By Daniel Chejfec

With Super Bowl upon us, I thought it might be interesting to examine some of the sport-related idioms we use every day and what they mean for us. We use these idioms because we relate to them in a way that formal expressions just cannot do it.

Take for example “Monday morning quarterback”. Everybody can criticize what a quarterback did or didn't do while sitting in the couch...but how many of us can perform in the field with a few thousands people watching us and putting pressure on us. Not to mention the pressure we put on ourselves in such situations. As easy as criticizing the quarterback is to criticize the life-and-death decisions that many world leaders are forced to make. Of course, we are sitting on the couch rather than the hot seat.

None of us like to be seen as being down for the count. We all want to come out swinging, carry the ball and make sure we don't drop it. But how many of us really do that in real life? To stand up for one's beliefs and take charge requires dedication and not to drop the ball requires a thick skin and endurance. I know more than one person who always demanded to be heard, but when given the opportunity to be part of the discussion they found ways to run the other way.

How many times we had people advising us to just keep the ball rolling to keep the heavy hitters in our corner?. And in the middle of that never ending rolling, how many times we didn't think twice about hitting somebody bellow the belt just because we felt we were against the ropes? Yet sometimes, it is important to cool the game to regain control of the ball rather than just keep running forward.

The bottom line is that in order to be effective leaders it is always important to keep the eyes on the ball. What are we here for? What do we stand for?.

Our Board at the Jewish Federation does keep the eye on the ball to make sure the services we provide every day continue...because our reason to exist is to help people here at home, across the Nation and around the world. We are here to bring together the efforts of our community to help our Jewish brothers wherever they might be. That is our game....

Please, don't be content with being a couch potato. Join the team. We need every player to win the game.