Shabbat Shalom!
This is a very special week for
me. Not only am I becoming a Bat Mitzvah
today, but Thursday was my birthday.
Not only that, but Thursday was
my birthday.
And interestingly enough,
Thursday was my birthday.
OK, I think you might get the
message that I was born on Groundhog Day.
It’s not really a holiday (not the kind of day where I would get
presents anyway), but I think of it as holiday and it’s kind of cool to have it
as a birthday.
A few years ago, I saw the movie
“Groundhog Day,” where the day repeats over and over, much like the winter goes
on and on if the groundhog sees its shadow.
That’s a good thing if your
birthday is on that day, because that means that every day is your birthday!
What made this movie interesting
for me was the idea that history repeats itself, demonstrating that there’s a
lot of the past in the future and there’s a lot of the future in the past.
In my Torah portion of Bo, Exodus
chapter 12 describes how the Passover festival will be celebrated in the
future, and how the Exodus from Egypt will be remembered years and years from
then. The only problem is that when
these details are being given, the Exodus hasn’t even happened yet! It’s like the past and future get scrambled
together.
That’s what the Seder is all
about. It’s a ritual that repeats again
and again every year, as if the Exodus is taking place over and over, every
year – just like Groundhog Day.
We remember special days –
holidays, birthdays, bat mitzvah days – and rituals help us to do that. The word “ritual” means to repeat.
One of the rituals of the Seder
is to spill drops of wine to remember the 10 Plagues – three of those plagues
are in my portion. My mitzvah project is
a way that I am trying to eliminate three of the great plagues that affect our
world – the plagues of illness, disease and loneliness.
I’ve made a donation to the
Circle of Care, an organization that provides gifts to children who
hospitalized. I’m collecting toys and
other items especially for teens, since two days ago I became a teen – things
like coloring books, hand held puzzles, Rubik’s Cubes, Amazon and iTunes gift
cards.
Having seen up close the
challenges my brother Eli has overcome, I know how hard it can be for a child
to have to spend many nights in the hospital.
When he was at Yale New Haven, I went a few times to visit him – I
really missed him – and I know how much he appreciated it. I also saw how organizations like Circle of
Care brought him toys and how clowns would visit to cheer him up. I know how much these things helped him and
so now I want to pay it forward, to help end these plagues.
So, in the spirit of Groundhog
Day and the Exodus, become bat mitzvah means to stand on a bridge between my
past and my future. But even as I cross
to the other side, my past stays with me.
I will always look back on this day, even as I relive it over and over
again. Every year at this time this same
portion is read. Oh, and the cantor and
rabbi have already invited me to come back and do my Torah readings next
year.
It will almost feel like
Groundhog Day!
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