A Bat Mitzvah’s Teaching on Questions
This past weekend, for the second Shabbat in a row, we were fortunate to celebrate a beautiful Bat Mitzvah. Talia and her family celebrated in the sanctuary, on the Society Hill Synagogue Bimah, where multiple generations of this family have now become Bat Mitzvah. Talia’s parashah (Torah portion) was Beshallah. Beshallah means “in the sending forth” or “in the letting […]
A Bat Mitzvah’s Teaching on Impressionability; And Reflections on Isolating with a Toddler
What a lovely Shabbat we spent this past weekend as we celebrated Talia’s Bat Mitzvah. Talia’s Torah portion was Bo, the third portion in the Book of Exodus, which picks up in the midst of the ten plagues with God telling Moses “Bo el Paroah,” meaning, essentially, “Go before Pharaoh,” so that Moses would once again proclaim those […]
Finding a Middle Path to Forgiveness
This past week we celebrated Jonah’s Bar Mitzvah. What a joyous occasion it was. Jonah’s Torah portion was Miketz. Miketz means, at the end. Whether this is referring to the end of the two years that our ancestor Joseph spends in prison before he is released, or the end of the era of the Israelites living in Canaan […]
A Bar Mitzvah’s Reflections on Abundance and Scarcity
This past Shabbat, we celebrated the Bar Mitzvah of Aldo. Aldo’s parashah (Torah portion) was Toldot. Toldot literally means something like “lineage;” it is related to the common Hebrew words yeled and yaldah, which mean boy and girl, respectively, and which come from the root י-ל-ד, which means to give birth. In the context of Aldo’s parashah, whose first words are eleh toldot yitzchak (Genesis […]
Finding the Sacred Invitations within the Mistakes — a Teaching by our Bat Mitzvah
Returning to our practice of reflecting back on the Torah offered at this past week’s Shabbat services, we’re fortunate to be able to share the Torah offered by this past week’s Bat Mitzvah celebrant, Clara. Clara’s Torah portion was Noah, that foundational story that articulates the ebb and flow of humanity, which, according to the […]