On Your Doorposts

Before...

After.

Wednesday night, I finished carrying the last bit of trash from my apartment, and cleaned from top to bottom, scrubbing the floor on my knees. When I was through, I almost forgot the mezuzot, until I was standing outside the door. I had to come back with a screwdriver and hammer to pry them off of the door posts. I can predict with high confidence that the next person to live in that apartment will not be a Jew.

Taking off the mezuzot had a finality that even turning in my keys did not. I realized that I was truly leaving. Not just my apartment, but the Memphis that has embraced and held me for the past four years. I will be celebrating the New Year in a new state.

Since 2008, when I first drove from Oxford to Memphis in search of a synagogue, I have been keeping Shabbat and the holidays with the congregation of Anshei Sephard Beth El Emeth. I studied Torah there, met many beloved friends, and converted in the mikveh attached to the shul. There are so many people I will miss dearly, and it will be difficult to leave.

Removing the mezuzot did not turn out to be as easy a task as I had expected. Since they were nailed in, I had to first hammer the blade of a baby screwdriver under the cover, and then a normal-sized screwdriver when I had loosened it enough. Then I had to wiggle and hammer and pry until I could free the cover and scroll. Then it was no longer my home.

I don’t know what Princeton has in store for me, but I know that I will miss all of my loved ones dearly. Thank you, every one, who has helped me so far on my journey. I hope that you will continue on this glorious ride with me.