the kids are alright

Welcome to the OMFG podcast, Jewish wisdom for unprecedented times. My name is Rabbi Jodi Gordon, and together with my friend and co-conspirator Rabbi Jen Gubitz, we're glad you're with us.

OMFG is not just a podcast, it's a philosophy, a worldview, a way of keeping it Jewish while keeping it real. Sometimes especially if those times are any time in the last few years, the world just gives you opportunity after opportunity to say, "OMFG." The world is the world, but Jewish tradition inspires us to call out to each other and sometimes to God and to figure out what it all means. And so this podcast is our way of inviting you into the conversation.

Now, today we are excited to be joined by two very special guest hosts who we can't wait to introduce you to. So get ready, OMFG fans, because they just brought down the average age of your usual OMFG hosts by a lot. A lot. A lot.

A lot.

So Eliza and Mia, welcome. We are so excited to have you on OMFG. And we are going to get started by asking you to introduce yourselves.

Hi, I'm Mia. I grew up in New York City, but I lived in Massachusetts like on the weekends, and so I attended Hevrah. I'm 18 years old. Yeah, that's— I just graduated high school and I'm excited for college.

Hi, I'm Eliza. I have essentially lived here in Western Mass for the entirety of my life. I've been going to Hevrah for that same amount of time, and Mia and I have been classmates forever. And yeah, I go to a very small school with very few Jews.

So let's back up a second. So, Jodi, how did we come by these fabulous co-hosts tonight?

So I think we have to turn to them to answer the question. Eliza and Mia, why did you want to be on OMFG?

I think it was just like a life goal of mine to be on OMFG. Eliza and I were talking before the Prague trip, and I was like, do you know what's crazy? Rabbi Gordon has a podcast and she hasn't invited us on. And Eliza was like, oh, we should just ask her.

I was like, what's with that?

And so we did. And she was like, you should. And so here we are.

So for a little background info for our listeners, in case it wasn't inherently obvious, Eliza and Mia are two of our most recently graduated high school senior confirmation students here at Hebra in Great Barrington. And as I said to them earlier, they are— we don't have favorites, but they are favorites amongst my favorites. And so when we first thought about this idea, at first it just seemed fun, right, Jen? Like, hey, let's get like cool 18-year-olds on our podcast and they'll tell us things.

But then you said like, how—

what do you—

said like, what do you think about that? I was like, yes. And then we tried to schedule, we tried to schedule, and then I had a baby, so we had to wait.

Right. So big.

That happened.

Big for BL. OMG, there's a new baby in town. He would actually be our youngest co-host, but his stuff would really need to be edited a lot right now.

But he's very, he's very inconsistent and unreliable as a participant in most parts of the day and life.

Participating in life, hard to rely on. But in the months since we first came up with this idea of having Eliza and Mia join us for an episode, It went from being fun to, wow, we are living through an even more interesting time in the world and specifically in high schools and on college campuses. And so today it feels like having you both with us is actually a really important opportunity to talk about what it is like to be a Jewish American or an American Jewish teenager right now. So we're going to have an open conversation. We're really excited to hear from you both. And I'm wondering, um, Eliza, maybe you're happy to get us started. Tell us a little bit about your high school experience overall. What was easy? What was hard? What felt like, you know, exactly what you expected high school would be like? And what was a total shock?

Yeah, so for like background, I, um, just graduated from Lenox, so I had about 60 kids in my class. Um, and for the most part It was really fun. Um, most of my friends now have been my friends since elementary school or even before then, so it's been really sweet, like, just being with those friends and watching each other grow up. And, um, from a Jewish take, most of them are— if they're practicing, they're Catholics. So I actually have been to a fair amount of Masses and confirmations and First Communions and stuff like that. And so I think that That part has just made me interested in like a bunch of different religions, and I just like to explore and see what else is out there. Um, but I think also just being small, it has definitely like limited my worldview a fair amount. Um, you know, I, I'm very excited to go to school and meet new people and experience different cultures.

