Building Bridges

It was my first day at school. I felt nervous and scared. I went to all my classes with no friends. It felt like no one cared. I listened anxiously to all the lessons and waited for the lunch break. Finally the bell rang. It was time to talk and have fun. In the lunchroom, I made friends with a girl who wore hijab. And though I am jewish, we got along fine, and I was so relieved when she said, “Sit with us, at our table.” She pointed to the one next to the door. So I agreed, and took my tray and was about to walk with her across the floor, when suddenly I felt a nudge, “Hey, I saw you on the bus,” said a tall girl in a long skirt. ” I see your jewish star necklace. You should sit with us.”At that moment, I looked around, and that’s when I noticed, to my surprise, the nations of the world, isolating themselves. That’s what I saw through my own eyes.

The Spanish only sat with Spanish, the Russians, and never the Arabs with the Jews. I saw reason why war gets started. Everyone sticks to their own kind. The lunch room was a map of the world. Why was everyone so blind?

And so I turned down this girl, and went with the first, and there was no enmity. I built a bridge between two worlds when I sat with those different from me.

Build bridges not chasms. Life is all about making strong bonds of love and friendship.