Growing up: celebrating bat mitzvahs

WITH the end of the year also came the beginning of Jewish womanhood for a group of Kesser Torah College and Mount Sinai College students in Sydney.

Kesser Torah College’s Year 6 girls celebrated their bnot mitzvah in the school’s multipurpose hall, with the theme of “illuminate”.

The girls individually presented speeches on Torah portions and recited poems they had written about their mothers.

They sang songs centred on the mother-daughter relationship, which touched the hearts of the 170 attendees, including mothers, sisters and grandmothers.

The students completed bat mitzvah projects on different aspects of yiddishkeit and incorporated their family trees into their projects.

Mount Sinai College’s Year 6 students (pictured) also partook in a bat mitzvah ceremony at the end of 2010, held at Maroubra Synagogue.

With Rabbi Haim Perez leading the proceedings and the students taught by Vella Cohen, the bnot mitzvah explored their theme, “the key to happiness”.

The theme, which was was inspired by Anne Frank’s statement “Think of all the beauty that is still around you … and be happy” was conveyed through a collective dvar Torah.

Speaking about society’s skewed perception of happiness – where many people perceive happiness as the outcome of achievements and acquirements – the students conveyed their personal understanding of real happiness.

“The girls did so well, they spoke beautifully and I was so proud because I knew they had taken on board the lessons they had learned,” Rabbi Perez explained. “My hope for them is that whenever they think they’re unhappy, they will remember this ceremony and realise how blessed they truly are.”

CASSILEE KAHN