This year, our sixth graders have been enjoying the learning in Mrs. Naama Parnes’ Bat Mitzvah program. Unfortunately, Covid-19 has limited family Bat Mitzvah celebrations, so SBTAG hosted an outdoor party, under a beautifully decorated tent on our basketball court. The weather this past Thursday evening was perfect and Mrs. Rivka Bodkins executed a flawless event, with entertainment by Mrs. Esti Moskowitz and her talented music and dance team. The girls shared their special moment with their mothers, Dr. Rochelle Brand, Rabbi Daniel Wolnerman, Mrs. Naama Parnes, Ms. Sabina Joseph, Ms. Tonya Kunken and me. Eliya Boussani and Noya Elbaz spoke about this week’s parsha and Avital Prync connected the theme of Bat Mitzvah to the middah of tzniut. Tali Horenstein discussed achdut and Noa Lamet expressed an impassioned Hakarat Hatov on behalf of her class. The girls presented their mothers with original plaques containing a passuk from Eshet Chayil, along with a personal message.
Special thanks to the mothers who were gracious sponsors of the evening, Mrs. Sandra Goldenberg, Mrs Talia Lamet and Mrs. Naomi White. Thank you to the Parent Council for sponsoring a gift for each girl, a personally inscribed Sefer Tehilim.
I would like to share with you an idea from this week’s parsha, Ki Tisa, that is pertinent to our Bnot Mitzvah, as well as to the rest of us.
After concluding the mitzvot regarding the Mishkan, Hashem warns Moshe: Even though the work of the mishkan is of supreme importance, it does not override the obligation to observe Shabbat.
וּשְׁמַרְתֶּם֙ אֶת־הַשַּׁבָּ֔ת כִּ֛י קֹ֥דֶשׁ הִ֖וא לָכֶ֑ם ;מְחַֽלְלֶ֙יהָ֙ מ֣וֹת יוּמָ֔ת
You shall keep the Sabbath, for it is sacred for you. Those who desecrate it will surely die.
The Seforno explains that the first phrase, כי קדש היא לכם refers to the positive commandments of Shabbat ; מחלליה מות יומת refers to the the prohibitions.
Hashem continues:
שֵׁ֣שֶׁת יָמִים֮ יֵעָשֶׂ֣ה מְלָאכָה֒ וּבַיּ֣וֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִ֗י שַׁבַּ֧ת שַׁבָּת֛וֹן קֹ֖דֶשׁ לַהשם
For six days work will be done and on the seventh day is a Sabbath of complete rest, sacred to Hashem.
Interestingly, the first passuk tells us that Shaabat is קדש לכם , sacred for us. The second says that is it קדש להשם. Why the difference?
The Seforno explains that, in the latter passuk, Hashem even forbade matters that are not included in the category of Melacha. Why? I believe this is because the Torah can legislate the actions that a person must engage in or avoid, in order to designate the day of Shabbat as קדש לכם. But the true Shabbat experience is more than the sum total of positive and negative mitzvot. On Shabbat, each individual person must find a way to empty her inner self from any impediment to spirituality. Only then, the Seforno says, can she fully embrace “the matters of the eternal existence, לכבוד השם, for the honor of the Creator. “ Only then can she experience a day that is Kodesh laHashem.
I believe that this understanding of Shabbat provides us with a blueprint for life itself. Becoming a Bat Mitzvah does obligate a young woman to observe all the positive mitzvot and to guard herself from violating all the prohibitions. However, one should think of that, not as a burden, but as an opportunity. The mitzvot can teach us how to voluntarily allocate our time and energy, so that we can create a positive and beautiful space within each of us that is open to kedusha... a space from which we can reach out towards the infinite world of Hashem’s knowledge and enjoy a relationship with the Creator of this vast and magnificent universe.
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