Mia, what about you?

So I went to Monument, um, which We graduated, I think, like 105, 106 students this year. Yeah, it was pretty good. It was an interesting transition from like the diversity I was used to in New York City to up here. I think in the city I had like around half the grade I was in, it was like 60 kids, um, was Jewish. And then it went to just me, Ben, another one of our classmates, and my twin sister. Um, and Michaela, uh, but now she, she graduated a different school. And it was definitely a shock that, like, I had to adjust to that, like, not everybody knew, not everybody, you know, understood. Um, and that was definitely a hard part of high school because biases were definitely shown. But I think that, like, as the years progresses— progress— and as, like, we got older, um, people started to mature and it got better.

I think also something that was interesting for me was, um, my mom— love her so much— she worked so hard throughout my entirety of schooling to, um, just like kind of educate people on Judaism and like, okay, when I'm not in school for the high holidays, that doesn't mean I can just do all the work that you would be doing in school that day. Because I'm actually doing other things and I shouldn't necessarily be penalized for that. I think for us there's one other practicing Jew in my grade who doesn't go to our synagogue, and at any given time there's usually about like 3 Jewish families in our whole school. And so I think it was definitely interesting, and frankly it wasn't something that I minded a whole lot, but like I It's odd to think about that, the fact for most of the people in my grade, like, I am kind of that Jewish figurehead. Like, they don't know other Jews. And I think for me, it's something I never really minded a whole lot because I've always been willing to, like, educate people. And I think I'm involved in a lot of different things, so, like, a lot of people know me. Um, but it's just— and it's something that I've just— it's been my whole life, so I'm used to it. But I I think when I was thinking about this podcast and I really thought about it, I was like, oh, that is actually a little odd and is something that not a lot of other people in my school have experienced.

Well, it's so interesting what y'all are saying. Like, Western Mass in some ways is very similar. I'm from Indiana originally, and so how you're describing your experience— I went to bigger high schools and it's a much bigger city, but still very much like my family and a couple of other families had to educate everyone. Um, and everyone wanted to come to my bat mitzvah because they were— I think more because they were curious, not because they were like, we like you. 7th grade, you know, 7th grade still, which is really different, I think, than like, you know, Jodie, you grew up in Long Island with Amy Schumer, right? I don't know if me and Eliza know that. Okay, um, you just made me cooler.

This is new information.

I know.

Um, and like Mia, you're from New York City originally, and like the streets are paved with blocks of cream cheese there. And like, I know that when Jodi goes grocery shopping in Great Barrington, it's not, you know, you have to really seek out these, this, um, I'm trying to extend a metaphor that's not going to work. Great Barrington and the Berkshires are a very different setting, very similar to Indiana, which is like not everyone's Jewish and not everyone's aware of Jewish culture. Um, and then something crazy happens, and like crazy is like also not the right word. Something traumatizing happens in our global world, right? October 7th, where suddenly for the first time, it seemed like everyone is like aware of Israel, aware of Jews. And I'm wondering what that was like for you in school. Like, how did it go from just being like someone who's regularly educating people on what it means to be Jewish to maybe, I wonder if people were like, you represent the entire state of Israel. Did that happen or anything like that?

Uh, yeah. Um, so I was in a US government and politics class and the teacher was Jewish. Um, she, she was great. And there was like a question in the curriculum about like, what is the United States role in like aiding others? And that like happened, I think October 15th or something. When that question was posed. And there was a lot of, I don't wanna say backlash, but kind of negative comments because she is very openly Jewish. And she talks, you know, about her Jewishness and like, I guess in hopes of like, 'cause Monument unfortunately doesn't have the best history with antisemitism. I would love to say that they're working on it, but not really. And, um, so she, uh, so they— there were some students in my class who were like, uh, thought that she just like was meaning Israel because she happened to be Jewish. But like none of the examples that she gave was Israel. She was like kind of gearing towards like NATO and like our role in all of that. And it was interesting because a lot of the students in our—

