Rivka Levron

Teaching, for me, is an inspiring process, in which I try to help my students realize their highest potential. Here is a farewell letter I wrote a group of them:

Dear  Students,

First of all, I would like to thank you all for giving me the opportunity to teach you, and to learn from you.  I did not grow up the way you did; it took me a long time to get to where I am today.  You are perhaps all ahead of me in having had so many years of Jewish learning.   It is human nature to take our most precious gifts for granted, and I hope this is something you will always appreciate very much, that your parents gave you such an upbringing and education.

And human nature being what it is, we generally find it easier to focus on the one black dot in the middle of a piece of white paper – the black representing the difficulties whereas the white reflects all the bountiful goodness our life holds.  Gratitude is truly the key to a happy life – spoken from a lifetime of experience, many years of which I spent seeing only the black.  But in fact, life is neither black nor white, but full of brilliant, vibrant colors.  This is also a fact that I realized only after many years of living, and something I am still learning.

When I see you all sitting in class, so hopeful and looking forward to the future, I wish you all the very best in your future endeavors.  I remember myself at your age, and how I had no clue about what life had in store for me.  In fact, many events in my life seem like Megillat Esther – a chain of unexpected tragedies that, in the end, turned out to be very much for my good.  We are all here for a purpose, and often that purpose entails challenges and difficult tests.  So I would like to encourage you, even if (especially if) everything in life doesn’t go as you plan, to always keep in mind that there is a Master Plan.  To know that, even if sometimes everything c’v looks hopeless and the way forward seems impossible, eventually you will be blessed to see that everything is for the good.  And to see, in hindsight, how all those difficulties built you into the person you never could have become without them.

After many years of hoping and waiting to marry, baruch Hashem I became a wife and stepmother to nine children all at once.  And after six months of marriage, a grandmother.  And today, our fifth grandchild was born.  Baruch Hashem, life is full of surprises!

You remember the last day of class I brought pink-yellow roses from our garden.  You should know, though, that my life is not all a bed of roses; in fact, I still face major daily challenges.  And I thank Hashem for these challenges, as in them I find opportunities for continued growth and greater appreciation for the sweet things of life.

So I wish for each of you the bracha to be b’simcha and to smile every day, to see the good in everything, and to merit building wonderful families of your own.

I will miss you and would love to keep in touch and to hear from you, about your

family and career and important milestones in your lives.

And lastly, to review the most important points from A&PII: remember to take vitamin D, get plenty of sleep, take walks in the fresh air, drink plenty of water, and remember the benefits of working in the garden!  (I recommend growing roses.)

With much affection and many good thoughts,

Rivka Levron