Below we highlight a few graduation speeches which were written and presented by our eighth-grade graduates.
- Candle Lighting (2006)
- Saying Shalom (2006)
- The Tehiyah Address (2006)
Candle Lighting
In planning this presentation for tonight, our first thoughts were how could we sum up nine years of our lives in less then 5 minutes. We have been at Tehiyah since kindergarten, and as far back as we can remember, Tehiyah has always been in our lives. Every Monday we knew what we were coming to. Every fall on the first day of school we have known what to expect. Next year will be the first year that will be unfamiliar. We won’t meet the same warm faces as we make our way to class. We won’t be able to walk into the office just to say "Hi" to our principal, Steve Tabak. As we look back now, over the years of our lives that were spent here, we realize that we couldn’t have asked for a better experience. That is why we have decided to light 9 candles for our nine years at Tehiyah and one for the future.
1st Candle
Our first candle is for Friendship. Through all our experiences at Tehiyah, we have established many strong and long lasting friendships. We hope these friendships will continue.
2nd Candle
Our second candle is for all of our great teachers. Tehiyah has provided us with many amazing teachers who inspire us to do our best every day. They are role models to us all.
3rd Candle
The third candle is for learning about our heritage. Tehiyah has provided us with an amazing Judaic studies program that has taught us about our heritage, which no other school could have given us. Tehiyah’s Jewish Studies program prepared us for our bar and bat mitzvahs and has inspired us to continue to participate in the Jewish community.
4th Candle
The 4th candle is for our class trips. Our many class trips made our curriculum come alive and they brought our class together as a whole.
5th Candle
The 5th candle is for our community. Tehiyah’s strong, tight-knit community has raised us and will always be something that we can fall back on.
6th Candle
Our 6th candle is for Tikkun Olam. Tikkun Olam is a special type of community service. It means to mend the world and that is what Tehiyah taught us to do. We went out into the greater community and felt accomplished for making a difference.
7th Candle
The 7th candle is for discovering ourselves. The warm friendly environment at Tehiyah has enabled us to explore and discover ourselves. Tehiyah’s safe atmosphere has allowed us to feel comfortable enough to look inside ourselves.
8th Candle
The 8th candle is for the morals we have learned. Tehiyah has not only taught us academics but has also provided us with strong morals, which we will use throughout our lives.
9th Candle
Our 9th candle is for our second home. Tehiyah has been our home away from home. Its doors have always been open. It’s not only that we come here 5 days a week but also we feel like we belong here.
10th Candle
This 10th candle represents our future. For the first time we all have to split up and go to different high schools. It will be an adventure for all of us but we feel that Tehiyah has prepared us for the next step. We are all nervous and excited to move on but Tehiyah has left us with many cherished memories. Thank you Tehiyah for everything.
Saying Shalom
Hi, I am Noah, and this is Ariel, and tonight we are going to speak to you on behalf of the graduating class of 2006! Noah and I represent two different types of students in our grade. I came to Tehiyah in kindergarten and established bonds with my peers. Noah came in fifth grade, and was immediately accepted despite the friendship development that he had missed. He made fast friends with everybody and is leaving as though he had been here from the beginning. No matter what grade we came in, standing here today, we are all part of a wonderful Tehiyah family.
Shalom, a word that embodies Jewish spirit, has three important meanings that we believe represents our journey through Tehiyah: Hello, Peace and Goodbye. We said hello to each other, made peace, and now it is time to say goodbye. Nine years ago, most of us arrived at Tehiyah unaware of the experiences awaiting us. But, with the loving kindness of our teachers and mentors, we became a tightly knit community. Throughout our first days in our new school, we said Shalom, or hello to each other. We shared our lunches, played with toys, and opened up to each other, hoping that these people would become our friends. Despite being scared on our first day, we were introduced to each other, unknowingly stepping into a great era in our lives. Tehiyah provided us with the boost we needed to kick start our lives. Our undersea adventures in first grade, and our Chinatown trip in second grade, furthered our relationships by immersing us in situations that helped us to get to know each other.
