I’m 13 now, and according to Jewish tradition, I have become a Bar Mitzvah. In ancient times there was no concept of Bar Mitzvah, and you said the blessing or read from the Torah as soon as you were able to do so. In Talmudic times, reading the Torah moved to age 13. Nowadays this age is more or less meaningless since 18-21 is the coming of age in a majority of countries.
I started my Bar Mitzvah program two years ago. I’ve learned a lot from it. I learned about my family and my history. Some of my ancestors had difficult lives, and some were luckier than others. I’m personally grateful to Sugihara, who, as you heard, saved the life of my Great Uncle Albert. Not only was he brave and courageous, but he was also just a really kind man.
I was also fascinated by the life of Chaim Weizmann, and what a visionary he was. His own career in science alone turned out to be politically important, but he also had a view of science as fundamental to the success of a new nation.
In the last two years, I have matured a little, and am getting closer to being an adult. I look forward to being able to earn money and to control my life. Maybe I can go to bed at 3am every night! But although I’m not an adult yet, teenage years are acknowledged as the time we start to approach adulthood.
Growing up can mean many different things, from physical changes to mental changes. I’m not a small child anymore, and I have to learn to take responsibility and prepare myself for the adulthood ahead of me. Even now, I can list a few things that I can start doing more often: Cleaning my room, being more helpful, showing up to all my meetings, and finishing work that I have to do. My volunteering work has shown me that sometimes life doesn’t turn out as planned, and it is incumbent on all those who can, to help people in need.
I’d like to finish by thanking some people who really helped me complete my Bar Mitzvah. I’d like to thank my Aunt Rachel, who helped me research and write much of my science paper, and my mom, who helped me with the slides. I also want to give a big thank you to my family who answered tons of questions.
Thank you to Rabbi Tzemah and Isabel Kaplan for looking through all my work. And of course, my mentor, Amy Goldin, who motivated and guided me the whole way through, and was so patient and wise, many times while my mother and I had differences of opinion! I’d also like to thank Rebecca for the music.
And finally, I’d like to thank all of you for coming to my Zoom Bar Mitzvah. It wasn’t what I imagined it would be two years ago at the start of the program, but as we have said, innovation is very Jewish, so I’m very happy to be here today officially becoming a bar mitzvah in my own bedroom!