in our—

my class kind of, uh, I wouldn't say attacked, but just went at it at a different angle than she intended because she was Jewish. And then it kind of like put me in an awkward situation because I love to talk. I love, um, talking in class and giving my opinion. And, uh, so then it was kind of an awkward situation because I felt for her because she was like just trying to teach her class about U.S. history, and then it became something else, and there were a lot of tropes of antisemitism. And I don't necessarily think that they were meant in an antisemitic way. It was just they weren't educated on what you're saying is not okay, don't say it.

Um, I think for me Something that I, that kind of surprised me was the fact that like, I didn't really experience any conversations about it outside of like, um, Hevra or my family. Um, and I think that's something that has continued to this day and is one of the things I have the biggest problem with is that, um, in my family and like, I, at our synagogue, I feel like we talk about it a lot and we try to have discussions about what's going on. And then there was just this stark juxtaposition between just the rest of my life. Like, I know people were thinking about it and were reading about it, um, and there's so much going on on social media about it, but none of that was actually happening, like, to my face. There weren't actually any conversations. Um, and I do have to say that I took a humanities course. It was incredible, and the two doctors who teach the class, they had clearly had a conversation about it, and they actually taught Maus by Art Spiegelman for the first time in like 10 years, because I think they wanted to give just some bigger perspective, and they wanted to find a way to talk about Judaism without explicitly talking about the Israel-Palestinian War. Um, and so just, I personally really appreciated it. They went about it in the best way that I've ever experienced when it comes to talking about, um, Judaism or the Holocaust. And it also, when we were leading up to it, they had asked us like, what Holocaust education have you had? And we essentially said none. It had kind of like slipped through the cracks, which seems like an odd odd thing to say about the Holocaust. And so I think especially once they realized that, they definitely felt like these kids should receive some Holocaust education before they graduate. So that was really, really appreciated. And it wasn't about particularly Israel-Palestine, which I was kind of okay with because it was a different plan, it was a different curriculum. Um, but just to know that like they were thinking about it and that they managed to teach something in a way that wasn't, um, awkward or felt icky to me was really nice.

It's so interesting also, like, thinking about Jen, the frame that you gave that question of like noting what it means to live in this place that, you know, the three of us do, right? This, um, sort of rural but close to sort of cosmopolitan, you know, centers of learning and of sophistication, right? So many people in the Berkshires wind up here by way of Boston or New York. Um, and yet, like, I'm, I'm listening to the stories that you just told now, and because I know you, I have the benefit of knowing more of your stories, right? Certainly you have grown up with a keener awareness of antisemitism than I think I did on Long Island in the '90s, right? We are also comparing apples and oranges, to be fair. But thinking about the span of your high school career, the two of you in particular, right, were literally in Jerusalem when COVID started. I can picture the two of you standing there with me while we got, right, the text message through our guide being like, oh wow, interesting, 20 tourists also have this thing we're still calling coronavirus. And we all flew home just being like, oh weird. I hope this thing doesn't get worse, right? That was February 28th, 2020, right? You were all in 8th grade. And that school year, September 2020, you started the freshman year of your high school. I believe both of you online. Maybe Lennox was in person at some point. I can't remember. You'll talk about it, right? So that was the beginning of your high school career. And October 7th of your senior year in high school then, right, was October 7th, 2023. And so you've had these sort of like big global bookends to your high school experience. And that was the background with which each of you started over the course of this past year to imagine your future and your life outside of the Berkshires by way of applying to colleges. I'm wondering if either of you wanna reflect a little bit on what sort of that soup of ideas that we just put out there, right? A global pandemic, a war in Israel, or a war in Gaza between Israel and Gaza, right? Rising antisemitism, and the two of you are deciding to go off to college, and maybe you can reflect a little bit on how that changed your process or how that affected your process.

