Levi M

Light #29

Our youngest, and most important light-maker.

Age: 2
From: Madison WI
Classification: Other Light-Maker

At 2 years and 9 months, Levi is our youngest lamp-maker. When he pointed to two lamps his parents had made, and then told us, “I want to make my own lamp”, who were we to say no?

Levi carefully went through a number of different papers before selecting his own choice. “Are you sure?” we asked. He nodded emphatically. Selecting a paper he loved was the toughest part of the project for him. The rest of the lamp-making process went smoothly.

Levi is not in the age bracket we currently target for 6 Million Lights! After all, most of the concepts of this project are beyond him: the idea of “light” and its ability to dispel darkness, the tragedy of the Holocaust, even the concept of numbers – beyond what he can count with his fingers.

And yet….as Levi grows he will have the lamp he made and it will cast a soft glow in his bedroom, and we are confident that his parents will gradually expand on the meaning behind his lamp. Someday he will realize that as one of many fellow light-makers, it is up to him to put more light into the world.

So perhaps we need more young light-makers like Levi. Pause for a moment, and look at Levi’s beautiful face and consider what his fate might have been like, had he been born in 1942 in Poland. Consider that 1.5 million children like Levi were among the 11 million victims of the Holocaust. Consider that these children were murdered by fellow human beings who, once-upon-a-time, were beautiful two-year old children like Levi.

We are not born good, nor are we born evil. Whether we turn out good or evil, or somewhere in the complicated in-between, depends upon thousands of inflection points, large and small. It will be up to us to guide young children like Levi as they grow up to make sure they become positive lights that make this world a better place.

Levi may be the youngest lamp-maker thus far, but perhaps he is the most important.

Dedication: