Mazal Tov Dahlia! We are so happy to be celebrating your Bas Mitzvah together.
You have grown to be such and outstanding young woman, a real Bas Yisrael. Mazal
Tov to my dear friends Rabbi Jon & Leah Savage! You mean so much to so many as
evidenced by the many people who have come out today to celebrate with you. Mazal
Tov to the grandparents the Savages and the Mr Lebowitz its always an honor when
you visit. And to the Dembes who similarly mean so much to our community. Your
involvement in so many things is an inspiration for so many. It is truly an honor to be
celebrating with you today.
Dahlia, today is a very special day. For two reasons. The first is that it’s your Bas
Mitzvah- what can be more special than your becoming a young Jewish adult? But
there is also a second reason that makes today special. And that is that on the Hebrew
calendar, today is called Yom HaMeyuchas- the Day of Yichus. Of lineage. You know
Yichus, like when you had a prominent family member that is called Yichus. What is
Yom haMeyuchas- the day of Yichus? It is the second day of the month of Sivan. You
see yesterday was Rosh Chodesh Sivan and tomorrow begins the Shloshet Yemei
HaGabalah, the three preparatory days for Shavuos. All of these are considered minor
holidays and therefore the tradition is not to recite tachanun on them. And the
Halacha is that we also don’t recite Tachanun today as well. Why? What happened
historically on Yom HaMeyuchas? The answer seems to be nothing. It seems to be
simply sandwiched between two days. The Rosh Chodesh and the Shelehset Yemei
Hagabalah. And as the explanation goes, its this yichus that makes it noteworthy. But
really? Is that ll the day is about? How can that be? Let us look into this more deeply.
But allow me please to begin with a story. The famous Israeli journalist, Sivan
Rahav Meir writes that I had the privilege of meeting this week with a very special
group of courageous girls: Bat Mitzvah girls from Kiryat Shmona, a city in northern
Israel has been evacuated for months due to Hezbollah shelling from Lebanon.
Three hundred and twenty children attend the “Uziel” School in Kiryat Shmona. Now
these students are spread out among more than 100 schools in Israel, from Eilat to
Gush Etzion to Haifa. But the sixth-grade girls found a wonderful reason for a reunion in
Jerusalem this week: to celebrate their Bat Mitzvahs. Although, sadly, they were forced
to grow up a bit too early this year…We spoke about the difficulties they faced and
how much they miss their city. We told jokes about hotels and temporary housing. We
saluted their incredible mothers, and I saw how much fun it was for them to meet up
again with their principal and teachers whom they haven’t seen for a long time. But,
above all, we spoke about Jewish girls their age over the generations: the 12-year-old
girls who went into exile after the destruction of the Temple, from this very place,
Jerusalem, and we asked ourselves what gave them the strength to carry on. We
thought about the girls who experienced the Exodus from Egypt, the girls who came on
Aliyah from Yemen and from Poland when Israel was still a wasteland, and those who
lived in Israel in the 1950’s during the early years of the State. We thought about all the
girls who became young women, and later mothers, during the thousands of years of
our nation’s history. And we discussed how life has always been a journey filled with
uncertainty. What was it that have them the courage to withstand these profoundly
difficult moneys of chaos? Of instability? The answer was that they saw themselves as
part of Jewish history. As part of the Jewish People. This is what celebrating a Bas
Mitzvah was all about she told them. despite all the chaos, they have been given the
greatest present possible: stability, identity, an anchor, a sense of belonging, and a
sense of meaning: 613 precious gifts (mitzvot). I wish the warmest Mazal Tov to the Bat
Mitzvah girls of Kiryat Shmona on becoming young adults. Welcome to the club called,
“The Jewish People.”
