...Previous | Index | Next...
Zack's Bar Mitzvah Speech
What a long, strange trip it has been. I can hardly believe that this day has finally arrived. To have all my friends and family here is very special. I feel especially blessed to have all four of my grandparents here with me today; my dad's parent's, who traveled all the way from Florida, and my mom's parent's, who came from upstate New York.
I have spent a lot of time considering what to say here today, how I will speak about my Torah portion, what it says to me, what it means to me and how I see this applied to our lives today.
In my Torah portion, called Ki Tissa , we read about a time when the Israelites are in the desert in their exodus from Egypt. Moses is about to go up Mt. Sinai to receive the ten commandments from God. Before he goes, he is commanded to take a census of all males over 20 to help support the temple.
The artist Bezalel is put in charge of making the tent of meeting (in other words, a makeshift temple) and other religious buildings and clothing. The Israelites receive a reminder to keep the Sabbath as part of the covenant to God. Moses goes up the mountain for 40 days and 40 nights to get the Ten Commandments from God and to deliver them to the Israelites. The Israelites miscount the days, and become confused and ultimately they lose patience, giving up on both Moses and God. They turn to Aaron, (Moses' brother) and ask him to make a new god out of all of their jewelry. This is when they make the "Golden Calf."
And when Aaron does this, God becomes extremely angry with the Israelites and is about to destroy the people. God tells Moses that the Israelites have turned away from the laws is reminded about tolerance and acceptance and God ultimately forgives them. So, Moses brings the tablets down. His face is radiant because he has spoken to God directly. And this radiance frightens the Israelites very much.
And then, when he sees the people dancing around the calf idol, he gets very angry and destroys the tablets. He demands the people to drink a concoction of the ground up calf and water, as a symbol of their repentance. Only then, Moses goes back up Mt. Sinai and gets a second set of tablets containing the same ten commandments.
There are many important messages in my Torah portion, but perhaps the most important message in my Torah portion is that we should choose friends and leaders carefully - ones with good values -- and be willing to stick by them.
In my portion it appears that the Israelites did not trust that Moses was going to return from his journey. And so they turned to false idols to take the place of God in hope of giving them some measure of safety and security. They abandoned God, Moses and their religion when they lost faith. But Moses stood by them and never lost faith, even when they lost faith in him and even when God was about to destroy those who were worshiping the idols and make only Moses' descendants the rulers of the land.
In the end, God, through Moses, stands by the Israelites and creates a second set of the Ten Commandments. This illustrates that God is a forgiving God. It shows us that it is ok to make mistakes, so long as you recognize your mistakes and ask for forgiveness. It is equally important to have someone stickby you when you need it. Just like Moses stood by the Israelites even when the relationship was strained, it is important to stand by our friends, and family, in time of need.
So you might be thinking, how does this apply to my life and your life? Well, I've seen it affect my life in lots of ways. For example, in little league baseball, I was catching during one game and my little brother Max, was pitching. The bases were loaded in the bottom of the last inning and it was an extremely pressure filled situation. I walked out to the mound to try to relax him, to slow him down, so he wouldn't walk in the winning run or throw a wild pitch. Max was able to pitch out of the jam and I felt like I really helped the situation by having faith in him and supporting him to do his best. That was the only part I could really contribute. I could have gotten angry or stressed and fueled his aggression. But I stood by him and we got through it.
My second example is another baseball story. In my last little league season, I was struggling. I had not been hitting well and was striking out a lot. I was really down on myself for not stepping up to my full potential. At the end of the season, my coach told me to focus and forget all the frustrations of past games. He worked with me in practice and gave me extra confidence rather than focusing on my faults. I ended up getting 2 hits in one game, and helping the team in the playoffs. I could have been removed from the game, or I could have been lowered in the order, or I could have just hung my head in frustration. But my coach stood by me, and had faith in me, and it paid off.
My last example is a memory from my Camp Towanga experience. At the camp's ropes course, there is a large cargo net. You must climb it, crawl upside-down 20 ft above the ground on two parallel ropes for another 20 ft, and ring a bell. I went first, and I did it in about 8 minutes, which is great for a first timer. 3 more people went, but none could get to the bell. Then a girl named Talia went, and she was stuck between the net and the ropes for a good 45 minutes. I was called back to help her either get the courage to come safely down, or to continue on her way to the bell. I convinced her not to give up, and I helped her to the very end. And when I heard that bell, I was one of the proudest kids in the whole world. I could have said no, or gotten Talia to come down, but I stuck with her and she did what only 2 other kids (including myself) could do. She rang the bell.
Like we learned from my Torah portion - good friends and leaders are rare, but they are only as good as their support system is, the people who give them confidence to be and do their very best. Just like my support system here today, the rabbi and cantor, and all of my family and friends, some of which have traveled long distances to be here today. It gave me the courage and confidence to stand up here today and become a bar mitzvah.
...Previous | Index | Next... E-mail: znewms@yahoo.com
URL: www.planetserver.net/zack/zack-speech.html