Translation by Yehoshua Siskin
"Mommy, are we at the beginning of the corona, in the middle of the corona, or at the end?" my daughter asked me a few days ago. Faced with this question – which all of us are now asking, even while full of great hope that we are finally at the end – the following words can help. The were written by Nehama Yakabovitz, a teacher from Safed, to her students as they received their mid-year report cards:
"On Shabbat we read the moving words from the song that the nation of Israel sang after crossing the Red Sea. What is the power of this song? Indeed, the children of Israel had not yet arrived in the Land of their inheritance. The road ahead was still long, yet they sang a song about what they had already achieved with the splitting of the Red Sea. Many years in the desert still awaited them, but do we only sing when our situation is perfect? Only after we reach our goal? There is something special about road songs. They accompany growth, development, faith, and hope.
"Half a year of study has passed, a challenging half year for students, teachers, and parents. The mid-year report cards that are being distributed now are a celebration of desire and not of reaching a destination. The effort each day that is renewed, to try again, to get dressed each morning without anywhere to go. Look back. If we have succeeded in getting this far, why shouldn't we sing?"
