MAX'S BAR MITZVAH SPEECH
Today, I am a man - Tomorrow, I will be fish. Thank you Mr. Avri
Balofski for the use of that joke. I am kidding - and a good thing
too, because we are having fish for lunch.
Rabbis Green, my dear family, teachers and friends I would like to
thank you all for coming to my Bar Mitzvah. I would especially like to
acknowledge a few people: Dr. Joel Goldberg for helping me learn my
Torah portion; My Mom and Dad - Mom for all of her love and support
and fine cooking which you will soon be enjoying - Dad for being there
for me, teaching me musaf, reminding me to practice and baking some
mean desserts to go along with Mom’s cooking; to my Bubby Marilyn and
Zaida Jack for always making time to be with me, their love and
support and for the amazing tallis that bubby made by hand for me; to
Safta Rachel for the beautiful tallis bag, all of our special times
together on Shabbat, Chaggim or even touring Israel - I wish Sabba was
here to see me on the bimah and share in this simcha ; to my sister
Ariel for putting up with all of my late night bar mitzvah practices
and for being one of my best friends; to all of the people who helped
prepare the meal and set up the room; and to all of you who have
travelled from as far as Florida, Montreal and Toronto and as close as
across the street.
In my Bar Mitzvah parsha, there are many important ideas that define
how Jewish people relate to the land, to each other and to God. Behar
means, “on the mountain” - meaning Har Sinai. The question is, “Why is
this parsha singled out for being given on Har Sinai - wasn’t the
whole Torah given on on Har Sinai?” This specific portion talks about
the laws of Shmita - the sabbatical year; the interesting thing about
Shmita is that it is a law that nobody in their right mind would write
- because you have to go a whole year without planting or reaping
crops. On top of that, there is a promise that in the year before
Shmita there will be a huge crop that will be enough food for three
years. Who besides God would be able to pull that off?
You will notice that one of the themes for my bar mitzvah is being
environmentally friendly. From the digital invitations, to the
centrepieces that we will be replanting - we have made an effort to
reduce waste. Having respect for the land is something that we learn
from this week’s parsha - just like the Shabbat we are commanded to
observe every week, the land is given a Shabbat that lasts a year
after every six years that it is worked.
In the parsha we also learn to have respect for our fellow Jews. We
are told that we must care for our fellow Jews like we would care for
our own family. The torah instructs us to prevent our fellow Jews from
becoming poor by lending money interest free (kind of like the banks
these days) and investing in his business. We are told to give Tzedaka
like you would give to a brother so that no Jew feels like they must
leave the nation. In the spirit of my parsha, I will be giving money
to Tzedaka.
I would like to close by saying I’m glad that you all came and that
the hard part is over - please enjoy yourselves, I know I will.
Balofski for the use of that joke. I am kidding - and a good thing
too, because we are having fish for lunch.
Rabbis Green, my dear family, teachers and friends I would like to
thank you all for coming to my Bar Mitzvah. I would especially like to
acknowledge a few people: Dr. Joel Goldberg for helping me learn my
Torah portion; My Mom and Dad - Mom for all of her love and support
and fine cooking which you will soon be enjoying - Dad for being there
for me, teaching me musaf, reminding me to practice and baking some
mean desserts to go along with Mom’s cooking; to my Bubby Marilyn and
Zaida Jack for always making time to be with me, their love and
support and for the amazing tallis that bubby made by hand for me; to
Safta Rachel for the beautiful tallis bag, all of our special times
together on Shabbat, Chaggim or even touring Israel - I wish Sabba was
here to see me on the bimah and share in this simcha ; to my sister
Ariel for putting up with all of my late night bar mitzvah practices
and for being one of my best friends; to all of the people who helped
prepare the meal and set up the room; and to all of you who have
travelled from as far as Florida, Montreal and Toronto and as close as
across the street.
In my Bar Mitzvah parsha, there are many important ideas that define
how Jewish people relate to the land, to each other and to God. Behar
means, “on the mountain” - meaning Har Sinai. The question is, “Why is
this parsha singled out for being given on Har Sinai - wasn’t the
whole Torah given on on Har Sinai?” This specific portion talks about
the laws of Shmita - the sabbatical year; the interesting thing about
Shmita is that it is a law that nobody in their right mind would write
- because you have to go a whole year without planting or reaping
crops. On top of that, there is a promise that in the year before
Shmita there will be a huge crop that will be enough food for three
years. Who besides God would be able to pull that off?
You will notice that one of the themes for my bar mitzvah is being
environmentally friendly. From the digital invitations, to the
centrepieces that we will be replanting - we have made an effort to
reduce waste. Having respect for the land is something that we learn
from this week’s parsha - just like the Shabbat we are commanded to
observe every week, the land is given a Shabbat that lasts a year
after every six years that it is worked.
In the parsha we also learn to have respect for our fellow Jews. We
are told that we must care for our fellow Jews like we would care for
our own family. The torah instructs us to prevent our fellow Jews from
becoming poor by lending money interest free (kind of like the banks
these days) and investing in his business. We are told to give Tzedaka
like you would give to a brother so that no Jew feels like they must
leave the nation. In the spirit of my parsha, I will be giving money
to Tzedaka.
I would like to close by saying I’m glad that you all came and that
the hard part is over - please enjoy yourselves, I know I will.