Then we made Shalom, or peace. Not only did we make peace with ourselves, but we also made peace with the world around us. Our teachers enlightened us about our Jewish heritage, while simultaneously inspiring us to become aware of other cultures. We worked on a farm, we mined for gold, we journeyed to the new world, we created new civilizations, we designed our own castles, and we learned the history of our country.
We spent our transitional years from childhood to adulthood at Tehiyah. The way we bonded together changed over the years. We went from sharing toys to sharing secrets, from sharing the ball, to sharing notes, and from having play dates to hanging out. We went on trips together; we celebrated holidays together, both of which helped establish unbreakable bonds between us. We attended our b’nai mitzvah which made us appreciate the value of a Jewish education and the value of a community backing and supporting us.
In Pirkei Avot, one of the Middot, or virtues that lead toward Torah, is Dibbuk Chaverim, or cleaving to friends. The Talmud interprets this as a warning to choose friends wisely. But, in its literal sense, it means to cling to already established friendships. We hope that we will fulfill this Middah, and remain friends. The real test comes now, as we split up to go to different schools, we will see how our friendships hold. Don’t worry guys, we know we will remain close friends. We have come too far together and have experienced so much together that for us not to stay friends would be implausible.
There are many people who helped us get here today. The wonderful Tehiyah teachers have instilled a love of learning in us. So many deserve mention, but, instead, we would like to tell them that we are grateful that you always pushed us to try our hardest and gave us all the help we needed, even when we did not want it. We were shown how to find light in art class, and how to take risks by speaking a language we did not know. Then, there are our parents. You brought us into this Jewish community which we will forever be a part of, and we are eternally thankful for this opportunity you provided. Although sometimes overprotective, we recognize the love that spurred the community to act in this manner. It has also helped us get here today. So, thank you to this Jewish community, the teachers of Tehiyah, moms and dads, and we would like to thank our friends. Although we have had great teachers, we have learned the most from each other. We taught each other one of the most important lessons of all, how to be kind and loyal friends. We now can comfort each other in times of need, and can be happy for one another in good times. We know so much about each other and that’s what makes our relationships special.
But, standing at graduation, we need to express the last connotation of the word Shalom, goodbye. For the past month or two, people have asked us if we are happy to leave Tehiyah. At first we thought that we would definitely be happy to leave and move on, but as this day got closer and closer we began to reconsider. We think we can speak for everyone when we say that this is a bittersweet moment. Although sad to leave Tehiyah, this wonderful community, and all of the friends that we made, we are happy to move on in life. Tehiyah has been a huge part of our lives for so long now that we know we will have trouble detaching. We saw so many grades graduate before us, and never realized what it was like. In the beginning of school, whether that was in kindergarten or fifth grade, we were all individuals, but now, at graduation, we are saying goodbye as a whole.
Throughout our speech, we have mentioned that we are saying goodbye to our friends, and the Tehiyah community. The second word for goodbye in Hebrew is L’hitraot. This word is misinterpreted as goodbye, when in fact it means “see you again.” As we graduate, we would rather view our departure as L’hitraot, as opposed to Shalom, because we know we will meet again. Congratulations Tehiyah class of ‘06!
The Tehiyah Address
Read alternately by Trevor and Richard
One score and seven years ago our founders brought forth upon this site a new school, conceived in Judaism and dedicated to the proposition that all homework is created equal.
But some assignments are more equal than others.
Now we are engaged in a great graduation, testing whether that school, or any school so conceived and so dedicated, can long satisfy its students.
And their parents.
We have come to honor those who gave their tuition that their school might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this. But in a larger sense we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow these classrooms.
The brave students, whole and... not so whole... who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract.
The school will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here.
It is for us, the sane, rather to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who studied here have thus far so nobly advanced.
It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us, that from these honored graduates we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last partial measure of devotion, that we here highly resolve that these students shall not have labored in vain, and that this school, under G-d -- and Tsipi -- shall have a new birth of Jewishness, and that classes of the students, by the teachers, and for the parents shall not perish from the earth.
