also showed me that people should give back to their community and the people who have given to them. As Judaism says “Love thy neighbor as thyself”.

On the trip we covered many different social issues that have a great effect on this country, such as poverty, LGBT rights, America’s relationship with the State of Israel, family abuse, global warming and many more. By going into deeper learning around these topics I realized that there are more than one or two common views on these matters. There are hundreds. The phrase, “Two Jews, Three Opinions”, came into play on the trip countless times.

After I returned from our time at the Religious Action Center, I reflected on my experience and I realized that besides the friends that I made, I discovered a strong passion for the social justice projects that we worked on during the trip. I then came to the conclusion that I want to pursue a career in bringing greater justice to our world. Some people have come up to me since the trip and have asked what I want to be when I get older, and I have responded to them that I want to work in social justice. Some have said that, that it is very commendable, however the majority of the people have responded in saying that, my thought about my career is foolish because there is no money involved. Yes it is true that working in social justice is not a “get rich quick” occupation, however the enjoyment that I get from doing good is priceless.

--Sam Moller