Medium.com: Social Impact Heroes: Why & How Rabbi Rebecca Keren ‘Rabbi Becky’ Eisenstadt Is Helping To Change Our World
Authority Magazine
Jun 16, 2022
… Being a leader is not just having a position of authority that others look towards you for guidance. Being a leader means that you walk the walk and talk the talk. I talk about leading a life full of following the commands of the Jewish bible, that means I also follow those commands. It means I live modestly, kindly, according to many customs and rules of our tradition. I don’t just ask people to donate, I donate my time to charities too. I bring people to organizations I am a part of.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began leading your company or organization?
There are so many interesting things that have happened since starting my company as a Private Jewish Educator and on-demand Rabbi. I’ve met celebrities, legendary businesspeople and gotten to travel the world. One of the most interesting stories is how you can watch people grow together through your guidance.
I often get emails from people I don’t know. Once, I got a short email asking me If i could come teach 4 Hebrew lessons on a Sunday morning starting at 7am. There was barely any explanation and not even a full address provided. I had 7am free, as most people do, but I was suspicious that this was just a spam request. Still, I googled the email address and realized the person who emailed me was one of the most successful CEOs in the world. On a leap of faith, I showed up at the address (I guessed it was Riverside Drive and not Riverside Boulevard). To my surprise, the people who answered the door spoke Spanish. As it turned out, this CEO was dating a beautiful Mexican woman who was interested in converting herself and children; she needed to learn about Judaism and Hebrew. The CEO didn’t even make an appearance at that first set of lessons and I wasn’t even sure how I would get paid. At first, it was hard to find a common language, especially trying to teach children totally new characters and new religious customs. But we managed, and the children rapidly learned English in their schools. Months turned into years. The woman and her children all converted to Judaism, all had Bar and Bat Mitzvahs and the couple had a Jewish Wedding. I was even lucky to travel to Israel with the family and help the CEO pick the diamond for his bride’s ring. You never know how you will connect with a client.