Teacher Appreciation
I have kids in four different schools and my inbox has been slammed with an abundance of creative ideas to show “teacher appreciation” before the end of the school year.
“Send a note of appreciation and we’ll add it to a keepsake box!”
“Have your child draw a picture of themselves with the teachers!”
“We’re collecting $10 per child to get the teachers a gift certificate!”
“Can you volunteer at the end-of-year staff appreciation luncheon?”
Yes, yes, yes, and yes. These teachers are my heroes. They shape and grow my little (and bigger) humans into the best versions of themselves – often because of the influence and guidance of their amazing teachers, and despite their input from me. How do I thank these incredible people who have obviously followed a calling? For the million ways they teach and inspire every day? For thinking and worrying about my kids even when they’re off the clock? A candy-filled “Great Teacher!” mug is hardly enough – but my kids have over thirty teachers between them. Each one deserves an all-expenses-paid vacation in Bali for all the holding and helping and guiding they did this year, but I can’t possibly show my gratitude to all of them in the way they deserve. And wow, do they deserve gratitude.
This quest for a meaningful show of gratitude got me thinking. What about all of the adult educators that we have encountered this year? All of the clergy who have given sermons that helped us through a moment of unease. Or the thoughtful writers who took the time to publish a blog post that helped make sense of this wild moment in history. Or the online classes we pop into here and there to listen to someone sharing a piece of Torah or wisdom to nourish and grow our own ever-evolving souls? How do we thank them? We certainly owe them an enormous debt of gratitude for tending to our spiritual wellbeing – for holding us, guiding us, strengthening us, reassuring us, comforting us with their Torah and care-full teaching.
One of my favorite teachers, Rabbanit Aliza Sperling, recently shared a beautiful piece of Torah relevant to our upcoming celebration of Shavuot from Psikta d’Rav Kahana, a fifth-century rabbinic work. It says, “Rabbi Levy said, ‘The Holy One appeared to them on Mount Sinai as a statue with faces on every side. If a thousand people were looking at it, they would experience it as if it would be looking at each of them.’ So it is what the Holy One, blessed be the Eternal. When God spoke, each and every person of Israel said, “The divine is speaking with me.”
According to this midrash, everyone at Mount Sinai had their own experience as if God was looking at them and giving the Torah to them. The midrash goes further and says “Rabbi Yosi bar Chanina said it was according to the capacity of each and every person that the Divine word spoke with him. And do not be surprised at this thing, since we find in the case of the manna, the man that fell from heaven, that when it came down to Israel, each one of them savored it according to his capacity, the infants according to their capacity, the young men according to their capacity, the old men according to their capacity.”
According to this midrash, we were all at Mount Sinai to receive the Torah, but each one of us had a different experience of revelation at Mount Sinai. We all experienced the Torah according to who we are. Each of us experiences the Torah differently. Just like tastes are different, so too our experience of the Torah is different.”
And this is what I love most about Rabbanit Aliza Sperling’s takeaway from this midrash. “Alone, I can only experience the Torah in one way. What I need is the rest of you, every other person telling me how they experience Torah. We each need to learn from each other in order to collect each individual facet of God and facet of Torah that we are missing.”
How beautiful is this idea? If we hope to ever have a full understanding of the Torah, we get to spend our entire lives seeking out opportunities to learn the Torah of others. Our learning is never finished. And every single person we encounter has a piece of Torah to teach us. Which is why I am all the more grateful for diverse voices of Torah and teaching. Teachers different from me, from how I grew up. Voices that are different from the ones in my head. Voices that make me pause, push me to think deeper. Even the voices that shock and frustrate me — I have something to learn from them, too.
Shavuot is a reminder to thank all of those who have gifted us their piece of Torah. Something new, something revelatory. Perhaps we can all take a moment to think about someone who has taught us something this year. Someone who has helped us find words when we had none. Someone whose words found us when we needed them most.
In Pirkei Avot (Ethics of the Fathers 4:12), Rabbi Elazar ben Shammua said, “Let the reverence for your teacher be as the reverence of heaven.” Perhaps the least we can do as we approach this holiday of Shavuot marking the moment of revelation at Sinai, is to take a moment to send a note to the editor at that magazine. Or add a comment on someone’s Facebook post. We can leave a positive book review. Or send a donation in honor. This is the time of year to show our appreciation and say “Thank you for the wisdom you’ve shared and the way your “Big T” or “small t” Torah impacted me this year.”
In thinking about Shavuot and the Book of Ruth, Rabbanit Aliza Sperling reflected on an interaction between Boaz and Ruth. As they first meet, Boaz says to Ruth, “Ruth, you think you are a Moabite, a foreigner. You think you are the lowest of lows here in this society. And maybe a part of that is true – but I do not see you that way. I see you as a brave Abraham – someone who left his land to go to a new one. A heroine.” Boaz gives Ruth another way to see herself. A way to see that the way she has chosen to live her life makes her incredibly special. Boaz shows us what a gift it is to tell people: “I see you in the best possible way. I see what you’re doing, and I think that you’re great.”
And so – in this public forum, I would like to thank the teachers who have given me so much. To follow Boaz’s model – I see what you are doing, and I think you are great. To the wildly and wonderfully diverse voices of women’s wisdom and Torah that make my SVIVAH community as beautiful as it is – thank you, with such a full heart. Thank you for showing up with yours and working tirelessly to find the exact Torah that was needed. Torah that stuck to our bones, that nourished our souls and soothed our hearts. Torah that made us stronger, prouder, braver. Torah that brought us joy and held our tears. The Talmud says, “The true guardians of a community are its teachers.” You have proven this to be true time and time again – especially in these past many complex and unforeseen months. You are gifts to all of us, our teachers. Thank you for being the holy vessels that you are. Thank you for following whatever calling compelled you to become an educator. Thank you for knowing how much we need you to teach us for all the lengths of our days.
May we be blessed to continue to seek out each other’s Torah. And may we be generously inclined to share the Torah each one of us holds as well.
