Beyond Skin Deep

An address to girls graduating from Jewish High Schools:

Grapes are not only one of the special fruits for which the Holy Land is praised; they are a metaphor for perceiving spirituality within the physical, for a grape is unique: You can see through its outer skin, straight to its core.

This is a lesson for everything in life: A main cause of the exile is when the world only perceives the outer shell of the material world – forgetting the “seed” of reality, the Word of G-d that animates it all.

The educational goal of every Jewish school is to instill this G-dly awareness within its students, so that it permeates their lives. May your decision to dedicate this summer to educating other Jewish children in this way, be the final step in bringing the Redemption speedily.