Comparative Heroism 101

I'm feeling the need just now to do a bit of deflecting. 

Some of the comments from yesterday, as well as a few over-enthusiastic entries from blog buddies, seem bent on making me out to be something that I am not. 

Therefore, for the sake of a little perspective, I think a brief lesson in 'Comparative Heroism' might be in order.

Please find your seats and take out your notebooks:

Just as there are higher and lower levels of charity*, there are also higher and lower levels of heroism.

The events I described in my birthday post (and yesterday), while they might have been personally satisfying, fall well to the lower end of the heroism scale. 

By this I mean that I didn't go looking for someone to save or learn a skill that would place me in a position to be of help in an emergency. These people literally came to me and asked to be saved!  OK, maybe they figuratively asked to be saved, but the point is that I didn't go looking for them... rather, I waited for the opportunity to come to me before acting.

Clear so far? Good.

At the other end of the heroism spectrum are those who go looking for opportunities to prevent tragedies and for people in need of saving. These are people who have deliberately positioned themselves in life to maximize the possibility of doing good deeds.  Medical professionals fall into this category... as do police, firefighters, crisis counselors and social workers (to give a hopelessly abbreviated list).   They have all placed their lives on the path most likely to allow them to catch the falling bodies.

As luck would have it, I just happen to have the perfect illustration of this highest form of heroism to show the class today:  I'd like to draw your attention to my friend Noa.

Noa woke up one day about half way through a fancy Law degree and realized that she wasn't headed where she wanted to end up.  Despite staggering student loans and the inevitable pressure from family and friends, she dropped out of law school, packed her bags and moved to Israel. 

Noa has just finished her first year of nursing school at Hadassah.

If I stopped right there, Noa would be comfortably ensconced at the higher end of the hero scale.  Why?  because she changed her life's trajectory and is now nicely positioned to intercept and reverse the tragedies as they occur. 

But the lesson doesn't stop there.

In the process of rearranging her life, Noa gave the heave-ho to a relationship that wasn't going where she wanted it to go, and began dating a prince of a guy named Bryan.  She found out just how closely Bryan shared her values when he nearly stood her up on one of their early dates when he was called away by the Israeli bone marrow registry as a likely match for someone in need. 

Noa was familiar with this sort of heroism because her sister had already saved a woman's life by donating bone marrow.   I suppose it makes a certain amount of sense that heroes would tend to gravitate towards one another.

As luck would have it these heroes, Noa and Bryan, are getting married in a couple of weeks. 

It warms my heart that two such wonderful people have found each other and decided to place their lives on the same trajectory.  But what is even more impressive to me is how they intend to begin their life together:

Noa and Bryan have decided to turn their wedding into a bone marrow drive. 

Noa arranged for two of the best phlebotomists (a fancy word for the people who draw blood) at Hadassah Hospital to be on hand at the reception, and the bride herself will be the first to sit down and have her blood drawn. Zahava and I intend to be right behind Noa in line with our sleeves rolled up!

Ironically, in planning the wedding Noa decided to eschew red wine because she didn't want to risk staining her wedding gown.  I guess this is an indication of her trust in the people with the needles.  :-)

So class... to review:  If one happens to be standing on a curb when someone absent-mindedly tries to walk in front of a speeding vehicle, and a reflexive grab allows a life to be saved, this could arguably be called heroism... albeit heroism of a lower order. 

If one happens to be on a ship at sea when a bunch of people literally float past in need of being plucked from the water, this too could be called heroism, although to be honest, this is really akin to 'arm chair heroism' (i.e. let the victims come to you).

However, when two people charter a boat and set sail for a place where people in distress are known to have been sighted... that is heroism of a different order!  How much more so when those two people invite their family and closest friends along on the ship to take part in the rescue?

May the good ship S.S Noa & Bryan be blessed with smooth seas, a following wind and a lifetime of teaching by example about the true meaning of heroism.

Any questions?  Good... class dismissed.

* The lowest form of charity (according to Maimonides) is when one is asked to give and then gives grudgingly to someone right in front of him/her... and the highest is when one seeks out a worthy cause and gives both cheerfully and anonymously.