TBE Bar/Bat Mitzvah Commentary: Sawyer Price on Tzav

Shabbat Shalom!

My portion of Tzav describes the sacrifices that took place in the temple back in ancient times.  One of them was called Todah – the sacrifice of thankfulness.  They were brought to express gratitude after surviving dangerous situations or unusual circumstances or coming home from a journey.

A couple of months ago, my family went on a journey – we took a cruise to central America.  It doesn’t exactly qualify as a dangerous journey,  to be on the deck of a Royal Caribbean ship. One of the excursions from the boat touched me deeply.

We were in Honduras, riding on a rickety old bus on bumpy roads and suddenly, 4 or 5 little kids were standing on the side of the road.  They were no older than 2 or 3.  The bus stopped, and the kids started dancing to the sounds of drums that some older kids were playing. Then, to no one’s surprise, they held out their hands for money and we decided to give them some. 

It made me feel sad, to see their ragged clothes and realize how they were so poor that they needed to ask for handouts. At the same time, it made me appreciate all that I have.

When I got home, I decided that for my mitzvah project, I would help kids in our own community who are less fortunate.  And that’s exactly what I’m doing.  I’m volunteering at the Ferguson Library and  collecting books and other supplies which I will donate to Reading Partners, a program of the United Jewish Federation.

That mitzvah project has become, in a way, my Todah, my thanksgiving offering.

Today’s service is too, because sacrifice was replaced by prayer after the temple in Jerusalem was destroyed.  Counting blessings has become a big part of my life, bigger than I even knew.

You see, my greatest passion is swimming – I’ve been swimming competitively for the past three years - and I’ve discovered that swimming and counting blessings have a lot in common. 

In Hebrew, a swimming pool is called a “Braycha.”  That word is spelled exactly the same as the word “Bracha,” which means blessing.

So the question is, how is a braycha like a bracha – how is a pool like a blessing.

When you jump into a pool you bend your knee, which is exactly what we do when we say a prayer like the Amida or the Barchu. You bend your knee – ready to spring into action, and as a reminder always to express gratitude, to always count your blessings, like I did when I was in Honduras.

There are other ways that swimming is a lot like praying.  For one thing, it’s something that, while I’m doing it, it gives me a chance to focus my thoughts.  Both activities require concentration.  Also, when you are swimming,  and praying too you are by yourself, but at the same time you are alongside other people.  It’s a team sport that you do alone.   When you daven in a minyan, you are going at your own pace but you hear everyone around you and you are somehow connected to them.  When you are swimming, you are keenly aware of who is next to you, even though you are by yourself.

With swimming, just as with prayer it’s less important to rush through and do things quickly than to do them well – and to always strive to improve.

It’s important not just to improve my own life, but the lives of others as well.  That’s a lesson taught to me by the little dancing children on Honduras.

TBE Bar/Bat Mitzvah Commentary: Elena Singer-Freeman on Tzav

Shabbat Shalom! My name is Elena Singer-Freeman, and Torah portion is about the offerings that Aaron and the high priests brought. The rules about offerings are described with every step explained in great detail. To many, this portion may just seem like a boring rule book, however there are some deeper meanings that I would like to discuss. First of all, by doing things in a certain way you become connected with the community that does these things in the same way. This means that learning and following rules can be a route to feeling that you are a part of a group. Secondly, sometimes it’s not enough to just do something, it needs to be done the right way. In these cases, rules ensure success and show respect. And finally, the journey can be as important as the destination. Sometimes, the method is more important than the result.

Let me try to explain these ideas in a way that I can relate to. I don’t know much about offerings, but I do know a decent amount about academics. So, I’m guessing most of you know what scientific notation is. Even if you don’t, it’s basically a bunch of rules telling you what to do and what not to do while writing your wickedly complicated answer to a math or science problem. These rules sound dumb. But really, they’re not. Scientific notation helps scientists and mathematicians communicate and connect, almost like their own language. Following the rules of offering (back then, we don’t do it now) connected the high priests to each other over generations. When priests sacrificed a goat, they knew that they were following in the honored goat hoof steps of the many priests who had come before them. 

Here’s a another example; grammar. Why put a comma here instead of there? It seems like just another rule that makes no sense! Well, take this example; If I said, “I like cooking my family and my pets” you should call the police. BUT if I said “I like cooking, my family, and my pets” you would tell your friends that I am a well rounded person!  Grammar helps everyone speaking the same language communicate more clearly. Similarly, always following the same steps when making offerings, might allow the Israelites to better understand the priests’ rituals. Improving our understanding of rituals will give them more power.

