I love the words from Psalms etched into the glass walls just outside of our Sanctuary. Those Psalms, 146-150, happen to be some of my favorite parts of our liturgy. Seeing them every time I walk into our Sanctuary, or even just walking through our Community Court, sets a tone for me of intention and gratitude.
But yesterday, those glass walls brought me some new meaning. Yesterday was our first day of mid-week Religious School, and our youngest students, Kindergarten through 2nd grade, were walking to the chapel for Z’man Kehilla (‘Community Time’), when all of our classes come together with Danny Kraft and me. They passed those glass walls and immediately got excited to see all of the Hebrew letters in those Psalms and were trying to find an aleph. Just that afternoon, they had learned the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet, and they eagerly identified aleph after aleph on those glass walls.
Their exuberance was more than heart-warming; it was inspiring. It represented their excitement for learning and for exploring our tradition with open eyes. But it also represented more than they know. The aleph is just the very beginning, a tiny opening of a vast tradition and journey they are on. The only way we can get anywhere is through one, little step at a time. As adults, we often give ourselves a hard time when we haven’t accomplished a large goal, and we often fail to recognize the tiny steps of progress we’ve made. But these students! They marveled at their ability to recognize the aleph, and I marveled with and at them.
When I look at those walls this Shabbat as I walk into our Sanctuary, I will be reminded how important it is to take life one aleph at a time. Indeed, it’s the only way we can grow. And I pray that our students will forever be as enchanted by our tradition as they were this week, that they will forever be able to locate themselves inside of our people.
