During the past two years while I was preparing for my Bat Mitzvah, I learned a lot about my family history and I did things I haven’t done before that made me a better person, like participating in community service. This process made me reflect a lot about my personal values, like who I want to be when I’m older and who I look up to. Doing my community service and learning about my family values were a big deal for me and it stood out to me. My parents wanted me to be Bat Mitzvah’d because it was important to them to continue our family traditions and it is a rite of passage. I am very grateful that I got an opportunity to do this and I am proud that I have finished this process. It was hard at times but I’m glad that I got to do it because I learned a lot about myself and my family.
At the beginning, I was not sure how this was going to go, but now that I finished this process I understand more about my own values. I am also grateful that I had the chance to do this because it brought my family and friends together and I got to talk to some family that I don’t usually see. I didn’t find this “work” although it was challenging at times. I focused on things that I care about, like Malala and television shows. I am going to look back at this and be proud of the work that I have done.
During this process, I learned more about my maternal grandmother and about the family I never got to meet. I also got to work with my paternal grandfather at Boca Helping Hands where he volunteers every Tuesday. I think that brought us closer and I would like to continue helping there every time I visit my grandparents in Florida.
I enjoyed learning more about the creators of television shows and how these programs relate to Judaism. I think my major project was one of the most challenging parts of this process. I devoted a lot of time to this part of my Bat Mitzvah. I was interested in learning about this topic so it didn’t feel like I was being forced to it and it didn’t feel like “work.”
I would like to thank my parents for making this happen for me, my mentor Susan who helped me along the way and all through this long process. I would also like to thank Rabbi Peter and Isabel for their help. Thank you to Aram for the music and all my family and friends for supporting me and celebrating this with my brother and me.
