|
|
HEBREW TABERNACLE CONGREGATION January 22, 2011 D’var Torah
|
|
Francesca
is a seventh grader at Columbia Secondary School in Harlem, and previously
attended Amistad Dual Language School and PS 178 in Inwood.
Although her primary passion is reading, Francesca loves to sing and has
appeared in 13 productions at the Pied Piper Children’s Theatre. She has also
been a multi-season player in the Hudson Cliffs Baseball League and Yorkville
Youth Athletic League basketball program. Over the past five years Francesca
has spent part of her summers at Camp Scatico in
the Hudson River Valley—where her great-grandfather, grandparents, and dad
also attended camp. Francesca’s Torah portion is Yitro,
in which Moses’ father-in-law Jethro advises Moses
to delegate the responsibility of governing the Israelites among members of
his community. Moses then prepares for God to speak to him on Mt. Sinai and
receives the Ten Commandments. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
BAT MITZVAH SPEECH Today’s Torah portion was Yitro, from the book of Genesis. In this portion, Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law comes to visit, and more importantly, the Israelites receive the ten commandments from God. Everyone knows what the ten commandments are. Don’t lie. Don’t steal. Don’t kill. But if you had the choice, what would you add to this list of rules to be upheld as part of being a good Jew? I think I have an answer. My eleventh commandment would be: read. Anyone who knows me knows I am a bibliophile, or book lover. I have my own personal library, and listen to Harry Potter audio books to go to sleep at night. But books are also very important in Judaism. For example, the Torah is often called The Book of Life, while Jews are, in accordance, described as The People of the Book. Israel even produces more books per capita than any other nation in the world. But why are books so valued in Judaism? Well, for one thing, books can show us places we’ve never been, and let us go to whole other worlds full of magic and adventure that we could never imagine. But even more importantly, they give us the concept of the hero. When you think of a hero, you think of someone brave, strong, compassionate, and majestic. Someone you can put on a pedestal, someone you can always count on to save the day. Along with a hero comes a villain, someone sneaky and conniving, evil and mean. The only problem is, that in real life there aren’t many people like that. Outside of fantasy stories, every day people are usually a mix of light and dark. People meaning well, but who have their faults. In the words of Sirius Black, from one of my favorite series, Harry Potter, “The world isn’t split into good people and Death Eaters. There are lots of shades of gray in between.” Books give us a way to experience the difference between good and evil, until we have to face it as adults. Books show us the moral spectrum, and characters that range along it, to teach as well as entertain. Judaism also has a heavy emphasis on right and wrong, and social justice. In Hebrew school, we learned a way to think about who are actions are affecting, called spheres of influence. At the center is you, with concentric circles emanating from it, like ripples on a pond, family, friends, community, country, and finally, world. Doing a mitzvah, or good deed, is reaching out of “Me” and helping others besides yourself. That is what a hero does too. Books teach us right and wrong, and show us characters facing these issues, to demonstrate the ways you can perform social justice, and choose what you believe is right. Last month, a man snatched my mom’s purse. Two men saw him, and ran after the thief. Another joined the chase, and called the police, who eventually caught the man and returned my mother’s bag. Those men weren’t heroes facing evi,l like Harry facing Voldemort in Harry Potter, Katniss facing the Capitol in The Hunger Games, or Firestar facing Tigerclaw in Warriors. But they were aiding someone in need instead of standing by, performing a mitzvah, doing what they think is right. Following what you think is right is why all those heroes faced those villains, why people are cleaning up the Gulf oil spill, and why my community service project œwas to collect books for my old elementary school. Becoming a bat mitzvah, I have realized that Judaism, and reading, teach you how to be an every- day hero.
|
551 Fort Washington Avenue
New York, New York 10033
Tel: 212-568-8304
Fax: 212-927-5428
E-Mail : office@hebrewtabernacle.org