Shabbos Guest: Condi Rice

By Sara Crispe

Growing up in segregated Birmingham, Alabama, in an African-American family, Condoleezza Rice experienced firsthand the ugly effects of racism.

But she overcame those challenges through faith, family and education to become the Secretary of State of the United States. Her background and her journey were some of what she shared as guest speaker at the Rohr Chabad House at Stanford University.

Professor Rice joined over 150 students and alumni on Friday night, April 19, 2013. Rice, who currently teaches at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, had previously served as the University Provost before entering the White House.

The original plan was for Rice to speak for an hour to the students. What resulted was over three hours of her interacting with the crowd as well as having Rabbi Dov Greenberg, Executive Director of Chabad of Stanford, answer her questions about Judaism and Jewish culture.

For Rice, the camaraderie of the students and the feeling of community was a heartwarming experience, especially considering the fast-paced nature of university life. She was fascinated by the work of both Dov and Rachel Greenberg and how they created a family for these students based on Jewish values.

As Rabbi Greenberg emphasized in his opening remarks, “The beginning of Judaism, the heart, the core, out of which all else grows, is G-d’s call to moral responsibility. When you see something wrong, there are two things you can do. You can complain. Or you can say, let me be the first to help make it right. That is our responsibility.”

Rice built upon this concept, linking it to the power of education.

As she stated, “Education is transformational. It changes lives. That is why people work so hard to become educated and why education has always been the key to the American Dream, the force that erases arbitrary divisions of race and class and culture and unlocks every person’s G-d-given potential.”

Rice is someone who exemplifies the power to overcome obstacles and transform difficult circumstances. She also knows what it means to be a trailblazer. Rice was the first female African-American Secretary of State. An exceptionally wise and thoughtful woman, she used her past experiences as lessons for moving forward and making changes.

Rice recounted the first time she and her parents dined at a formerly “whites-only” restaurant in the South, just two days after President Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act on July 2, 1964.

She vividly remembers the feeling of the white patrons glaring as her family entered and knew that even though their feelings hadn’t changed, the law had changed.

At a young age she recognized the power of democracy. She also emphasized how it is up to the individual to insist on doing the right thing, even if that means going against the grain.

“Prejudice and bigotry are brought down…by the sheer force of determination of individuals to succeed and the refusal of a human being to let prejudice define the parameters of the possible,” she stated.

A big believer in experiencing all that life has to offer and not feeling the need to schedule each and every step was another important message she imparted to students in a highly competitive environment who can easily feel that they need their entire lives planned out.

“Life is full of surprises and serendipity. Being open to unexpected turns in the road is an important part of success,” she emphasized.

Most importantly, though, Rice reminded the students to always appreciate what they have in life and to recognize their gifts. More so, that no matter what circumstances they find themselves in that they always have something they can use to help another.

Rice was echoing a message often emphasized by the Lubavitcher Rebbe, “If you know an aleph (the first letter in the Hebrew alphabet) teach an aleph.” No one should wait to start bettering the world.

As Rice stated, it is not about one’s resources but one’s attitude. With strong emotion in her voice she told them, “When you’re helping someone who has less, you don’t think about not having enough, you think ‘why do I have so much’?”