Hard to Say Goodbye for the Summer - Part II: Compassion, Humility, Acts of Lovingkindness

Today was the last day of classes at Jewish Community High School of the Bay (JCHS); finals begin tomorrow.  

It is a bittersweet time of year.

Our students experience for themselves something similar to what it feels like to be an adult at graduation; saying goodbye through tears of sadness and gratitude, loss and pride.  

We all know in our heads that the next year will be special in its own way; but we feel in our hearts that what was most special about this year came from the people and relationships that can never be exactly replicated.  

By way of wrapping up, as we gather the entire school community, I offer words from the Talmud about three traits that mark members of the Jewish community and those who move through the journey of life with that community.  Those traits are compassion, humility, and acts of lovingkindnss.  (Yevamot 79a).  (All of us at JCHS -- whether Jewish or not -- are part of the life journey of some (many!) remarkable students.)  



For me compassion represents our attitude toward others.  Humility reflects how we think about ourselves.  And acts of lovingkindness are how we manifest both compassion and humility.  I remind  students that even when they are away from JCHS they are marked by their capacity to fulfill these three traits.  In this way the Torah comes to life through our students.  It is their conduct in the world that transmits the words of Torah into the actions of people.  

As a result, for many people our students meet -- and not just during the summer -- our students are the only Torah those people will ever experience.  That is a huge responsibility for our students.  May their compassion and humility move them to acts of lovingkindness throughout the summer and beyond.  And may those acts bring healing and hope to our world very much in need of both.