A second reason that rules are valuable is that sometimes things need to be done well, not just “done”. For example, in gymnastics, judges care about the skills and difficulty level in your routine, however they care just as much, if not more, about how well the skills are performed. To achieve “well done” skills, you need to take the hard route- no shortcuts. This means performing many drills and strength training to deliver the skill perfectly in competition; no bent legs!  When I do a skill well I have a sense of pride. Similarly, making offerings the right way, would give the priests a feeling of the importance of what they were doing. Also, perhaps offerings done the right way gets you extra credit points with G-d.

Finally, in my portion, what’s more important than the offerings themselves, is the process that gets you to the end result. This is the difference between the journey and the destination. Returning to academics, math teachers love correct answers, but they won’t give you full credit unless you show your work. For all they know, you could have guessed that x≥y^37. They need to see your work so they know that you understand the journey that brought you to this answer. Offerings are all about the journey. You can end up with the same dead bull in many different ways, but it’s all about how you killed it. A sacrifice that is the end of carefully enacted ritual steps demonstrates respect and love for G-d. All other routes to a big mac lack meaning. In Judaism, some of the laws might seem as obscure as the rules regarding commas. For instance, the fact that a matzah can’t rest for more than 18 minutes before it is put into the oven might seem pointless; what difference would another minute make? It would be the difference between a kosher and non-kosher matzah. The end result; the matzah coming out of the oven may look exactly the same, however it’s the journey that counts.

Becoming a Bat Mitzvah is not just about standing up here and reading some Hebrew, it’s about the many months, even years that I have spent preparing for this special occasion. Albert Einstein said, “In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.” This year I had to balance the demands of my gymnastics training with my commitment to my Jewish education. I arranged to read books about the Holocaust on my own and miss one of my weekly gymnastics practices in order to continue my progress in both areas. I am currently working to find a way to maintain my athletic training when I attend overnight camp. Difficult choices and personal sacrifices are all part of the journey, which is more significant than the end result.  The end result of standing here today is pretty cool, though. 

TBE Bar/Bat Mitzvah Commentary: Aaron Patashnik on Tzav

You might have guessed from my name that I come from Jewish royalty.  Yes, I am a Kohen.  Of course you would have known that from my name…. No, not Patashnik, as that is Russian slang for a cosmonaut who was cut off from the cord in space and drifted off. I’m talking about my first name-Aaron, who was the head priest all those years ago.

Being a Cohen has many privileges – like having the first aliyah and….and…. actually  … well… that’s about it.  But it also teaches many lessons – including some found in my portion.

For instance, the cohen not only performs the sacrifices, but later on, the next morning, after the sacrifices are completed, he is the one who disposes of the ashes.  In other words, the most important guy in the nation is the one whose job it is to take out the garbage.  Now that’s not something you see the Queen of England do all the time.  But it teaches an important lesson about humility.  Not only did he take out the garbage, but he put on ordinary clothes before doing it.  As the commentary in our humash states, “This ensures that he never forgets his link to the ordinary people who spend their days in mundane” activities.

Humility is something I’ve had to learn as well.  As most of you know, I am very humble – I am more humble then any of you could even dream of being. It is one of my best qualities.

But seriously… I’ve also learned humility from my sport interests.   In baseball, I’ll gladly bunt or hit behind the runner for the good of my team.  In basketball, I take as much pride – maybe even more - in a timely assist as I do in a torrent of three pointers.  It’s the little things that win games, like blocking out for rebounds or tipping a pass or good sportsmanship, like picking up a teammate - or even an opponent when they are down, literally or figuratively.

Let’s go back to the cohen’s clothing for a minute.  When he wasn’t taking out the garbage, the fashions he wore weren’t intended to express humility, but instead the power of ritual.  I can relate to that as well.  For me, designing my own my tallit was something very important.  I’m going to be wearing it for the rest of my life.  It has the Cohen blessing on it and a pattern that I picked and of course, purple, as it is my favorite color.  It turns out that one of the colors worn by the ancient cohanim was – you guessed it… green!  No, purple! 

I’ve always loved purple, even though I never liked Barney… Purple is one color that can be dark or light, exciting or soothing, all in one color.  Sort of like a person.  Maybe it’s sort of like me.  People have many different emotions, and purple expresses them all – the coolness of blue combined with the fire of red. 

