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.