Benjamin Jacobi's Bar Mitzvah Speech

Nachamu Nachamu ami. Comfort, Comfort my people. How appropriate these words are for a time like this. Here we are, and, in saying we, I mean the Jewish people, the Israelis, as I consider myself due to the fact that both my parents are Israeli. Here we are in the middle of a war. A perfect situation in which one might need comfort. People in Israel , from the north, Haifa , its suburbs, and other smaller northern cities, all those people are coming into central and southern Israel . If I were to ask someone why they thought the Israelis, the refugees, are leaving the homes in the north, they might say its because the Israelis are afraid of hisbola and their rockets. That is acceptable, but I disagree. They are not afraid of Hizbula, their rockets, they are not afraid of anything at all! And If they are afraid, it isn’t of something controlled by humans, if they are afraid, it is of death. But even that they aren’t afraid of. Death is also explained in my haftorah. It says, "All flesh is like grass, all its kindness, like a blossom in the field. The grass withers and the blossom fades when the breath of god blows upon it, indeed the people are grass." This means that death is normal, it happens, it is the way of God. So the refugees are not afraid of death, of something normal. The reason the refugees are leaving is not out of fear of death, but out of hope. The very next line is "grass withers, the blossom fades, but the word of God lasts for ever." So they leave the north, hoping that they can continue teaching their children Torah, and learning Torah from the elders. They leave the north in hope that they can keep the word of God, the Torah alive for eternity.

My parsha, or Torah portion, contains many interesting and important things in Judaism, from the shema, a prayer we say twice everyday, to the Ten Commandments. The point which I chose to focus on, however, was one a little less noted. In chapter 4 verse 16, Moses teaches the Jewish people how they should act, soon he will die and will no longer be able to guide them in the ways of god. He says, "do not test God as you did at Massah." Massah is the place where the Jewish people complained that they had no water. They believed God had left them to die in the desert...but God commands Moses to strike a rock, bringing forth water to the people. Why did Moses choose Massah as his example of the Jews testing of God? Could it be that this incident is indirectly related to the instance at Kadesh? At Kadesh the Jews complained of the same problem. This time Moses was instructed to speak to the rock. Moses decided to strike the rock instead. Some people believe this is the reason Moses was not allowed into Israel ... based on a prediction made long ago.

Pharaoh’s advisors predicted that the savior of the Jews would "die by water," which is why Pharaoh had all the Jewish boys drowned, instead of having them killed by any other method. Since Moses does not follow God's will regarding the Jews' water, he will die and not be allowed to enter Israel . Thus the prediction is made true.

My parsha begins with Moses pleading to God to let him enter Israel . God tells Moses that the matter is closed, they will discuss it no more. Moses will not enter Israel . But could this instance, with the warning not to test God, be a plea to God, one last try to get him to change his mind? Could Moses be saying that since God has forgiven the Jewish people for their sin at Massa , shouldn’t God forgive Moses for his sin at Kadesh? Or could it be only a serious warning to the Jewish people... Could Moses be warning the Jews, using his own punishment as an example to them? I believe it was just that. After further research I found out that God did not truly forgive the instance at Massah. Massah happened before the "sin of the spies", where the people refused to follow God's command to enter Israel . Those that were at Massah, and consequently, were those same people who were the sin of the spies, did not enter Israel .

At the beginning of my parsha God told Moses the matter was closed. When God speaks so sternly about something such as this it is impossible for the decision to change. Moses realized this and thus the Massah reference in my portion was only a warning to the people of Israel .

Now how does all of this relate to us now, in the 21 st century. We can do what Moses taught the Jewish people to do. Learn from your actions and the actions of others. If someone does something and there are negative consequences because of it, learn from their mistake. Don’t take the same course of action they took. People say it is good to learn from your mistakes...but it is better to learn from the mistakes of others, because then you won’t have to face the consequence yourself.

I began my speech with the words Nachamu Nachamu ami. comfort, comfort my people. This is Shabbat Nachmu, the shabbat of comfort. In order to comfort the Israelis: the children who had to leave their homes, the families of the soldiers who were wounded or killed, I plan to give to charities associated with Israeli children or soldiers and their families.

I would like to thank:

Rabbi Stampfer for teaching me the Torah and the Torah trup.

Aaron Frankel for teaching me the haftorah and haftorah trup, and going over the Torah portion with me.

Rabbi Lopatin and Paul the Gabi for helping getting all the little things done.

My Friends and families who have come from across the street to across the ocean,

mention grandparents (zichronam L'vrachah)

abuelita who is unable to travel from Israel to be here today.

and MOST IMPORTANTLY parents, for driving me insane and making me study, because without them I surely would have lazed off, and nothing would have gotten done.

Shabbat Shalom