Dahlia, this story highlights the reason we observe Yom HaMeyuchas. Allow me
to explain. The Midrash explains that when it came time to give the Torah to the
Jewish People the nations of the world became jealous and asked why the Jewish
people deserved to be brought closer to Hashem more than they. Hashem’s response
was that the Jewish people should come and bring their שטר†יוחסין†. The count teaches us
that the reason why the Jews were selected was because of their יחוס†. When the nations
heard, they began praising the Jews for this quality. How does our yichus make us
uniquely worthy of receiving the Torah and what does that have to do with counting us
as a nation? Yichus doesn’t just mean that a person pulls out his family tree or that he
can list off a chain of fifteen or twenty of his ancestors by heart. Instead, it refers to a
completely different way that one views himself. Rather than seeing himself as a
standalone individual existing in a historical vacuum, a person with yichus recognizes
how that yichus completely transforms his perspective, and him as a result. Rather than
simply being knowledgeable of the special qualities and talents of his predecessors, he
understands himself to be the continuation of a legacy; as the descendant of those
people, those qualities are something which he uniquely carries in his identity and
possesses the ability to advance and develop further. As the Gemara says, a son is the
legs of his father. Someone who self-identifies as a son automatically steps into a role
greater than his individual self, as he becomes the continuation of a mission which
traverses generations.
And this is exactly what Sivan Rahav Meir told those displaced Bas Mitzvah girls
in Israel. Yes you have been displaced for months. And its terrible. But welcome to the
club called the Jewish People. Jewish throughout the ages have been persecuted, have
been displaced, have had to take refuge- but do you know what gave them solace? Do
you know what gave them strength? It was that they saw themselves as part of the
Jewish People. They are bearers of the legacy of Sinai. We stand for something so
much bigger and more powerful than anything the world can throw at us. And the
greatest source of stability she told them was their embracing that Jewish identity.
Because it means you know who you are. You know where you came from you know
what your values are and you know where you’re going.
Dahlia, this is what we are celebrating together with you today. It is the day that
you too embrace this identity, this nobility, this value set. And Baruch HaShehm we are
so proud of the way you have done this already. I have to tell you that we are impressed
by you. You are outgoing, fun, a leader, you’re a Bnos leader in our Shul, you’re
thoughtful, dedicated, passionate about your Yiddishkeit, you have fine middot, and you are
tzanua. You have embraced your identity as part of the Jewish People in the most
beautiful way. And it is this trait that will stand for you throughout your life. You have big
things in store Dahlia and if you keep your legacy, your yichus, front and center, if you
see yourself as part of that chain- then you will always make a huge impact.
But the truth is that it’s not only you. You do have yichus. Your parents are
incredible role models. You know Jon, I don’t know if you remember the first time we sat
down at Starbucks, and I twisted your arm about moving to Columbus. Ever since then
you and Leah have been the incredible force behind so much of the growth that we have
experienced in our city. You are so committed so dedicated to the Torah institutions in
this city. It’s hard even to recount the many many thing you do. From being a Rebbe in
the school to fundraising for the Shul, being a board member, getting things done,
spearheading the Eruv campaign, giving out candy for Adon Olam, Leah – you have
consistently stepped up to help this community in whatever area is needed – whether
being a teacher in the school, sisterhood president, building a critically important camp
b’Simcha for our community, involvement with the Mikvah and with Jewish Columbus.
You both do it with an incredible deviation and love. And while Im 1000% sure that IM
missing many things from what you do- the truth is that it’s not only about individual
accomplishments. You bring your incredible talents, energy passion to the Torah
community and model an exemplary Torah lifestyle and role models for the rest of us.
You are our essential partners in building the Torah community.
And so Dahlia, welcome to the Jewish People. You have the Yichus from your
parents and grandparents. And really more importantly, you understand what Yichus
means. You understand that yichus means you’re part of this incredible story called the
Jewish People. As you continue to embrace mitzvahs, Torah and Halacha, tznius, and
middos, you will undoubtedly make an enormous impact on the Jewish People. Dahlia,
this is what has given strength to Jews throughout the world. And throughout Jewish
history.