What's your Parasha??

After the program on Sunday, all of the students that were there can now tell you what their bar/bat mitzvah parasha is and what book of the Torah it is from. I told them that they will OWN it and it will become part of how they will always remember this time in their lives. We photographed the students in groups based where their parasha was in the Torah! Click on the picture below to see photos from the program!

Dvar Torah Program

Special Guest Blogger – Rabbi Jim Rosen

Shalom everyone! I am really looking forward to being with you on Sunday. I always find it exciting to gather with families and try to "de-mystify" the process of writing a D'var Torah-at least a little bit. This is a very exciting part of the Bar/Bat Mitzvah process and one that will hopefully add to your family's appreciation of the Jewish idea of life-long learning.

I will wait for Sunday for the details but for now can say that much of what we already do in life involves the act of interpretation. It is not so different than what a student of Torah does when preparing to teach something new. It really involves asking some very key questions of who, what, when, where and why and one that is not so appreciated all the time - how. We do that in assessing current events and family decisions. The challenge is to apply this to Torah and to understand where a text and life might meet and be enriched by the encounter. That will be our goal. I always find that task exciting and hope you will too.

All the best, Rabbi Jim Rosen

When can a dvar Torah be delivered?

While it is very important that the bar/bat mitzvah present words of Torah at the service, there are other opportunities as well. Anytime that we can connect our ancient texts to our everyday lives is a chance to demonstrate the relevance and timelessness of our tradition. At the kiddush luncheon it is very appropriate for a family member or the bar/bat mitzvah themselves to stand up and deliver a few words. It is especially nice for parents and grandparents to use that time to impart words of Torah. Certainly if there is a dinner or in conjunction with a candle-lighting ceremony, a short dvar Toah can be delivered. It helps to keep the whole event grounded in tradition and values.

Synagogue Board meetings generally start with a short dvar Torah by the rabbi or individual Board member. The idea is to get everyone focused on what the real work of the Board is. In the same way, a dvar Torah at an appropriate time during the celebration helps to elevate the event and keep everyone mindful of the 'mitzvah' in bar mitzvah.

I invite your comments on this!!

Finding a dvar Torah topic - A Story

I remember the dvar Toah writing process as my own children became bar/bat mitzvah. My oldest son had the portion Vayera in the book of Bereshit(Genesis). I remember people saying that all the parashiot in Genesis were easy because they all have great stories and it is so easy to find something that relates to our lives. I still believe this to be true, but it is still hard because there are so many themes and ideas that it can be hard to narrow it down. The portion Vayera includes the story of the near sacrifice of Isaac by his father Abraham. This is a difficult text and I remember that the idea of writing a dvar Torah about it made my son very nervous. To solve things, I told him that lots of people (more that we know!) have commented on this and he could choose something else in the parasha. He ended up writing a beautiful speech on the places in the parasha where people argued with God and why they might have done that. Most notably, he talked about Abraham's arguing with God regarding the destruction of Sodom. He connected it to his own personal expereince of arguing with teachers and other authority figures. What a perfect theme for a budding adolescent!

Starting to think about Dvar torah

At our next family program we are going to learn about how to write a dvar Torah. You will see that every Torah portion has some theme or nugget of truth that you will be able to link to a current issue or value that is meaningful to you. In some Torah portions that nugget is easier to find than others - but it is there! I recently found a website called mitzvahchic.com that has an advice and ideas sharing section. The following question relates to connecting to the child's Torah portion. Take a look!

How do I tie in a speech to the Torah portion? Click here.

You'll see that there are discussions about many topics - maybe a question or concern you have is addressed. Let me know if you come across something especially useful or controversial and I will pass it along!