Heather Adelson

Montreal

For more than 20 years, I have proudly worn my Lion pin. It has sparked countless conversations, inspired women to embrace the mitzvah of becoming a Lion, and made me feel at home wherever I travel.

During Montreal’s 2017 Mega Mission, attended by more than 1,000 people, I told a story from a solo trip to Florence. One evening, while dining alone in a crowded restaurant, I befriended people at the next table. The following day, I met one of the women for lunch, she showed up wearing her Lion of Judah pin. I had no idea she was even Jewish. We connected on a whole other level.

After I finished the story and stepped off the bus, a man approached me. “I know that story,” he said. The woman I had met in Florence was his sister, who lives in Brazil.
That coincidence captured the power of being a Lion. Wherever we are, the Lion pin creates an instant bond, turns strangers into friends, and makes the world feel smaller.