Sam's Bar Mitzvah and "PIF"

My 13 year-old son, Sam, came home from sleep away camp this summer and we took him out to dinner on his first day back.  Our waitress was wearing a Pay It Forward wristband.  Sam asked her to tell him what her wristband meant.  That evening, Sam went home and began to research on-line the concept of paying it forward.  He's read the novel and really embraced the concept.



This past weekend, Sam was called to the Torah as a Bar Mitzvah.  As part of his Bar Mitzvah, he was asked to write a creative prayer to tell people what he personally wishes for and then present a call to action for the people listening to his speech.  Sam decided to encourage our entire congregation to Pay It Forward.  Prior to Sam's Bar Mitzvah, we contacted the Pay It Forward Foundation to request 200 wristbands (thanks, Charley!), and at the conclusion of Sam's Bar Mitzvah Service, Sam distributed the wristbands to everyone there.



Below I've provided a written version of the speech Sam delivered to a packed congregation on October 18, 2008:



         I pray that people treat each other with kindness.  If people were kind to one another, the world would be a place without hatred, intolerance, cruelty, unhappiness and suffering.  If everyone treated each other with kindness, people would respect each other’s differences and would help each other out when times were tough.  THE WORLD WOULD BE A VERY DIFFERENT PLACE.

           Catherine Ryan Hyde wrote a novel called Pay It Forward.  It was also turned into a movie.  Both the book and the movie are about a mere twelve year old boy named Trevor who came up with a simple but huge plan to make the world a better place.   In this plan, one person has to show spontaneous acts of kindness to 3 random people in need.  In return, the three people helped would ask, “how can I pay you back?”  But instead of taking something from them in return, you just say “pay it forward” by helping three more people with spontaneous acts of kindness.  In theory, this plan is supposed to grow from three people to nine people to twenty-seven people to eighty-one people and so on.  At around the 20th level, the world’s entire population will be helped.  And at the 21st level, the world’s entire population will be helped about 5 times.
            The idea of the book has been the inspiration for a real life organization called the Pay It Forward Foundation.  This foundation spreads the idea that you should do good things for others to repay the good that has happened to you.  I pray that everyone in this room leaves here and does three good things for other people.  They don’t have to be big things.  Little things can make a big difference.  And then, when the people you help ask how they can pay you back, tell them to Pay It Forward instead.  Together we can make the world a place filled with kindness.

Risa

NYC, New York