My D’Var Torah

My Bat Mitzvah was amazing last night! I’m so glad so many friends and family came! Thank you again for all of the love and support!

Some people asked me to post my speech on my blog. Here it is:

When I decided that a traditional Bat Mitzvah was not right for me, my parents supported my decision to take a different path, but they still expected me to do something meaningful that signified my becoming an adult in the Jewish community.

Ruben, a boy at my school, biked to Duluth for his Bar Mitzvah and raised money for an organization that he believed. I was inspired by this, and decided to set my own personal challenge as a way to make a difference in the world, and then share what I learned with my community, my friends and my family. My parents and grandfather offered to train and bike with me and found opportunities for me to learn more about the issues. My grandmother, sister Sadie, Aunt Sharon and Uncle Steve gave me encouragement and drove along side me to Duluth.  And many family members and friends supported me with words of encouragement and donations.

Our synagogue was supportive too! We found out that they were looking for ways to offer a wider variety of meaningful options to kids for their B’nai Mitzvah.  Rabbi Latz was actually excited that we were asking them to support us in doing something different. We decided that I would study for my Bat Mitzvah with him, and strive to understand how the work I wanted to do made sense within Judaism and my life.  Then, he connected me with Ellen Kennedy and World Without Genocide.

At first I thought I would just raise money for World Without Genocide, but the more I learned about genocide and modern day slavery, the more I wanted to make a difference beyond raising money – to do what I can so that other people can have lives that they love as much as I love mine.  

I personally am a huge feminist, and believe that no girl my age, or any human being, should ever be exposed to violence and other terrifying crimes and injustice. My goal was to try and help as much as I possibly can by:

• Learning and making connections between the history of my people, from the times of slavery in Egypt, through the Holocaust and other injustices that happen today around the world, including war crimes, human trafficking, and genocide;
• Raising awareness and money to help relieve the suffering of women and girls my age who have survived genocide, war and slavery; and
• Trying to find answers to important questions like: Why do decent people do horrible things to others?  Why do people follow orders when the orders are obviously wrong? What responsibility do we have as human beings to be brave and stand up for what is right? And, as a 13-year old girl, what can I do to have as big an impact as possible, invite others to join me, and think about a life path that will allow me to be most effective?

While studying Torah and learning about the horrible history of genocide and the amazing Upstanders who make a difference by not being Bystanders, I engaged in series of actions to make a difference. I hosted a house party fundraiser for World Without Genocide with Carl Wilkins – the only American to stay in Rwanda during the genocide, and who, by doing so, saved hundreds of people’s lives, mostly children.  I attended the World Without Genocide Summer Institute for high school and college students on human trafficking, at William Mitchell College of Law; and I biked to Duluth, MN as a personal challenge and as a way to raise awareness about these issues. While biking, I thought about the many blessings in my life and how the challenge of a long ride compares to the challenges many people face around the world every day.  While I felt supported by my community and my family, I was very aware that this beautiful city that I was biking into, Duluth, is a major port for human trafficking, primarily of Native American girls. Finally, I was asked to speak about the power of adults supporting youth to be change-makers, at a convening of women peace advocates from the Middle East and North Africa. I was so inspired by these women. Monica McWilliams, a key leader in negotiating peace in Northern Ireland was there, as was MN State Senator Sandy Pappas, and many others. It was amazing to be with these powerful women who had brought so much positive change to the world. They inspired me to think about they kinds of work that I can do in my life, as I get older.

Another part of my bat mitzvah was studying my Torah portion, the Ki Tavoh, and thinking about the many ways that it translated into my life and the issues that I was studying. Three things stood out to me the most:

• The role of blessings and appreciating the gifts in our lives:  The Ki Tavoh, is the story describing the end of the Jews’ journey, after leaving slavery in Egypt and travelling through the desert for 40 years. When they reached the gates of the Promised Land, instead of resting and nourishing themselves, the Jews took time to pray and offer up the first fruit of the year (the sweetest) to God. One thing I took from this was how we take many things for granted. I decided to take the time to appreciate all of the wonders in my life and I learned blessings from my tradition to help me remember to experience my gratitude.  I woke up every morning on the bike trip and said a prayer of thanks for the blessings in my life.
• Issues of Slavery, Freedom and God:  The Jews were enslaved and then freed. But after being freed, they wandered in the desert for 40 years.  The story made me wonder: What or Who is God, and if there is a God, a loving God, why were my ancestors enslaved? And after being freed, why did they have to wander for so long before finding a home? Why is there still slavery today?  
• Laws, Blessings and Curses:  After making offerings at the entrance to the Promised Land, the Jews are presented with a demand to accept God’s laws about how to create a new society, how to live together, and how to treat others. If they follow these laws, they will be blessed. If they reject these laws they will face terrifying consequences, including starvation, extreme suffering and death.  God in this story is a separate being. But as I think about my life and what I have learned about people, I’ve begun to wonder, is God outside of us making these demands of us, or a part of each of us – an inner guiding voice that we must listen to in order to choose right over wrong? If God is outside of us, how could a fair God make threats about curses that would punish a people who had so recently been victims of slavery? If God is a part of each of us, what responsibility do we have as individuals and communities to treat each other with love and compassion – the way that we would hope an external loving God would treat us? 

 Since Purim is tomorrow Rabbi Latz also asked me to study and talk about the Purim story, to show me the different ways that Esther and Vashti affected change in an unjust society. However, the Purim Story he asked me to read wasn’t the one I learned in 3^rd grade – this was the “Real Story” – a story of the power of women and an example of how people can use different strategies to affect change. It is also a shocking example of human trafficking and genocide.  

