As many of you know, I love cheerleading. A couple of years ago, my friends invited me
to go to a cheerleading competition, and when I saw what they did I really
liked it. I loved it all: the
tumbling, the jumps, the stunts…everything.
A few months later, I signed up for a team. Within a week, I was flying through the
tumbling and jumps, loving every minute.
It might sound funny, but cheering makes me feel
more…well… cheerful. Just the way being around Jewish
activities makes me happy – I’ve been going to lots of them since I was very young.
Everything was coming together this year. It couldn’t have been going better. My bat mitzvah, my cheering… and then, in
August, it all came tumbling down.
I was at cheer camp and on the very first day, my
elbow felt weird. We went to the
hospital and I found out that I would need surgery before I could cheer again.
I felt very disappointed. My most cheerful outlet was being taken from
me right at the time when I was getting ready for my bat mitzvah. And even worse, I was facing surgery and a long recovery period. Things could not have been darker.
But I didn’t let it get me down. At camp, I couldn’t cheer, but I could help
the others. I videotaped all the kids
from my gym as they tumbled. I did all
the non cheering activities like arts and crafts. I still had lots of fun with my friends, even
though I was hurt.
So…. you must be wondering, what does all this have to
do with being Jewish?
Everything.
Being Jewish is all about being able to recover from
setbacks and being able to push on, without giving in to despair. You can’t let the darkness win out.
The same is true about Rosh Hodesh, the holiday that
marks the beginning of the new month.
The message of this holiday is that even when the sky is dark and there
is no visible moon, we can trust that the light of the moon will soon reappear.
It always does.
And all the more so this month, because today is Rosh
Hodesh Kislev, and Kislev is the month of Hanukkah. Yes, that’s right, Hanukkah is only 25 days
away – right on Thanksgiving. So don’t
forget. It’s time to start shopping for Hanukkah gifts for your kids. But even more than gift giving, Hanukkah is
all about defeating the darkness and adding more light. As I become bat mitzvah, I hope that I will
be able to bring just a little more light – and a LOT more cheer, to the world.
My mitzvah project will, I hope, bring even more light
to the world. I’ve been making rainbow
loom bracelets and am selling them to raise money for A.L.S. in memory of
grandmother, who died of A.L.S. five years ago.
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