I’m at an age when I truly feel
With confidence and yearning so real;
I struggle to discover who I want to be
It’s a balance of worlds and realities.
One question with which I grapple,
That causes my world to unravel:

Who am I?

Am I defined by my clothes or hair,
Or perhaps by the shoes I wear?
Is it the designer label,
Or the mansion, house, or stable,
That makes me who I am?

Who am I?

It’s the generations that come before,
Sarah, our foremother of yore,
Instilling middos, pride, and love
And fear of Hashem Above,
To countless guests around,
And caused Hashem’s Name to resound
That makes me who I am.

Who am I?

I carry the courageous deeds
How Sarah put aside her own needs,
Her place as first wife she gave away
To put Avraham’s fears at bay,
To give a son, though not through her
She made way for Hagar, with strides steady and sure.

Who am I?

I reflect the years of pain,
Of sorrow waited not in vain,
Of deep faith and boundless joy,
As Sarah greeted Yitzchak, her little boy.

Who am I?

It’s in me- her descendant
To carry on but a remnant
Of Sarah and her modesty,
Kindness, joy, and loyalty.
She treated each person with care so real
So I can’t help but truly feel:
She’s the foremother of my faith which I admire,
To follow in her footsteps is what I aspire.

—Feiga Khutoretsky, Age 15
Beth Rivkah Crown Heights
Brooklyn, New York, USA