Saying Goodbye...

After five wonderful years, this evening, I said my final goodbye to Temple Sinai of Roslyn.  This was my last Friday evening service with this wonderful congregation.  As I travel forth to Bolton Street Synagogue in Baltimore, I can't thank everyone in the congregation enough for all of their support and love.  As we say in Judaism, l'hitraot, not goodbye, but see you soon!

I’m not sure if you know this… but, I don’t like long goodbyes!  Now, most of you know me.  You know that I love to schmooze. I love to meet people.  I love to talk and hear about what’s happening in our lives.  But … when the party’s over, the check’s been paid, the final bow has been taken, I like the quick kiss, hug, and a very quick “goodbye.”

That’s not the JEWISH goodbye.  We Jews have to say goodbye to everyone!  There’s so much hugs and kisses happening!  And once we’re ready to leave, we have to do it all over again.

So… you can imagine that this month has been a little bit challenging.  There have been so many goodbyes and celebrations, lunches, dinners, and brunches as I prepare to become the next rabbi at Bolton Street Synagogue in Baltimore, MD.  It has been truly incredible, heartwarming, amazing, and overwhelming.

When I began rabbinical school, I dreamed about what my impact would be.  Would I be a good teacher?  Would I be a comforting presence?  Could I help guide those who were looking for substance, meaning, and spirituality?  What I’ve learned from all of you is that I’ve fulfilled my wildest dreams.  I’ve put my heart and soul into my rabbinate… and I’ve been utterly grateful to learn that it’s been appreciated.  Thank you for your thank yous and your goodbyes.  It’s been an incredible gift to me as a person and as a rabbi.

As I conclude my final Shabbat service at Temple Sinai.  I thought deep and hard about what this final goodbye would look like.  What words did I wish to share with you all?  I wanted these words to have substance.  To explain my role as your teacher and your role as MY teacher.  And I decided the only fitting words were those from the Kaddish d’Rabbanan.

You’ve heard Kaddish.  The Chatzi Kaddish, the Mourners Kaddish.  But Kaddish D’Rabbanan is a unique Kaddish.  It’s pretty much unknown and unfamiliar to many of us.  It’s words are situated towards the very beginning of the morning service.  Must traditional Jews aren’t yet at synagogue when this prayer begins (they filter in a little bit later) and most Reform synagogues don’t often recite this prayer due to time constraints.

Yet, there are a handful of other times when Kaddish D’Rabbanan is recited.  When a community has completed a book of study, a volume of the Talmud, or a major endeavor together, Kaddish D’Rabbanan is read.  It’s word are a conclusionary blessing.  A bridge from the place we’ve been to the place we’d like to travel to.  A bridge from the past to the future.

  

There’s a reason why these words are recited after the completion of study.  It’s this extra paragraph found in the middle of Kaddish D’Rabbanan.  It reads:

God of Heaven and Earth, grant abundant peace to our people Israel and their rabbis, to our teachers and their disciples, and to all who engage in the study of Torah here and everywhere.  Let there be for them and for us all, grace, love, and compassion, a full life, ample sustenance, and salvation from God, and let us respond: Amen.

These words are all about study.  About teachers and students.  About the completion of Torah and future Torah study.  And it’s a blessing for us all: compassion, love, life, sustenance.  What a better blessing, what a better Jewish goodbye than this?

Today, as I stand here, on this final Shabbat, I recognize that I have blessed to be your rabbi for five wonderful years.  And seated here today, are a group of congregants from Scarsdale Synagogue, where I was your rabbi for four wonderful years.  I’m deeply honored to have you all here.  You’ve all been my students and my teachers.  I’ve been blessed to comfort you, teach you, guide you, pray with you, study with you, and change the world with you.  We’ve completed so much Torah together.

And yet, there is much Torah to learn.  We might not learn Torah together each and every day going forward, but we’ll still learn from each other.  Whether it’s through e-mail or facebook or times together in person, we won’t be strangers, we won’t be apart. 

And, we will learn more Torah from new teachers and new students.  Part of the Jewish way is making sure we don’t go grow bored, we don’t grow stale.  It’s important to learn from new teachers to challenge us, inspire us, and push us to think differently.  In our congregations, we will continue to grow and learn and make our world a better place.

You know I don’t like long goodbyes.  And that’s why, in Judaism, we never officially say “goodbye.”  Instead, we say Shalom – meaning we’ll be saying Hello in the near future.  And we say l’hitraot, meaning, see you soon.  To my teachers and my students, Shalom, l’hitraot.  Blessings, kindness, and peace, until we see each other next.  Amen.