Teachings: Mitzvah Stories

Inspiring four minute story of an updated approach to gleaning that adds dignity to the lives of the poor by creatively gleaning and supplying fresh produce to the shelves of the local food bank. A readily replicable mitzvah project perfect for bar and bat mitzvah, youth groups, congregations, etc. Gleaning projects are on the rise world-wide, and may be available for participation in your area.

Looking for Me…in This Great Big Family by Betsy R. Rosenthal is a powerful free-verse lament about the burdens of growing up in a large family. Laments are an important part of mobilizing oneself toward healing. This novel offers numerous worthwhile teachable moments for parents and educators who gift or assign it. The rising rates of

"The Story of Pachi"

The easiest way to learn why staff at Bmitzvah.org collect and create exciting new approaches to bar/bat mitzvah is through the story of Pachi, who taught Rabbi Milgram, this site's author and founder, the importance of mentoring meaningful bar/bat mitzvah processes.

During my son Mark’s bar-mitzvah preparatory year, since his Torah portion was Noah [and the ark], I felt fortunate to be serving for as rabbi on a Universe Explorer cruise up the coast of Alaska. We helicoptered onto glaciers, whale watched, visited tribes. The big "Ah Ha!" moment happened in Victoria, British Columbia at the Natural History Museum.

"The Silver Ring"

Two weeks before my bat mitzvah, my mother took me over to her jewelry drawer. She lifted out a silver ring with a turquoise stone in it that had cracks filled with drizzled in gold. "This is my bat mitzvah present for you. This ring is full of special memories and it comes with a blessing." She slipped it onto my right hand ring finger. A perfect fit. "What kind of memories? What do you mean it comes with a blessing?"

This story looks to the Hassidic world for ritual nuances which can benefit the spirit and bear consideration during wedding planning.

The Hurvah Synagogue in Jerusalem is to be the site of a dear friend's wedding held in the style of the Carliner Hassidim from which he learned late in life his family descends. During yeshiva studies in Israel he was assisted in becoming engaged to another baal teshuvah, "master of return", the phrase used for a Jewish person who has newly decided to fully enter the rigorous practices of a given orthodox community.

Upon arriving at the baggage claim in Philadelphia's airport, the man beside me noticed I was holding a Jewish paper open to an article about the arrest of a woman wearing a tallis (prayer shawl) at the Kotel, (the “Wall”) in Jerusalem. The title of this article is the comment he made to me: “A woman in a tallis at the Kotel is like blowing out the Hanukkah candles.” Hoisting my suitcase off onto the baggage cart, I quoted the Iggeret HaKodesh (a Hassidic text) to him: "Whenever ahavat yisrael (love of all Jews) is in the hearts of the Jewish people, the heart of God, the Shechinah is, also healthy." [Epsitle 31] His family was waving and coming towards us, so he simply bowed his head slightly in acknowledgement, and we parted ways blessing each other to have a happy Hanukkah.

“Rabbi, our wedding will be at sunset on a small island off the coast of Western Canada. The beaches are great; there’s even a small mountain. We’ll fly you in and put you up for a few days. But please understand, we want the ceremonial mumbo jumbo out of the way as quickly as possible so our guests can have a good time on the party boats before it’s too dark.”

Based on the wedding of Barry Bub and Goldie Milgram, this component was created and facilitated by Rabbi Shefa Gold without an actual veil because I wanted us there as equals and we used the concept of veils metaphorically. The episode here is from another wedding where the bride preferred an actual veil.

Barry Bub, MD reveals how Jews from very different parts of the spectrum of Jewish practice can, with thought and preparation, have meaningful connection in this Mitzvah Stories podcast filmed at the Museum for Jewish History, NY, NY. The story is his own, "Tied Together and Worlds Apart," from Mitzvah Stories: Seeds for Inspiration and Learning  - Buy Now