It was truly an amazing summer between my son Jake’s Bar Mitzvah in Poland, 7 placements, 10 Interview Training programs and the magnificent weather; I am deeply grateful!
Our goal in having our youngest son Jake’s Bar Mitzvah in Poland was to have a meaningful rite of passage. The ceremony took place in Zamosc, the town that my Father was born in, and before the war was home to over 12,000 Jews. The synagogue, which was originally built in the 1500s and severely damaged by the Nazis, was restored in 2009-2010. There had not been a Bar Mitzvah there in over 70 years! We brought our Rabbi from New York to conduct the service and had to borrow a Torah from the Chief Rabbi of Poland in Warsaw. What we did not expect were the 60 non-Jewish people (some of whom traveled 5 hours) who came to celebrate with us! We also did not expect 12 reporters to show up and cover what they called “a historical moment.” The reception and heart-felt interest we experienced from Polish people exceeded anything we could have imagined. At the heart of this was the Forum For Dialogue Among Nations, a Polish NGO founded by Andrzej Folwarczny 16years ago, that invited me back to Poland last year. The Forum helped us with all aspects of planning our event; they also bought their entire team and helped us to create a healing moment for Polish-Jewish relations. I would definitely describe the Bar Mitzvah as a peak life experience! Should you know anyone with Polish-Jewish ancestry who might be interested in being part of a study trip to Poland focused on repairing Polish-Jewish relations, please send them my way and I will tell them all about the Forum. The Forum made a video of Jake’s Bar Mitzvah, which also gives some background information on their organization: Zamosc Bar Mitzvah
As for work, summer no longer means that things slow down. We are seeing significant law firm hiring in all areas, especially business development. Law firms are investing in talent and I would say that most days we have more great opportunities than available talent. We are very fortunate to have many great candidates referred to us weekly by colleagues like you!
This has been the best weather I have ever experienced in NY! It has made for a very pleasant summer, whether commuting to work or spending precious days at the Jersey Shore. As the summer draws to an end, I have been thinking a lot about the Fall and where the opportunity is for me to be of most value to clients. It is clearly on the placement side and I am excited to find the right talent for Firm clients. I think most of us still have a little “back to school clock” inside of us that goes off in September and it is a good time to ask ourselves:
- What do I want to learn
- What kinds of experiences do I want to add to my career portfolio
- Do I want to take any classes to add to my expertise
As we move into the Fall, think about what kind of work you can focus on that is of greatest value to your internal or external clients.