To My Daughter Marcela
Dear Marcela,
I have not written you a letter since your Bat Mitzvah in 2014.
Inspired by the EgonZehnder Leaders & Daughters event that you and I participated in, I decided to write you a few lines.
You may recall that, in that last letter, I referred to NYT columnist and American writer Thomas Friedman, author of “The World is Flat - A Brief History of the 21st Century.”
In that book, Friedman discusses Globalization, showing its meaning, its origins, its impact and the consequences that such a process imposes on people, countries, on the world as a whole. It shows how, in fact, we all are interconnected.
When I was your age and went to live in England, I communicated with my family through handwritten letters, which carried and brought the news in 2 to 3 weeks. The world in 1984 was round!
Now at the age of 16 years old, but brave enough since you were 11 to get around the world through CISV and inter-exchange programs, you can instantly know everything that is happening anywhere in the world, write a detailing report when traveling, send photos and movies, exchange ideas, ask for advice, etc. The world is flat!
You do stand out in this connected world. You have the ability to discover new technologies, always with an above average level of creativity.
This level of creativity that you have developed has a very strong connection with Judaism, which is also so striking in your personality.
Albert Einstein once said “The important thing is not to stop questioning.”
You became a Madrihá after a long and intense course. Your dedication to your Youth Movement shows your passion for many important pillars of Judaism, as looking at who you are through a Jewish vision and optics, engaging in a relationship with our Jewish tradition, questioning, asking, not being accommodated, discovering new meanings, unveil reasons, and also, transmitting knowledge to the next younger generation!
In this flat and increasingly competitive world, your creativity, your taste for reading, for science, for the arts, your love to explore new things, your capacity and will to learn, all these characteristics put you in a differentiated position to face and explore the world that is out there!
You are sweet, kind, and dedicated.
You are well determined; you are authentic, spontaneous and very courageous.
Continue to be this joyful sweetness that you are, keep the contagious smile and laughter, cultivate and stimulate your sensibility, water your artistic vein, paint, practice sports, study hard, travel and explore the world, play a lot, enjoy life, your friends, your family, take care of your health.
Try to convey, with wisdom, passion and intelligence, the lessons you have acquired. Do always believe in yourself! Test new ideas, make mistakes, learn from them, get up, keep moving.
I wish you all the joy, happiness, success and love in life.
I love you with all my heart.