Saturday, June 16, 2007

Shalom Chaverim

I think it's a pretty fair assumption that I will be the only student in my Presbyterian seminary next year who just spent six years in an Orthodox Jewish environment.

Among my favorite good-byes this past week:

The booklet my honors students made me, full of pictures of them and me, along with loving and quite humorous commentary.

The speech from the young lady whose academic status often leaves a bit to be desired: "You instilled such a sense of confidence in me; I know that I can succeed!"

"If you need help with your Hebrew, we're right here!"

"Have the BEST time being a minister!"

And:

"When you get stressed out, just remember that you have an entire family behind you here at our school."

Really. I do.


14 comments:

Lori said...

That is so great! What a lovely send-off to start your new path.

Jan said...

What a great community you are from. Such love and encouragement (and Hebrew) will make the way smoother for you.

Anonymous said...

What a bittersweet send-off these students made for you. They will certainly be with you as you begin the next stage of your journey. And for those who don't know, Shalom Chaverim means "farewell or goodbye my friends".

Diane M. Roth said...

What love and loyalty you inspire... and a great ecumenical example too.

Let's see if I can remember:
Baruch atah adonai elehenu melech ha alom... (you fill in the ending..)

Gannet Girl said...

Yikes! Carol?

Bless you, Lord Our God, who makes the earth fruitful...?

Cecilia said...

Oh, Gannett Girl, that is so, so lovely. What a wonderful send-off. You have made a difference there, you have faithfully been who you authentically are in a way that has built bridges, I feel sure.

Blessings!

Pax, C.

Katherine E. said...

Wow, talk about a treasured memory. How lovely to take this 'send off' with you into your new adventure. I especially like the comment of the 'young lady whose academic status leaves a bit to be desired.' That says so much about you (and your theology). Wonderful!

Terri said...

Precious gifts. And to have such a background in both Hebrew and the Jewish community, midrash, etc. wow. Gifts that will sustain for a long time.

Anonymous said...

"Baruch atah adonai, eloheinu melech ha olam" translates to "Blessed are you, our God, ruler of the universe..." It is the beginning to most blessings.

Diane M. Roth said...

thanks to Carol for "spelling" it right... I learned it in high school (a long time ago)...from a friend... we taught each other table prayers... so the ending I learned was (I think) something like... ha motzi (?) lechem min ha aretz... "who brought forth bread from the earth." Gannet Girl, I envy you your experience. Looking forward to the next chapter.

Anonymous said...

Diane is right with a VERY good memory if it's something you haven't used since high school! "Ha motzi lechem min haaretz" literally means, "who brings forth bread from the earth". The "baruch atah adonai..." is the beginning to most blessings...candles, wine, new moon, bread, and many many others.

Anonymous said...

hi! i just stumbled across your blog and it is beautiful and i hope you'll follow this tag!

This meme is from John Smulo's blog and it goes like this:

1. Those tagged will share 5 Things They Dig About Jesus.
2. Those tagged will tag 5 people.
3. Those tagged will leave a link to their meme in the comments section of this post so everyone can keep track of what's being posted..

http://www.johnsmulo.com/5-things-i-dig-about-jesus-meme.html

Anonymous said...

I'm glad that it is a glorious sendoff. The school was definitely better for having you there and you will both miss each other, I'm sure.

I'm very excited for you as you make this transition!

marcel said...

shalom lekulam!
help me to write biographies of great personnalities of jewisheritage.fr
You can also write a letter to this personnalities!
I post your letter for you
a bientot
marcel - France