Jewish Wisdom for Life After Graduation

Rabbi Jonathan Sacks taught: "A ship in harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are for." Graduation is a time of celebration for past accomplishments but it’s also a time to look forward to where you are heading. And though it is a joyful occasion, it is also a time when many graduates feel uncertain and hesitant to move into uncharted territory.

Here are some inspiring Jewish lessons to help you navigate through graduation and beyond.

1. Learning is a lifelong journey.

Jewish wisdom teaches that education is not just preparing you for life; it is life. There is no beginning or end to learning in Judaism. Though your formal education may be concluding, your personal learning journey is just beginning.

Rabbi Noah Weinberg, the founder of Aish, taught in the first of the 48 Ways to Wisdom, "Your profession does not define your essence. That is how you happen to make a living. You are student of life, a truth seeker, a learner. That is your self-definition.”

Continue to ask big questions. Be humble. And as you grow and evolve as a lifelong learner, be grateful for the gift of your education. Not everyone has the privilege of spending their most formative years gaining knowledge and honing the skills of learning. Use that knowledge and those skills well. Never stop learning. Stay curious and fascinated about life.

2. Growth is in your challenges.

You do not have to go looking for challenges in life; they will find you no matter what path you take. Even though you don't get to choose many of your challenges, you do get to choose how you respond to them.

Viewing them as gifts that transform your perspective and give your life both depth and purpose. As Holocaust survivor and author Edith Eger wrote: "Our painful experiences aren't a liability, they're a gift. They give us perspective and meaning, an opportunity to find our unique purpose and our strength."

3. The highest form of freedom is responsibility.

Today freedom is portrayed as having the time to do nothing and being accountable to no one. But both psychology and Jewish wisdom reveal that we are actually least happy when we are not needed and have nothing to do.

Freedom is being able to choose your responsibilities; it is not the absence of them. Holocaust survivor Viktor Frankl taught: "Ultimately, man should not ask what the meaning of his life is, but rather must recognize that it is he who is asked. In a word, each man is questioned by life; and he can only answer to life by answering for his own life; to life he can only respond by being responsible."

4. Your character matters more than your resume.

You may be preoccupied now with building your resume and finding the next right step professionally. Yes, your achievements are important, but never forget that who you are will always matter far more than your list of accomplishments.

A person's character and the traits they work on throughout their lives are the true determinants of ultimate success. Your life is a story continuously being written. Graduation is not the end of the formation of your identity; it is only the beginning of the next chapter. You can decide what kind of person you want to be. You can choose to embody goodness, integrity and kindness no matter where your journey takes you.

In Dr. Mark Lewis' commencement speech at the University of Texas at Austin, he said: "The way to be happy is to like yourself. That's the real reason not to lie or cheat or turn away in fear. There's that old joke, not very funny, that goes 'no matter where you go, there you are.' That's true. The person you're with most in life is yourself, and if you don't like yourself you're always with somebody you don't like."

As you move forward into uncharted territory, choose to bring the best of yourself with you. Be someone you would want to live with, because wherever you go, there you are.

Mazel tov on this momentous occasion. The best is yet to come.