Yeah, so for starters, I actually wrote my college essay on Hevra and on growing up Jewish here. It wasn't something I necessarily planned, but I tried writing about a few different communities of mine and that was the one that just stuck. And obviously I worked with it a lot and I did a lot of different drafts, um, but that was my final, um, college essay. And it was interesting because I wrote it August, September for the most part, and then I did change it a little bit after October 7th to include more of like how Judaism has taught me to take part in dialogue and to like really critically question. Um, so I did edit it a little bit, and I definitely— I applied to my first round of schools in— I don't even remember anymore, I tried to delete it from my brain— but like October, November, even some December. And then the second round was in like December and January. And I think when when I submitted it in October and November, I still felt pretty, pretty good about what I had in it. And then as it just kind of continued and everything got worse in Israel, like I, I had a little bit more hesitancy and I was like, should I write another one? But that felt wrong too. So I think I changed a few things and I just kind of sent it 'cause I was like, this is still who I am. But I think overall I was pretty naive when applying to schools because I really, I, I think I thought that it would all be over and done with by the time I got to school in the fall, and that does not appear that it will be the case. But I think the reality is I wanted to go to a more urban, larger, diverse school, and I wanted— I wrote in my college essay even before October 7th that I wanted a place that like there were a lot of different viewpoints, and that could have civil dialogue. And so I, for the most part, didn't see what's going on at college campuses as like a horrible, horrible negative. I think now— yeah, anyway, so I honestly didn't have it affect my college application process a whole lot because I kind of thought it would be over with. I—

there was a lot of like, um diversity, equity, and inclusion questions with a lot of the school supplementals. And I wrote about an incident that we had in the 8th grade about my first real interaction with antisemitism, because I was kind of, for lack of a better word, naive to it. Because growing up on the Upper West Side, almost everybody was Jewish. My neighbors were Jewish. So it was easy to forget that we make up just 0.02% of, like, the population. And so it's kind of like, growing up in a larger Jewish community, it's easy to forget that there are those out there who don't see eye to eye with us. And so then going into a new school in the 8th grade and having, like, experienced antisemitism face to face, like It was just a very shocking moment and shocking time, but thankfully Rabbi Gordon, Rabbi Hirsch were there for us. But yeah, so I wrote about like that experience and the frustration I had felt, but having people educated on the matter was more important than my frustration and my discomfort. And it did worry me. I talked to my college counselor I was like, should I maybe steer clear of this because of what's happening right now? But I wound up submitting it anyway because if they can't really, if they don't want me because I'm Jewish, I don't really belong there anyway because that's a huge part of my identity. So yeah, I got into a good number of schools.

So, and just to, um, what you guys have said is like so profound and what I'm about to say is less profound. But Mia, you're going to Indiana University, and I'm a graduate of the IU Jewish Studies program. And Jodi told me that you're studying Holocaust studies, so I'm— which is not like an exciting— I'm like excited for you to have to be immersed in that great, um, learning environment and happy to talk with you more about it, even though my 20-year college graduation reunion is coming up. So it's been It's been a while, but I was in Bloomington last summer, so, and I'll be there in February. Um, so a lot to say about that. But I think what I love— I think it's so interesting that you both wrote about Jewish identity in different ways for college applications. And, and whether out loud or within, ask the question like, is it gonna be— is it gonna be against my candidacy for these schools that they know I'm Jewish and grappling with my identity? And at the end of the day, both said like, you know what, this is who I am. This is my story. This is what I think about and care about. And if you don't want me, then I don't want to go to your school, which I think is really bold and hard to say when you're 18 because even, you know, I know what I want to feel wanted by institutions and by people and, and fear all the time. Like, what if they know we're Jewish? Will that matter? And like, if you talk to me in a sentence, I can't get past basically 5 words without mentioning Judaism. So it's pretty hard to hide. Um, but I resonate with that out in the world today. Like, actually, we were out, we went to a brewery last Friday for a new parents meetup, and we walk up to this new family and I was like, I'm Jen, this is Matan, and this is our son Ori. And the dad goes, I'm Daniel and this is Lev. And I was like, I see what you're putting down there, man. Shabbat shalom. Shabbat shalom. Um, but like that hesitancy of what will people think. I know it was like, so, you know, so Jewish. Um, what will people think? And so I just like want to applaud you for applying with who you are fully and not with what you thought admissions committees would want to hear. What, besides the beach and summer seltzers and Tanglewood and You know, Taylor Swift. Not— I don't know if you guys like Taylor Swift. Um, but do you guys like Taylor Swift? Is that your thing or no?

