ARI’S DEVAR TORAH
Moving
Ari Zanger 8/20/11
I am going to start by reading an English translation of a few verses before my Torah portion:
For you are about to cross the Jordan to invade and occupy the land which the Lord your God is giving to you. When you have occupied it and are settled in it, take care to observe all the laws and rules that I have set before you this day.
It is very fitting that this Torah portion refers to moving because I had to make a very big move last summer. We moved from here, New Hampshire, and I had lived here for about 12 ½ years. I had to leave many friends, Hebrew school colleagues, and delicious Gold House pizza. When I got to Maryland it was very difficult. I didn’t know anyone, I didn’t know anything about the place where I was, and I was extremely scared. In addition to having to make new friends and go to a new school, I would have had to attend a new Hebrew school, meet more new people, and learn my Torah portion with strangers. I have one person and one thing to thank for preventing this from happening: Cantor Marlena and Skype. Skype allowed me to take lessons with her where she could teach me in a great and effective way to read this Torah portion that I have just read.
I did make friends and got to know the place where we now live, but I would not have been able to do it without this synagogue. When I got to Maryland I brought with me my compassion, happiness, and my GO GREEN attitude like making sure my classmates don’t kill ANY bugs or spiders when we go on outdoor trips. All of these qualities are extremely important to me. I learned them here and carried them to Maryland when we moved.
-even when we leave a place, we don’t really leave it because we bring with us the ways that it has formed us; it’s the strength that we take with us that allows us to adapt to a new place and take on new challenges like more homework, music lessons, new sports …