My mitzvah project has also helped me to learn some lessons in humility.  I’m collecting donations to raise money towards the Israeli Sports Center for the disabled. The Center helps men and women of all ages to participate in over 20 sports, and have had participants in the Paralympics. If you want to know more about this absolutely amazing organization, you can follow the link to the website that is in my Bar Mitzvah booklet, after Shabbat is over, of course.

TBE Bar/Bat Mitzvah Commentary: Jessica Schwartz on Tzav

As you undoubtedly know, Passover begins this coming week. Today is Shabbat Hagadol, the special Shabbat just before the holiday. I love Passover because it’s one of the very few times all year, when both sides of my family come together and everyone is in the same place for the same reason. Because it’s my bat mitzvah it’s great, we can extend the celebration for a few more days!

Passover has many messages, but maybe the most significant one of all is that it teaches us how important it is to overcome fear.

The Exodus story has two major decision points, where, if the Israelites had made the wrong choice, we would still be slaves in Egypt today. Worst of all, we wouldn’t get the chance to eat matzah, and believe it or not, I LOVE matzah.

The first example of the Israelites overcoming their fear was when they had to mark their doorpost with lamb’s blood so that the angel of death would pass over their houses. It wasn’t easy to do that knowing that their neighbors would know they are Jews and could take revenge against them. This also took a lot courage knowing that they were still slaves.

The second big moment was at the Red Sea. The Jews had to decide whether to go through. There is a midrash about Nachshon, who was the first Israelite to enter the sea when Pharaoh's army pursued the fleeing slaves. Legend has it that he went in the water up to his neck, not even knowing to how swim before the water finally parted. It took real courage to risk his life and hope that G-d would save him.

Whenever you face a moment of truth or a big decision, you have to go with your gut instinct – the voice inside that either says, “Do it,” or “don’t.”

I know that feeling. It’s the voice that helps you to overcome the fear that can keep you from doubting yourself and never moving forward.

I hear that voice whenever I put on a pair of skis.

The first time I skied was when I was around three. I loved it right away. I started off on the bunny hills just like everyone else, and quickly progressed through different ability levels. Now i have been competing for the past four years on the Mount Snow Freestyle Team. In the past my ranking has qualified me to compete in Eastern Championships. Freestyle skiing is a very subjective sport, but for me what’s more important than what judges think, is that I am always trying to improve myself.

Improvement is more than about developing new skills. It usually means overcoming fear. My favorite competition is Big Air or otherwise known as aerials. The way you are judged in Aerials is based off how you execute your trick, how high you went off the jump, and your landing. No matter how good I get there is always a fear factor to overcome.

As I build up speed and approach the jump, I literally tell myself “Go straight.” Sometimes I sing. Sometimes I scream. Actually, I always scream. One time the judges took away points because i screamed to loud. But somehow the screaming seems not to hurt my scores – and if I focused on not screaming it would probably distract me and hurt my scores. In a way you can build off of your fear to accomplish great things.

At one competition about a month ago – and yes, I was jumping a month before my bat mitzvah! – I decided to build up the confidence to go off the higher jump. It was the first time I was jumping from something that big – and it was extremely scary. I was jumping 20 feet off the ground. Well, I was crying in the air – while screaming. And yes, this time I got some points deducted. And I didn’t quite land it – but I was so happy that I tried to do the jump, something that few girls in the competition dared to try. Although i was far from successful, I overcame my fear.

One thing I’ve learned from skiing. Is that if you think, “I’m going to fall,” chances are you will. If you think positively things usually have a way of working itself out. Half the battle is building up the confidence.

The same is true with becoming a bat mitzvah. It takes real courage to stand up here. Which is harder – doing today’s haftarah or a new trick on a jump? I’m not sure, but both take a lot of work and practice.

Becoming a bat mitzvah is about much more than what I am doing up here today. It’s about practicing and learning – and then applying it. In skiing I have competitions. In Judaism, the competition is not today, but every time I have to make an important decision to do something that could help the world. And another difference is that there’s no loser when you make the right decision. Everyone wins.

There’s another difference between overcoming fear on the slopes and on the bima. When I’m up here, I’ve really been trying not to scream!


For my mitzvah project, this will be the second year that i will participate in Relay for Life. Relay for life is an overnight event that brings communities together in a fight against cancer. It is a way to celebrate cancer survivors, remember loved ones, and fight back against the disease that's takes too much for too many. We relay overnight because cancer never sleeps, and we will keep fighting until we find cures. I relay to be part of the change. I relay because cancer affects people in a horrible way and takes loved ones from us far to quickly. I relay to remanded hopeful that we can fight back and make a difference.

G-dcast for Parashat Tzav

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