Of course.

Okay, just checking. Um, what else are you thinking about this summer though as you anticipate going off to college? Like, this is your last chance. You're gonna have other summers, I hope, that you'll get to do awesome stuff, but this is like this free summer between— you don't have any responsibilities to high school anymore. You don't yet have responsibilities to college. The nice thing about college is when the semester ends, you're really good for a couple of weeks. But like, what's on your mind? What are you anticipating? What are you thinking about, um, in this sort of like in-between time in your life?

Um, so I actually, I have a few responsibilities, but, um, I've, I have 21 kids to look after, not by myself, but Yeah.

Who let Mia look after 20 million kids?

That's what I've been asking. Yeah. But asides from that, I mean, it's definitely like, I just want to take it slow. I just, you know, soak up Berkshire air. But there has been a big conversation with the staff at our camp about the war in Israel because we're not a Jewish camp. But like 99.9% of our campers are Jewish. And some of the international staff or just non-alumni staff might have opposing views or just differing views than us. And as alumni and other, like the director and group heads have made it very clear that this is a summer camp. And parents are sending their kids here to get away from the world and to not bring in anything else. So I'm excited to just like basically be a kid and play in the lake and, you know, stay up late talking to my campers, eat too much candy, have to scarf down the gross dining hall food. Yesterday we had Sloppy Joes.

Yeah.

Just as like a side note, I do feel like it's worth saying that I— like, why do sloppy joes still exist? But like, they do, and you have to eat them at camp, and I think you still have to eat them in school cafeterias.

But I'm not—

who was Joe? Who was Joe and why was—

you're asking the right questions. Because they make them, they make them, and nobody eats them. And it's like, now you're just wasting food. Like, you could have just made a hamburger with that meat.

Okay, I just Googled it to find out who was Joe and why was he sloppy, because I didn't want our listeners to just have this like enduring question that they were going to carry with them. Um, the origins of the sloppy joe sandwich are debated, but some say it originated in Sioux City, Iowa in the 1930s. According to this story, a cook named Joe at a cafe combined a local favorite, the loose meat sandwich, with tomato sauce and seasonings to create a messy but popular dish. The loose meat sandwich is a classic Midwestern made with ground beef, onions, mustard, and pickles, either steamed or sautéed. Why? How did it get to the Berkshires is my next question, but that's just a supply chain answer.

But also, I would like to never hear the phrase loose meat sandwich ever again. Like, that's also a bad—

like, it's— that was the AI answer also, and now it seems like maybe it started in Havana in a Cuba bar owned by José Sloppy Joe. Which was a simple sandwich. This is another episode that we're going to have you guys back on for.

We will. Okay, we'll bring you back.

Next time on OMFG, where did the sloppy joe come from?

Listen, I really think you could help us design our path forward. But Eliza, besides sloppy joes, what are you thinking about for this summer?

Well, first off, I'm thinking about how people kind of lie when they say this is a free summer because Mia, I don't know if you've experienced this, but I have so many things to do for school before I get to school.

And I'm like, I move in 4 days after I get home from camp.

Oh, you have fun with that.

Anyway, I don't know.

