Before we knew it, our daughter’s bat mitzvah was just a few months away. That Jews are living, let alone thriving, in this region of the world is no small miracle. As Chief Rabbi Sacks and others have reminded us: what starts with the Jews never ends with the Jews. But my niece’s bat mitzvah is coming up next month, and her older sister’s bat mitzvah, two years ago, is still fresh in our memories. Be open to the world: I love that you are open to people regardless of where they come from and who they are. In the hospital in which your siblings were born, they slept peacefully in the Tinokiya — the baby room — Jewish and Muslim nurses cared for babies named Moshe and Mohammed, Marim and Miriam. (JTA) — At the moment when she became a woman in Jewish tradition, comedian Gilbert Gottfried’s daughter may have seen another woman naked. But adult bar or bat mitzvah happens at many ages and for many reasons. After 9 months of discomfort, excitement and trepidation, my beautiful eldest daughter came into this world. From my work with children and teenagers, I was painfully aware that everything that my precious girl would see, feel, consume, experience – would influence who she would become, how she would feel about herself, how she would negotiate the world. You’ll be the first in our family to come of age in our own country. Cloudy with occasional showers overnight. Please contact us in case of abuse. Being stubborn about our maintaining our identity, our traditions and our rights is one of the reasons why we as a people are still here. Israel of course plays the most critical role here — it is the heartbeat of Jewish life the world over. It’ll never make the news, but we see it all the time. Torah study is a value in and of itself. We had a celebration at Lou G. Siegel’s, a fancy kosher restaurant in Manhattan. As our first child, you were the one who made me an Abba and so as you become Bat Mitzvah, I feel like I want to share with you everything I have learnt and feel. To be Jewish is to be persecuted. On Independence Day, you walked proudly in the street with a Star of David crown. But I can only imagine what our ancestors, exiled to Eastern Europe, would have thought at this tantalizing reality. Judy would become a bat mitzvah from her house in the country; me, from mine in the city. My daughter, Becca Pallant, became a bat mitzvah June 8, 2013, in Boston. And we are going to have much better bat mitzvah stories to tell than our siblings." Still, my positivity about our future and our destiny remains undimmed. This was Hannah's journey, not ours." READ: Bar or Bat Mitzvah … Being stubborn is not always a bad thing. There’s a poem called the Ancient Mariner, in which a sailor returns from a long journey and accosts someone who is going to a wedding. Gravitate towards ideas and people that unite us and you’ll be making the right choice. Some people think … The blessing of living in Israel and being near such holy, giving women of our nation. Faith and dedication are intended to grow stronger after this milestone which is something to be celebrated with family and friends. In addition, we planned and prepared a special Chessed project, for our guests to participate in at the party (we decided on decorating and packing up art supply boxes for the children of Chai Lifeline, as this charity holds a special place in our hearts.) I hope we will have many more conversations and that we will continue to learn and grow together. Quiet coexistence happens in Israel every day. A while later, I received a letter from the Rebbe addressed to me, dated on the day of my Bat Mitzvah. When you were two-and-a-half, we made a choice. Israel was cherished in our lives. I mentioned that things often look bleak. So on this day, the day of your Bat Mitzvah, I wish my precious girl a lifetime of health, joy, happiness and balance. We cannot ignore the challenges. After two people tested positive for coronavirus at SAR Academy, a private Jewish day school in the Bronx, New York, the school closed on March 3 and sent its students and staff members into quarantine. "son/daughter of the commandment," i.e., a person under obligation, responsible), term denoting both the attainment of religious and legal maturity as well as the occasion at which this status is formally assumed for boys at the age of 13 plus one day, for girls at 12 plus one day (Maim. An Israel that in addition to being thousands of years old, is 67 years young. It certainly has the greatest potential.