The Invisible Bridge

One last thought, if I may, about leaving Boca. We were honored at BRS yesterday with a Seudah Shlishit in our honor. It was very nice. Rabbi Goldberg said really nice things about us and many people gave us warm brachot and good wishes. After Shabbat we were presented with a beautiful Challah Tray as well. I thanked the community for everything they have done for our family and shared the following idea.

Last summer, while leading a group of teens on a 6 week tour of Europe and Israel, I had a powerful experience which I shared with the kids. We were at the Kotel on the last Friday night of our trip. There were thousands of others around us all davening and singing with their groups. We had to sing Lecha Dodi at the top of our lungs, and even then it was hard to hear. You could feel the Kedusha, the holiness, of the moment, praying with so many others in the holiest spot on earth. I was thinking about how powerful this moment was and how I wished the kids and I could feel this close to Hashem every Friday night. So I stopped the davening for a moment and I said the following.

"Guys, I want each of you to close your eyes right now. I want you to picture your community at home. Picture the seat where you daven in shul on Friday night. Picture your family's shabbat table. And now I want you to build an invisible bridge to that scene. So that next week, when you are back home, and every week after that, you can close your eyes again and cross that invisible bridge back to this moment right now. Feel the power of this moment and take it with you to every shabbat going forward!"

I shared this story with our community here in Boca and I said that I believe it is possible to build an invisible bridge through Time or Geography to connect back to people, places, and moments that have inspired you and shaped who you are. Elisheva and I are moving on physically from Boca, but we have built an invisible bridge connecting us back to this community. We will forever remain connected to Boca and will close our eyes and feel the love from this community we have been priviledged to call home whenever we need a little inspiration. May we all build bridges to the places and moments that have inspired us.