If You Could Have Lunch With Anyone In The World

I was once asked a very interesting question during a job interview: If you could have lunch with anyone, past or present, who would it be? I wasn't expecting that question, but what came to mind at the moment were 3 people: Yehoshua Ben Gamla (who started the Jewish Day School movement), Natan Sharansky, and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. I'm not sure why those specific names came to me at that moment, but sometimes, even if a different or better answer might come with more time to think, it is interesting to see what your instinct comes up with.

Over Pesach I posed this same question to members of our family (from the Grandparents to the Grandchildren) and received such an eclectic range of answers:

Nancy Reagan, Genghis Khan, Thomas Edison, Princess Diana, Golda Meir, Aaron Judge, David Ben Gurion, Robin Williams, Rashi, Sandra Boynton, Menachem Begin, Henry IV, David HaMelech, Devorah, Rivkah Imeinu, The Rogatchover Gaon, Rav Meir Shapiro, Yogi Berra, Major Biden (the President's dog), Noach, Ulysses S. Grant, Any random dude from 1941, Paul McCartney, Dwight Eisenhower, Abraham Lincoln, and Betzalel.

This was a really interesting exercise, which engaged all members of the family from younger to older. And it was very fascinating to listen to what each person would want to discuss with their guests. We even joked about what an interesting scene it would be if all these guests came together for one big meal.

Pesach is a time when we talk about our journeys, reflecting on where we have come from, what we have been through, and where we are heading. It reminds us that each of us goes through moments when we must choose our path. Do we remain in the status quo, even if it is less than ideal, or bravely venture into the risky unknown, hoping for a better tomorrow? My mother always asks us at the Seder: if you were in Egypt would you have left? The Midrash says that 80% of Bnei Yisrael remained in Egypt, something that seems shocking when you think about the slavery they lived under. But sometimes it is easier to remain in the familiar than to venture into the wilderness.

So I pose a simple question to you: who would you have lunch with? And what would you want to ask them? Would it be a great grandparent? Someone whose work changed the world for the better? Someone who had to make a difficult choice? Ask your family members who they would meet. And then ask yourself one more question: if your great grandchild 100 years from now got to meet you, what do you think they would ask you?