In the Purim story, King Ahasuerus (“Aha-shuer-oos”), asks his young wife, Vashti, to dance naked for him and his guests. She refuses and by doing so takes a stand against the King and the system – an act that for a woman (or girl) in her position would have been extremely dangerous, and she probably had to flee for her life. It is a story of bravery that girls should be told – to do what you must to take care of yourself and hold onto your integrity in the face of danger. This brave act did not, however, do anything to change the system for girls or women. And as a result another girl had to take her place. The king sent out a mandate to all in the land to bring their young daughters to the palace so that he could choose his next wife.  Mordechai sent his niece Esther who was chosen by the king from among hundreds of girls (if you read between the lines, this sounds a lot like human trafficking to me).

Meanwhile, Hamen, the king’s advisor uncovered a plot to kill the king. He reported it along with the identity of the guard behind the plot – a Jew, who Hamen advised should be killed along with all of the Jews in the land. Esther, having hidden that she was Jewish, made a plan to reveal her identity in the hopes that the king’s love for her would convince him to stop the genocide.  She knew her audience, and thus her approach to creating change was more strategic than Vashti’s. She invited the King AND Hamen to her house for dinner on three nights in a row. She cooked delicious food for them, offered them plenty to drink, and on the third night, revealed her Jewish identity and asked the king to call off Hamen’s plan that would result in her death and the death of her people. The King was outraged and ordered Hamen to be hung immediately and called off the order to kill the Jews. He then recruited Mordechai as his new Chief Advisor. Having just stopped a genocide against the Jews (which is why we celebrate Purim today), Mordechai made a decision to not only hang Hamen, but to kill all of Hamen’s family as well as all in the land who might threaten the safety of the Jews. The king approved, and so 74,000 people were killed on Mordechai’s command. One genocide averted, another one committed.

The genocide and the human trafficking in this story are not often talked about when we tell the Purim story, and are not what we think about on Purim. Purim for us is a time to celebrate freedom and social justice, but Purim also commemorates a time of ruthlessness, contradictions, abuse of power, and sexism. It is a reminder of the need to hold ourselves true to the same ideals that we expect from others – to not oppress our neighbors or discriminate against others. When we listen to the story of Purim, we must all remember to look inside ourselves, and find the Upstander – the parent who would protect the child from trafficking, the Vashti who would fight for herself, the Esther who would stand up for her people, or the one who could have, but did not, stand up to save the innocent lives that were taken in the end.

I’ve learned a lot from this entire experience. I’ve come to recognize that personal challenges are powerful, that the more meaningful the experience the greater the reward, and that preparation is important. If you work hard to prepare for a big challenge, when the time comes to actually doing it, it’s really doable; I’ve become more aware of my place in society as a person with privileges and freedoms, and as someone who can make change in the world, and the stories I have heard of suffering, survival and everyday heroes have affirmed my belief that I have a responsibility to stand up for what is right. Making change in the world can be a simple act of kindness, like doing somebody a favor or making someone feel good with a smile, or it can be harder, like standing up to a bully and changing the course of someone’s suffering. I’ve learned about people working to create change from within and from outside of the system, and I know now that these are decisions to make when thinking about how to be effective. Sadly, I’ve learned that fear, power and greed can be dangerous – they can make us do horrible things. We must strive to be conscious of our decisions, be ethical and loving, and be aware of how our actions affect others.

I plan to continue to work with World Without Genocide, and be an Upstander in my community, to participate in making a difference so that all girls and women, all people, can be free to live lives of their choosing. I want to encourage all of you to find your own way to make the world a better place. Will you be a Vashti, going up against the system? An Esther, working from within the system? Will you stand up, like Malala, or the LGBT activists in Russia, for what is right even when you are afraid? Even when it means that you have to share with others or give up power? I want to encourage you to look inside of yourself and find the Upstander, to not be a Bystander. Think of the power that one person has to create great change – Carl Wilkins was 1 person who stood up for what he believed in and saved so many lives. There were many Rwandans who took a stand and made a difference too, and for them the dangers were much greater. Carl had a place of privilege as a white American man in Rwanda. He knew it and he used it. Imagine a Rwanda if 5 or 10 or 10,000 Carl Wilkins’ had taken a stand. How many more lives would have been saved?

Tonight, we have an opportunity for all of us to make a difference together. The “Tents of Witness: Genocide and Conflict” tells the stories of different groups of people targeted by genocide, and remembers those in our own community who have been affected. The outside of each tent is hand painted by members of the community represented and the slides inside explain the causes and consequences of genocide. The four tents set up tonight include stories of the American Indians, Congo, the Holocaust, and North Korea. 

Knowledge alone is not power. Knowledge plus action equals power. After viewing the tents, you will have a chance to take action. Four action stations have been set up in the hall: 

• Create a butterfly in remembrance of the 1.5 million children who perished in the Holocaust.
• Make a red handprint to send to the Secretary General of the United Nations to urge an end to the use of child soldiers in adult wars worldwide. 
• Sign letters urging your state representatives and senators to hold medical professionals who torture accountable. 
• Learn how the ongoing conflict in Congo is connected to your cell phone and other electronics. Sign letters to your state senators and representatives, asking them to support a bill that will mandate conflict free electronics in the state of Minnesota.

Think of the power in this room to affect change by taking a stand. Each of us has that ability. But we have to choose to use it. Thank you!