By Zelle Rettman
SHA Class of 2006
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Now that our time at SHA has come to a close it seems as if the sun rose
and set; that in a single day all my years here have come and gone. This
place was more than a school to me. It was a home away from home.
SHA was safe, caring, and welcomed me with open arms.
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wasn’t confident in my learning and I was insecure. SHA changed all of that. Now I stand tall,
shoulders back, chin up, and I owe all this to my friends, their parents, my teachers, and my
family. They guided me through with steady hands.
During my first few years at SHA, I had a chance to screw my head on straight and direct my
feet to walk down a better path. I was also reunited with friends I’d known since I was a baby,
but had grown away from. How many people can say that they are still best friends with the
people with whom they took their first steps?
I can. And I can also say I took my second most important step with them.
My classmates are like my brothers and sisters. We may quarrel, but we do it because we
love each other. When we really need one another, we are always there. When we cry there is
always someone to help wipe away the tears and to reassure us that everything will turn out
all right.
Of course, our teachers were also there for us when we needed them. In 6th and 7th grade I
remember having long conversations with many of my teachers about anything and everything.
I would go to them when I was having a hard time or just needed a break. I learned a lot from
my teachers. I learned not just who built the first Bet Hamikdash or the square root of 144. I
learned about life, and being thankful for everything I have.
I truly am thankful to SHA. Here I learned how to be a better friend, a better student, and a
better person. I am really lucky I took that second step and landed here, a place where I didn’t
just have to learn, a place where I wanted to learn. A place where I didn’t just learn Torah, a
place where I lived Torah.
Just recently most of my class, along with two of our teachers, went on a trip to Israel. It
will always be one of my most favored memories. That trip tied together my time at SHA.
While we were there, we bonded in a way we weren’t able to in Seattle. In Israel, we were
drawn into the beauty of Shabbat in Jerusalem, and stumbled together onto the history of our
people as we traveled around the country. We were drawn together not only as friends,
students, and teachers, but as Jews. In Israel we truly felt the love for our religion and each
other.
SHA was also a place where I bonded with not only my classmates, but where all the
grades were like one. Other schools are too big to be able to do this, but this school melted the
age difference, and brought us together. We were able to have fun as a school without being
divided, and that cannot be emphasized enough.
They say that when G-d closes one door, another opens. Now that I am moving on to the
Northwest Yeshiva High School, I know this will not be the case. I feel assured that the doors
of SHA will never close. I realize I will always be able to come back and ask my Judaic
teachers questions about religion or Torah, or how to translate something from English to
Hebrew. I can return to ask for help on science and math, or to gather inspiration for my
greatest pieces of writing. I can return for extra basketball tips, or even just to talk.
SHA, my friends, teachers and staff have treated me like family from day one, and I love it
most of all, for that.