I think right now I'm just overall very excited. I'm switching the mountains out for not mountains. But yeah, I think right now I'm just excited. I think as we get closer, I'll be like, wait, this here is all I've ever known. Um, so that's a little terrifying, but right now I'm, I'm chilling. I think on a, on a Jewish front, one thing I asked about, especially like at Admitted Students Days, which were more, um, this spring after I had applied and gotten into schools, um, was like at the Hillels. I was— I asked because so many of them seem so just like This is going to sound odd, but stay with me. So just pro-Israel, just blatantly like this is a safe space to be so, so, so pro-Israel. And I mean, getting deeper, like, yes, I do support the notion of an, like, a state, like the Israeli state, but not like this. Um, so I asked a lot of the Hillels if like there was place for people to not be completely pro-Israel right now. So that, I think, is one thing I am a little concerned about. And I think— I just hope that I don't feel pushed away from any, any Jewish places because I might not feel as strongly in support of Israel as other people. But I think in general, I'm just gonna kind of go when see and try to figure it out and see what sticks and what doesn't. And I, I hope that Judaism and Hillel becomes like a part of my life at school, but if that doesn't work for me, like, that's, that's okay. And, um, yeah, that's kind of my thoughts.

It's such an interesting last point you, you sort of threw on at the end there, Eliza. It's like a big one, right, of like, what does it mean to move out of— and actually, like, we don't— it doesn't even have to only be about right? Is Hillel at your soon-to-be future college going to be an accepting place for people on a spectrum of questioning around Israel, right? That's just an example. But really what it comes— if you zoom out from there, it's like, what is it going to mean to move on from a Jewish space in a Jewish community that you both feel very comfortable in, right? Which— and which at this point in your life you've both been real leaders in, and to arrive at a new place that has the sense of like, it already exists and do I fit in or not? And I guess the only thing I would say to you as somebody who also has worked for Hillel and loves Hillel is that unlike a synagogue community which has sort of that building story of, you know, year after year, Hillel college campuses change every semester, right? Every semester is a new set of people, right? Some new students have begun, other students have gone abroad, right? This person just got involved, this person is stepping away. And so to just know that, um, any Hillel professional worth their salt is going to meet the two of you and say, I need to figure out how to make this community a place where you want to be and where you do feel, right, empowered to be who you are and to ask those questions and all of that. But I think, I think you know that that's how we feel for the two of you.

And similarly, finding people who— I think the question these days is like, are you pro-Israel or anti-Israel? And I don't think that's the right question. A question which is yes or no is usually not the right question because the conversation can stop depending on what your answer is. And so I think, um, finding the people who can help you answer the question, like, how does my relationship to my Judaism, how does my relationship to Israel show up in my life at different moments and in certain circumstances? On a long-range scale and like, can, you know, finding people who can hold space with you that like, you can want Israel to exist and also oppose the current government and the war. Right. And I think like finding these expansive spaces is really what it's about. And you're going to these expansive— you live in an expansive space actually, that's quite expansive. You're going to college is this like wide expanse for exploration and finding your people. And so. I'm excited for you, and I hope that you can find people that are willing to ask questions beyond yes or no.

And I specifically will be in DC, so I think that will be a whole added layer, both because there will be an election and just, you know, the politics are happening there. So I think I'm kind of just excited to watch it all. And also, I am not studying international affairs, but a vast vast majority of people who are going to my school are doing something along the lines because you're going to go to DC, like, yeah. Um, so I, I definitely think there should be a lot of conversation and just a lot of new experiences that I'm very excited for.

So Eliza and Mia, as always, you are our teachers, and we have like one grand finale question for you both, which is if you could wave that magic wand and make the adults in your life including your parents and your rabbis, but if you could wave that magic wand and make the adults in your life understand one thing about being a Jewish teen right now, what would it be?

