On Shabbos (Sabbath/Saturday), there was a shalosh seudos meal at our shul, sponsored by a number of people in honor of us leaving.  We were asked when we wanted it to be held, and we asked that it be this week rather than the very last Shabbos we’d be here, since it turns into a late night, we’re leaving Sunday morning, and we need to have our kids asleep at a normal time the night before we go, and we’ll also need the last few hours to finish up the last details of packing, etc.

As the organizer finished reading off the names of the many people who participated, someone quipped, “You should have just said who wasn’t a sponsor; it would have been much shorter!”  It was very heartwarming to see how many people voluntarily participated in this for us (two of my kids came home on Friday with the newsletter and separately exclaimed over the long list of sponsors), and our entire family was very touched.

We had lunch at the home of good friends, and then walked directly to the shul since we stayed such a long time chatting!  On the way there, I was caught in a massive downpour – we were a few buildings from a public building when the rain started and I thought we’d duck in there and wait it out, but the rain was so heavy that in the three minutes it took us to get there, we were totally drenched.  (Ds18 had gone home earlier with ds2 and ds3 to put them in for a nap, and dh left ten minutes before me to go home to pick them up, so I was grateful they all missed the rain.  It was just me, dd10, ds9, and ds5.)

Dd10 and I agreed to keep walking because we were so wet  we couldn’t get much wetter, so we walked at a leisurely pace in the downpour.  No one else was out, and I’m sure the people driving by wondered why we weren’t at least madly running for cover if we had to be out!  When we got to shul, we were literally dripping, and it was somewhat distressing that the last time I’d see most of these people I looked like a drowned rat.  Oh, well.  Sometimes you just smile at the absurdity of a situation, and this was one of those times. I was freezing when I went in the building because of the air conditioning and me being soaked to the skin, so I went to the front of the building where there is a small covered porch I could stand under to warm up.

I chatted with a couple of people coming out of the shul while they waited for the rain to break so they could head home, and at some point, ds9 told me he didn’t think many people were going to show up because of the rain.  I told him whoever was going to come was who was meant to come, but he was right, hardly anyone was coming in.  When it was about the time for the shalosh seudos to start (I got there about thirty minutes early, according to the pre-rain plan dh and I agreed on); I went downstairs and was very suprised to see the room was full!  Everyone had come in the side entrance or from inside the shul itself, and I hadn’t seen one single one of them!

It was so lovely.  We’ve been blessed to be part of a very special shul, which is as special as it is due to the direction and guidance of  the rabbi and his wife, both very warm and wonderful people.  Knowing them has been a gift in our lives and we’ve learned to be accepting of others at a deeper level than we were previously as a result of their example.  My husband spoke about our gratitude and appreciation for the community we’ve been part of there, and our hope that these friendships we’ll take with us as we go to Israel.

Then the rabbi spoke very warmly about our family; he said he wanted to focus on two specific points: integrity and chinuch (education), and we appreciated his sincere and kind words.  I was then very surprised when the rabbi said that my closest friend here in Baltimore had asked to speak – it’s very unusual for a woman to speak at our shul at this kind of event, but she later told me the rabbi knew how important it was to her and agreed.  That was also really, really nice.  (No, I’m not going to repeat over specifically what anyone said about us.  But it was very nice.:))  I amazingly didn’t cry the entire time but when she spoke was when I came the closest to it.

We stayed until the very end – somehow we’re always the last ones to leave and close up! – and this time was no exception. When we got home it was close to 11 pm and we were so glad this was held at a time that we could be fully present and appreciative, rather than pressured by the late hour and the following early morning!

This was a lovely way to have closure with our shul (synagogue) community, for us to say goodbye and thank you.  And to hear that we’ll be missed!

Avivah