It so happens this year that college move-in and the start of classes for UAlbany’s Fall semester 2018 falls between the Torah portions of Ki-Teitzei (“when you will go out / or go forth”) and Ki-Tavo (“when you will come / or arrive”).
It makes me think of those airport or train station signs that boldly announce Arrivals & Departures.
The Alter Rebbe taught that we ought to “live with the times” and by that he meant (not the latest fads or trends) but the Torah portion of the week. What do the bookends (to college move-in and start of classes) of Ki-Teitzei and Ki-Tavo have to do with the college experience?
We asked this of student leaders at a lunch meeting before move-in. They shared many meaningful things, including: (1) Arriving at college, especially for the first time, is departing from home (2) it symbolizes leaving the comfortable known and embarking on the unknown (3) college is a series of milestones, we depart from one to arrive at another (4) it is the journey from your first move-in all the way to graduation (5) it reflects the mixed-feelings we have about old and new, remembering high-school or friends who have graduated, and yet looking forward to what comes next, what will be ahead (6) about the advantages of starting fresh, coming to a new place of vision and perspective (7) for seniors, arriving at this year makes them bittersweetly thinking of how this year will also be their departure…
All good insights!
Here’s one more. When the Torah describes the 42 encampments of the Jewish people in the desert, it doesn’t call them stops or encampments. Instead it calls them journeys. The Rebbe teaches us that each step of the way in our lives in a journey in itself, part of our greater mission and life-journey, and one must not rest on our laurels and be comfortable where we are at and what we have attained, instead to constantly strive higher.
In the opening convocation ceremonies, UAlbany President Havidan Rodriguez spoke about the college experience as “authoring one’s own destiny, writing the chapters of your own story”. Let’s add to that. How about instead of one long novel or memoir, think of it as a grand collection of many short stories. Each with its own beginning, middle and end, each with its own message and plot, cumulatively telling a greater story. In that vein, how about we think about each experience, each class, each event, as a departure and an arrival? Not just another place to chill or hang out, but something to learn from, to grow from, something that changes or enriches us even in some small way.
And as the verse says: “Blessed are you in your comings, and blessed are you in your goings.”