I'm tired

02/18/2022

We are all looking forward to this long weekend; three days that will be followed by a short four day week. It is not as if we don’t enjoy what we do or look forward to coming to school, it’s just that the intensity of our work underscores our appreciation for the breaks in the daily routines. Even though I had what would be called a long weekend last week, it was not relaxing at all. Actually, it was so much work on both a physical and emotional level that it leaked into a really hard workweek for me. The highlight this week was the first grade siddur play; three mornings of nachat and joy as the children, who have worked so hard in preparation, got their siddur. A lot of unexpected long awaited firsts surrounded the program: the kids were unmasked on stage and the grandparents were included. In days of old this was a given, taken for granted and not even noted. But if we have learned nothing more than this, it is that we can no longer take anything for granted. When I saw the unmasked beautiful faces singing on stage, I hardly recognized the children, I had never seen their smiles. It’s crazy that seeing unmasked faces is such a big deal. It felt so good. When we packed up my in-laws' apartment, we found among their things a Hungarian prayer book, the same as the ones we gave out this week. Those books survived the Holocaust and were brought to America with my in laws when they had nothing and no room; they somehow found the money to afford these precious books and the room for them among their meager belongings. These same prayer books were distributed to our students. The strand that connects the generations and the oceans found a home on our stage this week. This siddur defeated the evils of Hitler. This siddur will not allow for the antisemites who continue to persecute our people to destroy them. We will not succumb to persecution and hate. We will hold up our shield, the siddur; the words will strengthen our connection to the mighty one and connect us to all of our people around the world. The siddur will enable us to deflect the hateful words and actions from piercing our hearts and minds. This week we passed our heritage to a new generation of warriors. Now, we get to rest for a few days. Shabbat Shalom. ReplyForward