By Julia Loeb, WLCJ International President
There is an old story about a group of frogs who enter a race. The course is difficult, and almost immediately the crowd begins to shout discouragement. “It’s too hard!” “You’ll never make it!” “Why even try?” One by one, the frogs drop out until only one remains. Against all odds, that frog reaches the finish line. When the crowd asks how she succeeded when everyone else failed, they discover the truth. She was deaf. She couldn’t hear the naysayers telling her she couldn’t do it.
It’s a cute story, but also an uncomfortably honest one. How often do we abandon good ideas not because they lack merit, but because we allow doubt, our own or someone else’s, to derail us? How often do we convince ourselves that the risks are too great, the obstacles too large, or that we are simply not capable?
In this week’s Torah portion, Beshalach, the Israelites stand trapped between the Sea of Reeds and Pharaoh’s approaching army. Fear takes over. The people cry out, questioning whether leaving Egypt was a mistake. The sea does not split immediately. According to Midrash, it is Nachshon ben Aminadav who steps forward. He walks into the water, deeper and deeper, until it reaches his nose. Only then does the sea part. Redemption does not come before action. It comes because of it.
Nachshon’s courage is not about certainty; it is about commitment. He does not wait for proof that the sea will split. Like the deaf frog, Nachshon is not swayed by the chorus of fear surrounding him. He understands that standing still guarantees failure, while moving forward creates the possibility of change.
That lesson may feel especially relevant now for many of you in your Sisterhood Affiliates working to provide your members with programming. At the halfway point through the programming year, this is a moment that invites both reflection and resolve. Perhaps last summer, ideas flowed freely: new programs, creative approaches, bold goals. Somewhere along the way, challenges appeared. Attendance may not have been what you had hoped. A program may have felt harder to execute than expected. Perhaps a few voices, well-meaning or not, suggested that an idea “would never work.” This is the moment when many frogs drop out of the race.
But halfway is not the end of the story. It is the moment to recommit. To remember why the idea mattered in the first place. To trust that impact is not always immediate or visible. Like Nachshon stepping into the sea, carrying through with our plans requires faith, faith in our leadership, in our communities, and in the value of what we are trying to build.
Not every idea will succeed exactly as imagined. That’s not failure, that’s growth. The real risk is stopping short because doubt grows louder than purpose. Progress happens when we keep moving forward, even when the voices around us say we can’t.
May we have the courage to keep going, to tune out the naysayers, and to take the next step, trusting that the path will open because we dared to move.
Shabbat Shalom,
Julia Loeb
WLCJ International President
jloeb@wlcj.org
