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Olami Regional Ambassador Amanda Poll Honoring Israel's Fallen
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to the dear family of Shearer hi Josh
my name is Amanda pol and I am with
along a Chicago I am originally from
Ohio and I am a first grade teacher at
urban Prairie Waldorf School I grew up
very very reformed pretty much as
reformed as it gets but when I went to
college I found myself in a Jewish study
group and that really inspired me to
reconnect with that part of myself and
explore my Jewish identity and because
of that my Judaism has become one of my
most important and valued priorities in
my life I studied with my rabbi weekly I
keep a full Shabbos monthly and I've
been on several Jewish young
professional organized trips so I can
explore my Judaism all around the world
I have been to Israel twice over the
last two summers and I am very excited
to say that I will be returning this
summer with al-ameen I always love going
to Israel because it gives me an
opportunity to explore my identity and
my values in a way that I just can't
anywhere else
my inspiration is always lit on fire and
I gained such a clear vision of Who I am
and the woman I want to become and I
always return to the United States with
a new sense of rejuvenation that carries
me forward for years to come I was
really inspired by sheer story because
of her selflessness and her devotion to
her country and as a teacher
prioritizing someone else's life above
my own is something that I think about
every single day I'm living in an age
where school shootings are a real thing
and it's a real part of my job that I
think about every single day and when I
walk into work every morning and when I
step into my classroom I consciously
make that commitment to prioritize my
students lives over my own just like
Shearer prioritized her country survival
over her own being able to connect over
such a profound value is something that
is unbelievably inspiring and profound
for me at her funeral shears cousin
Hillis and the following words your
silence had such a strength
you seem to effortlessly conquer
mountains and just from this small quote
I feel like I know who she is someone
who had that magical presence of
elegance and grace but punctuated with
strength and independence this is
something that I can aspire to be like
to honor shear I am going to write a
story about a girl named shear and to
tell it to my six year old students I
have 14 of them this story is going to
tell her story about protecting the
State of Israel and protecting her
kingdom and she had to fight beasts and
soldiers to protect the people who were
in her land and this story is going to
really be teaching my students many
moral values but one of which will be a
mitzvah
of messy rot nephesh and be about the
power of sacrifice and living for a
purpose that is greater than yourself I
think my students will very much learn
from this and really learn the morality
of share story I know that we live
thousands and thousands of miles apart
and that we've never met but as a Jewish
people I really do feel like we are one
and our thoughts feelings and actions
are all interconnected and affect one
another
I think sheared for her service both in
body and spirit and if you would like I
would love to stay in touch thank you so
much love Amanda