I think that like it's much harder than a lot of people think because, um, our generation, Gen Z, is very involved in change, which is not a bad thing whatsoever. And it's honestly a good thing to raise awareness for, um, you know, marginalized communities. And, um, yeah, like the Black Lives Matter movement during COVID and stuff like that. But I think, I think that where that goes wrong is when people talk without really knowing what they're talking about. And I feel that that's happening right now. And I think that, like, I— like, we're trying. And, um, with that added aspect of, like, uh, I think Jen, what you were saying of, like, do I belong here? Are they going to accept me because I'm Jewish? Um, is much more heightened now because of— there's this false, like, perspective, or I guess like assumption, that just because I support a Jewish state and the state of Israel, not the government, um, that means that I don't support the innocent lives of the Palestinians. And I think that people are looking at it as black and white when the conflict's actually just gray.

I totally agree. And I also think something just that isn't very well understood by people older is like, I think I kind of mentioned this before, but just the kind of information front that we deal with on social media. I think I'm grateful to have social media right now because it has provided me with especially a Palestinian view that there would simply be no other way to get. However, it's really, really draining and hard to be on Instagram Stories, for example, and see an absolutely horrific picture or video of what the Palestinians are going through, and then click over to the next one and it be something so-so, like pro-Israel, and then click over to the next one and it being about the Celtics winning the NBA Finals. Um, I think it's just, yeah, it's, it's interesting. And I think for me it's, it's been hard, but it's also been good because it means I've gotten to see a lot of different points of views, especially from people living outside of where we live, um, which I wouldn't be able to get otherwise. But I also just think it can be really, really hard, and I've debated like deleting Instagram But then I'm like, but then I don't— then I feel like I don't know what's happening. So yeah, that's just something.

It's a really different world that you live in than what we lived in when we were 18. Uh, Facebook came out my senior year of college, and you had to have an edu, um, like a.edu email to get it, and it was rolled out through colleges. So like, so much has changed.

Um, We had an app and here's Facebook, like at freshman orientation they gave you a paper book where you would have to send in your senior photos and it would— each page was like a composite shot. So it said like Jodi Gordon, Rockville Center, New York with my senior photo. And like that was how we found out who was in our freshman class. So yes, your worlds are vastly different.

Well, that's also so like IU had so many freshmen Like, there's no way they could have done that. But Brandeis, that's so Brandeis. So anyways, that's another— that's so Brandeis, another OMFG podcast episode that needs to be made. So, so we— this has been such a delight and such a long time coming. And we know that summer's not just free, but we want you to have some sense of spiritual freeness. And we want to bless the space for you between knowing that, Mia, you're taking care of tons of kids And Eliza, you're doing all sorts of things too, logistics. Like, it's not like you're just doing nothing, but there's still this space for to continue to move towards the next stage of your life. And so we want to offer you a blessing as the two of you get ready to go off to college. We want to mark this transition. And what we really wish for you is the chance for you to enjoy it all. You're 18, and 18 is big, as you know, in Jewish tradition, 18 is chai. And it means life.

So Eliza and Mia, and to all of your classmates who I know are going to be listening in with great pride for you, we want to offer all of you a special blessing for being 18. Life is for living, and you and your friends are on the precipice of such a special and important time in your life.

So may this summer ahead be a time for sweetness and joy.

May time feel expansive, like it's not rushing away, and filled with possibilities. Possibilities for new adventures.

May you feel connected to your past, your communities, and your family, and to the mountains and that Berkshire air, even as you get ready to launch this next chapter of your adult life.

And may you always know that life is for living, for learning and exploring and connecting and finding joy in all of it. And so we are going to say thank you so much for taking time in this beautiful June liminal post-graduation graduation, pre-campers arriving, pre-summer schedule at work phase for spending time with us. OMFG, the two of you are so cool.

Thank you.

Thank you.

This episode of the OMFG podcast was brought to you by rabbis Jen Gubitz and Jodi Gordon, editing by Jesse Ulrich, and snark straight from Adonai.