Aharon’s Bar Miztfah Speech

My son Aharon’s Bar Mitzvah is tomorrow November 1, 2008. Together we wrote this speech. There is a mention of his right arm. He was born missing his thumb, elbow joint and some muscles.

(Parsha refers to the reading of the week. Noach is Noah in English, Megillah refers to both The Book Of Esther in English and book of the Talmud by the same name.  The terms Tractate in english and the words Mesecate and Gemmara also to that book. Leining refers to reading the Torah in synnagogue. Medrashim refers to background stories about the people and events in the Torah that have been passed down through history that are not written directly. )

Welcome to my Bar Mitzfah Honoured Rabbi’s, my immediate family, my extended family, friends and guests.

I miss my oldest brother Daniel and my oldest sister Shoshana who are not here today because they think its more important to learn in Israel than to come to a party.

I am saddened by the close missing family who are with Gd. My Zaida Joe, my Zaida Jack, my Booby Florence and my Nana Joy and my Aunt Marlene.

I wish that Rabbi Marcus OBM was here to experience this day. I know I was important to him and he was important to me and my family. I hope I would have made him proud.

I would like to make a special Thank You to Danny B. who taught me how to lein. And even more important – he took the time to make sure I learned how to Lein. It took hours of his time.

The fact that I have two homes – count them – two homes – meant that he had to coordinate with two parents. And he never let on how much of a nightmare it must have been.

Thank you Danny for your efforts, certainly without you I would not have accomplished my leining.

For my Bar Mitzfah I learned to lein Parshas Noach.

In the Parsha we learn

1. The story of Noach building the ark, how he handles the flood, and the problems he has with his sons.
2. The Story of the Tower of Bavel, how it was built and how Gd gave us all the different languages of the world, and
3. How Avraham is related to Noach.

I would like to thank my father for learning with me – for these several months.

Together we have learned Mescate Megillah and we learned many different topics!

1. When should we actually read the Megillah. I never knew that the day of the reading changes if you are in the country, in a small town, or in a city that had a wall at the time of Yeoshua or Joshua as he is known in English.
2. We learn a whole number of things that are similar but have one important difference. The first difference of the many differences discussed is that of Shabbes and Yom Tov. There is no difference except that on Yom Tov we can cook and Shabbes we can’t.
3. The Gamarra goes through the Megillah line by line – Giving all the great Medrashim we are familiar with – such as Vashti’s tail,  Esther and Mordecai were actually married – not Uncle and niece, Haman was Mordechei’s barber and how Haman’s daughter dumped garbage on Haman’s head and then committed suicide.
4. Who is obligated to read the Megillah and what does it mean to “hear” the Megillah.
5. If you are not at home, what day you are supposed to read.
6. How many people are called to the Torah to read on a Torah reading day. Torah reading days include Monday and Thursday, Shabbes, Fast days, Rosh Chodesh, Yom Tov, Rosh Hashanah, and Yom Kippur.
7. We learn what we need ten men for.
8. When you read from the Torah – how many pissukim you can read and why and when the Barachas are to be said. I would like to share a discussion that my father and I had on the Gemmara about the first time you hear leining. – if you come late and you leave in the middle of leining – PLEASE Don’t tell anyone what you heard – because your telling what you heard is the main problem in the Gemmara.
9. The Gemmara tells us about a Cohen with a missing finger – I am glad I am not a Cohen because of my arm and hand.
10. They used to continuous translation when the Torah was read. There is a large discussion about what to translate and what to skip.
11. Next the Gemmara spends several pages teaching us about what we can do with the money received from selling something holy items like a Shule, a Sefer Torah, the things that hold a sefer Torah or a holy book. I remember learning this with Rabbi Marcus OBM.
12. The Gemmara spends a Daf (double sides of a page) teaching us what we can do in a destroyed synagogue.
13. There is a confusing discussion about the four Parshiot – Shaklim, Zachor, Parah, and HaChodesh -I remember Rabbi Goldreich teaching me the order – The money remembers the cow of the new month.
14. The Gemmara then speaks about what we lein on all the Yom Tovim.
15. The Gemmara ends with how to read from a Sefer Torah.

As we can see the Gemmara covers lots of topics beyond the Megilliah. Since Purim has been gone for several months – lets summarize the story.

Haman hates the Jews and tries to destroy us.

Mordechei makes Esther the wife of King Achavrosh.

Esther prays to Gd and then Haman and 10 of his sons gets hung.

We listen to the Megilah, give gifts to the poor and to our friends and then we eat.

Now that you have an outline of what I have learned in the last couple months I would like to share with you How the story Noach and the story of Esther are connected.

On the surface it appears that Noach and the Megillah is not connected

1. The Megillah is about closed miracles. No one hears directly hear from Gd nor is Gd’s name ever mentioned. The whole story appears like a number of random coincidences.
   Noach on the other hand is about open miracles. Noach is instructed directly by Gd. We see Gd’s hand it in.
2. Noach walks and chats with Gd. But nobody in the Megillah talks directly with Gd or even indirectly through dreams or any other kind of navuah.
3. Noach didn’t seem to have any human help. Esther had Mordechai and the Jewish people helping out.
4. Megillah has Haman who is a man as the enemy – and in Noach the people’s behavior is the enemy.
5. In Noach – Gd tells the world why they are being punished, in the Megillah it doesn’t say why Gd caused Haman to have such power.

If we can connect what appears to be two totally different approaches about how Gd operates then we may have an understanding of how Gd works in our everyday lives.

I believe that connecting and understanding the two stories may help us understand how a heart can pump blood. How Gd can give a person a life threatening sickness. How Gd can choose to save them or not save them.

The connection between the two different approaches is clear to me. The connection is that we must take an action when Gd sends you a blessing, and the action is that you always need to recognize it as a blessing.

The important thing is what we do. We must take an action. We must do something about what happens. You need to trust and believe in Gd no matter what he sends your way.

There is a reason for everything. We may not like the method, we may hate the method, and we many never know the reason in our own lives, but Gd does what he wants for a reason and at some point at some time somebody will understand that reason.

Sometimes the reason can be understood and is apparent like in Noach and sometimes the reason is hidden like in Megillah.

I want to thank Gd for creating my right arm – so I can be like Noach. It looks bad – but it has made me unique and has helped me develop my personality. I want to be like Esther and thank Gd for bringing me to this place, in this time, in this season. This Bar Mitzfah looks like Danny, my father and I did all the work. But, Gd gave me the brains, the people, and the location to do it, to describe just some of the things I needed.

And here is what I want you to do right now – Meet Gd halfway like Noach did when he built the Teva or Esther did when she went to King Achashvarosh. Thank Gd right now for something that appears bad that has happened to you. By thanking him for something bad – you will be like Noach when you need help in an open miracle.  Then thank Gd for something good – so you can ask for help like Esther in a closed miracle.

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Tagged as: Zale Tabakman