MY BAR MITZVAH SPEECH - 23 APRIL 2010
MY BAR MITZVAH SPEECH - 23 APRIL 2010
Shabbat Shalom. My name is Yossi Sroufe and tonight is the culmination of a long journey.
I am a former ordained Southern Baptist Minister who was on staff at one of the largest Baptist churches
in Spring, Texas. I hold a doctorate in Religion and Society from Oxford Graduate School.
My upbringing holds memories of my grandmother teaching me German as a child and meeting the maternal side of my family whose names included Kaufman. By the age of thirteen I had read every book I could about the Jewish people and the Holocaust. At that time I prayed aloud, “These are my people and their God is my God.”
I wanted to go to the synagogue in my town and convert, but did not think such an avenue was open for
me, a country farm boy from Oklahoma. Through my years of study I was never comfortable with the faith I had embraced. My colleagues were astounded that I was the one who asked too many questions, raised too many doubts, and undoubtedly would one day walk away from my beliefs.
I am a Jew by Choice because of two men who believed in me: Rabbi Celso Cukierkorn of Adat Achim Synagogue in Sunny Isles Beach, Florida and Rabbi Seymour Rossel of Congregation Jewish Community North.
Thank you, Rabbi for you have taught me that for each day we awake, we are all Jews by Choice, for as we face each new day we do so with the decision to live as a Jew.
This is my bar mitzvah, and I wanted this moment to declare what Adonai has done for me. I stand here tonight because of the incredible faith of Lenore Herman who believed her worst Hebrew student would achieve. To Steve Natenberg, Stephen and Gale Saltzman, Harris Pikus, and my friends, David Abramowitz along with Billy and Melissa Smith, Jim and Nancy Blackwelder, thank you for helping me reach this moment. Andrew Gamson, thank you for being my spiritual father and mentor.
My Bar Mitzvah project is working with CHARITYWATER.ORG to provide clean water where there is none, thus saving lives across our world.
Kedoshim is about the Holiness Code. I have always been challenged by Adonai Who would ask me to be holy as He is holy. How can I be holy? How can I live this life fully embraced by a Holy God? The words of the Prophet Micah answer these questions for me.
May we all love mercy, bring about justice, and walk humbly with our God. May we be reflections of the holiness of Adonai.
Shabbat Shalom.
Shabbat Shalom. My name is Yossi Sroufe and tonight is the culmination of a long journey.
I am a former ordained Southern Baptist Minister who was on staff at one of the largest Baptist churches
in Spring, Texas. I hold a doctorate in Religion and Society from Oxford Graduate School.
My upbringing holds memories of my grandmother teaching me German as a child and meeting the maternal side of my family whose names included Kaufman. By the age of thirteen I had read every book I could about the Jewish people and the Holocaust. At that time I prayed aloud, “These are my people and their God is my God.”
I wanted to go to the synagogue in my town and convert, but did not think such an avenue was open for
me, a country farm boy from Oklahoma. Through my years of study I was never comfortable with the faith I had embraced. My colleagues were astounded that I was the one who asked too many questions, raised too many doubts, and undoubtedly would one day walk away from my beliefs.
I am a Jew by Choice because of two men who believed in me: Rabbi Celso Cukierkorn of Adat Achim Synagogue in Sunny Isles Beach, Florida and Rabbi Seymour Rossel of Congregation Jewish Community North.
Thank you, Rabbi for you have taught me that for each day we awake, we are all Jews by Choice, for as we face each new day we do so with the decision to live as a Jew.
This is my bar mitzvah, and I wanted this moment to declare what Adonai has done for me. I stand here tonight because of the incredible faith of Lenore Herman who believed her worst Hebrew student would achieve. To Steve Natenberg, Stephen and Gale Saltzman, Harris Pikus, and my friends, David Abramowitz along with Billy and Melissa Smith, Jim and Nancy Blackwelder, thank you for helping me reach this moment. Andrew Gamson, thank you for being my spiritual father and mentor.
My Bar Mitzvah project is working with CHARITYWATER.ORG to provide clean water where there is none, thus saving lives across our world.
Kedoshim is about the Holiness Code. I have always been challenged by Adonai Who would ask me to be holy as He is holy. How can I be holy? How can I live this life fully embraced by a Holy God? The words of the Prophet Micah answer these questions for me.
May we all love mercy, bring about justice, and walk humbly with our God. May we be reflections of the holiness of Adonai.
Shabbat Shalom.