On Tuesday, our daughter Chana flew to Israel, where she will be spending a year studying at the Beit Chana Institute in Tsfat, 2,953 feet above sea level.
It was an emotional send off and the final hugs and tears at Logan Airport took more than a few minutes. Yet together with the tears, we sent her off with joy and happiness and proud of the journey that she is undertaking as she spreads her wings and flies forward.
A day earlier, I had gone to New York to drop off my son Levi at his new Yeshiva in Nyack, NY, and from Logan, I headed back to New York, this time to Westchester, to drop off my son Zalman in his Yeshiva.
Wednesday morning, we were up bright and early as Mendel started out in his new school in Boston.
It was certainly a week of tremendous transitions that we tried to be as present for as much as possible. It included
Last night, after my weekly Parsha class, I found myself on the floor playing Lego with Leah, as we continued working on building a city with a camp, synagogue, stores and so much more.
While on the carpet, my mind was reflecting on the week that had just happened and on all of the dramatic changes that had happened. I was reminded that playing Lego with Leah, was not much different than the private trips with our other children earlier in the week. They are all part of the greatest gift that we can give our children, which are love, time, personal attention and doing things with them that they like to do.
Yet along with everything that we do as a family, we also know that we have a third partner who is behind the scenes who we are dependent on. For this, we take the time each and every day to pray to G-d, to pray for our loved ones, and to ask that they be blessed with the strength, energy and morality, to make good choices and to build on the foundations that we have hopefully implanted within them, so that they live up to their G-d given potential, each in their own unique way.
Besides all of the personal elements of the week, a recurring theme of the last few days, was the power of a new start and new beginnings. As we move forward in life, the ability to have fresh starts and new experiences endow us with the ability to grow and be motivated to reach new heights.
In the Jewish Calendar, the current time frame is not too different, as we mark the beginning of the new month of Elul, the last month of the year. It may be the last month on the calendar, but it has a unique energy of new beginnings and of being a preparation for Rosh Hashanah with all of the new opportunities that it represents, that is just a few weeks away.
May we all be able to maximize the transitions and beginnings in our life in the best possible way, especially as we gear up for Rosh Hashanah. Likewise may we be blessed with abundant Nachas from our respective children wherever they may be, and may they all succeed in their unique way, at living up to and maximizing their G-d given potential.
Good Shabbos & Shabbat Shalom
Yisroel