What if Bitya had pondered whether or not to pull Moshe from the water, hesitating and procrastinating, thinking to herself: "My arm is too short, the water's too deep" or "there are crocodiles in the Nile"?

Had Bitya hesitated, the arc with the little baby would have floated away…

And when Hashem pursued Moshe to kill him for not circumcising Eliezer, his son, what if Tzipporah had said to herself: "Maybe this isn't the right thing to do. I'm not a mohel (circumciser). I can't circumcize anyone. I could get into trouble for this."

In that moment of hesitation, Moshe would have died…

And what if Rachav, instead of hiding Joshua's spies had said to herself: "I can't find anywhere to hide these men. This is too dangerous, maybe I should turn them in?"

Had she not decided to act as she did, Joshua's mission could very well have failed…

So, too, with Ruth, there was a moment, a decision: "Should I go with Naomi, or stay in Moav?" It was a lot to think about, this long, dangerous journey of two women alone. Ruth could have said: "I can't do this, it's too hard. In Moav, I'm royalty while in Israel I'm nobody. We read the book and we know how the story goes.

What I want to say to you is that every moment in our lives is pregnant with potential.

Remember that redemption comes in an instant!

And I, Lot, chose for myself a well-watered land, set
up with not so much to push and pull and dig up from
ground zero - to get going after so much journeying.
Hadn't I been patient enough? And it's not like it
wasn't a choice offered to me, a legitimate choice to
make. Too much light? Is that why I went my separate
way? Too much pain - it's pain and suffering, life,
so when given a choice, sometimes you don't want the
ugliest. Sometimes I don't want to be a martyr,
because I remember a time when others had each other,
while I was suffering. I lost my parents and got
swept up in Avraham's train. I remember a time others
laughed, when I couldn't, enjoying a good outlook.
And I said, one day, I'll have it easier too.

One day, I'll have a choice, and martyrs might be
jealous, if they doubt their own good coming to them.
But we can choose some harder and gentler lessons. We
can choose not to be always self-sacrificing, because
Hashem makes us sacrifice anyway. There is a time to
risk a few mistakes and do teshuva than to be perfect
and resentful of others, even causing ayin hara. I
learned from Avraham and served him - it wasn't
nothing. Better not to be jealous of others and
choose to take an unpopular, independent way. We will
struggle with Gd anyway - that's who we are. We are
not to judge another. Why judge me? And let me not
shirk abundance, when it's offered to me, for with
more, I can share more.

by Gavi Meir Midreshet B'erot Bat Ayin student 2004-2005

I am Leah. I cannot stop crying, because…

I am Leah. I cannot stop crying, because I'm doing
everything I know Gd wants me to and I can't reach my
soulmate that I want. Maybe he's too high for me or
low for me. Right now, I feel too low, because he's
drawn with his eyes to an outside beauty (Rachel), and
it's a beauty I can't compete with. And I know how
beautiful I am in this world, but most people don't
see that way. And I want recognition, love. And I
want justice. I want to know Gd loves me, because I
know in my head, but I don't know in my heart, until
I'm not alone anymore. I am alone in body and mind,
and it refuses to unify as spirit.

I am Leah I cannot stop crying because I have been put in the most horrible position imaginable. I have been married off to a man who wanted my sister and not me. I have been betrayed by my father in this way so that there would be no shame of the inappropriateness of me being an old maid. I had to see my sister cry because she knew that it would be me and not her in Jacobs bed. And now.. I have borne children and still she is loved more.