As I reflect upon this last week I am floored by the over pouring of love I have received from both my work, Temple Beth Shalom, community as well as my personal, Moishe Kavod House community. I am so grateful to have so many caring, kind, thoughtful people in my life who have been my cheerleaders and supporters over the past one to seven years here in Boston. I know that I am continuing school right now because I care so much about the concept of community and I'm excited to continue to build community both socially and professionally wherever my journey takes me.
As I pack for Israel, I have two objects that I am so excited to bring with me. They are both siddurs which is the Hebrew word for prayer book. Each one is used by a community and a variety of members of the community signed it. My Mayim siddur, "Shira HaShemesh" is a siddur that was originally made by a group of fourth graders at TBS two years ago. This siddur has original art work and is very kid-friendly in a way that it is truly an inspiring example of project-based learning in action. My students, toddler through teen, all signed it as well as many co-workers and parents. It was amazing to see my former three year olds who are now in kindergarten write their names! One of my current students wrote her name for the first time in my siddur! The messages were thoughtful and personal and I am so excited to have such a beautiful and meaningful artifact that represents my time at TBS.
My Moishe Kavod House siddur is one I expect to pray with often. The siddur itself is called, "Chaveirim Kol Yisrael" and I have always loved it because it has both english translation as well as transliteration and I have been in many situations where I have been in more traditional services but since I couldn't read Hebrew I couldn't follow along. The Moishe Kavod House became a place of comfort because I could read and participate in services right away. Who knew that an accessible and beautiful siddur could lead to so many lasting and important friendships? So my friends Amira and Nathan did the most amazing thing by having everyone at the retreat sign and write notes in the siddur. I have no idea how they did this because I was also at the retreat and had no idea whatsoever that they were scheming this the whole time. Luckily for them I made a run to CVS both days and I know they used that time well, but still, the siddur itself is so very thoughtful and the notes are incredible. Thank you to all of you from the bottom of my heart for being part of my journey here. I am excited to carry you with me in my heart, and many of you with your written words across the Atlantic with me tonight as I begin my new adventure in Israel as I start HUC. I know it will be incredible, yet I know it will be different from these past few years and when things are more challenging I will look to both of these siddurs to ground me and to remind me that being a part of, and creating beautiful thoughtful Jewish community is exactly why I am sending myself on this adventure in the first place.
Shabbat Shalom and Next time from Israel!!
No comments:
Post a Comment