To Jacob - ON your bar mitzvah

Before I start, I would like to thank Alan and Lynn, my mom, Carol for their love and support.  I would also like to thank Nancy, because without her planning for the past 6 months, this entire day would not have taken place.  We even joked a few times, that if anything happened to her, I might not be able to pull today off since I was “still in Singapore”

I would like to thank all of you for travelling near and far to be able to join us for this special day.  Every single one of you has touched our lives in some way.  We would like to send our thoughts to Aunt Janet, who is unable to be here today and hoping she gets well soon.

Jacob -

They say that the only two things that are certain in life are death and taxes. To them, I would like to add a third and a fourth.

It is CERTAIN that right now, your mother, is sitting quietly, thinking to herself, “Please don’t say anything EMBARRASSING.”

And so I won’t.

Or will I? (rubbing hands together gleefully).

The fourth thing that is certain, is that no father, in history, has ever been more proud of a son than I am of you right now.

A bar mitzvah is an important milestone in a young man’s life. It marks the passage from childhood to young adulthood. But being a “man” is far more than learning and reciting prayers in English and in Hebrew. Being a man, is demonstrating to yourself and others that you have learned and are living by the Jewish laws and values that will serve you well throughout your lifetime.

In your 13 years, you have already demonstrated these values, multiple times in various scenarios.  From the earliest years at Toquam, you were always recognized for your citizenship, your ability to interact with all the other students and help the other kids in your class with what ever they needed.   You were selected to do peer mediation, and helped the scholars in the lower grades mediate conflicts and disagreements. 

You then moved up to Rippowam Middle School.  You were a little nervous, and were not sure what to expect in the beginning, but as we expected you very quickly fell into the routine of the early morning bus and high honor roll, while still participating in baseball, stage crew, wrestling and marching band.  Each semester you found a new extracurricular challenge.  Your continued striving for constant academic improvement is something that makes us very proud though making you practice your haf-torah was torturous

When Mommy started working at JumpStart, you took the individual initiative to jump on a different bus to go to the JCC after school multiple times a week to help out with the program.  You went in, and immediately became an integral part of the program there was even one little boy who was often upset, until you would get there and you helped calm him down.  Your mere presence was enough to put this boy at ease, knowing that you were going to make everything all right, even just for a short time.  The fact that you wanted to do a different mitzvah project than JumpStart demonstrates that helping others is something that comes naturally to you, since you did not recognize that you were already doing this mitzvah for over 2 years now.  It was just what you did, not anything special.  If that is not a Jewish learning, then I don’t know what is. 

It is for these reasons, and knowing what you are capable of doing from this point forward, that makes me the proudest father ever.

If you have not done so, please remember to sign the puzzle pieces with a message for Jacob, enjoy the montage, which was lovingly put together by Nancy, and then feast on the desert.