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March 20, 1954

Bar Mitzvah Charge (1954)

Tzav Bar & Bat Mitzvah
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Bar Mitzvah Letter Outline (1956)

Dear _______, On _______, your Bar Mitzvah was held in Congregation Kodimoh. You will remember that prior to that important event in your life, on _______, we had an intimate chat in my office during which one or both of your parents were present. At that time, I pointed out to you that the whole procedure of Bar Mitzvah was just a farce unless you followed it up in a special way. I told you that it meant that from then on you were to be a “good Jew” – and that the way to do that was to lead a Jewish way of life. Particularly, I urged you to put on your tefillin every morning and daven at least the Shema and the Shemoneh Esrei – to come to services at Kodimoh every Saturday and holiday morning – and to participate in the activities of our teen-age group, the “Bnei Mitzvah,” which meets every Sunday morning at 9:00 a.m. for their minyan and which is followed by breakfast and a meeting. In my office, on that day, you promised me the following: —. I am sure that as an honorable person you want to keep your word, and that as a good Jew you will want to live in such a manner that will prove that your Bar Mitzvah was something serious and sincere. I therefore write to you to remind you of your promise, and to tell you that I anxiously look forward to greeting you as a “regular” at our Saturday services (they begin at 8:30 a.m. – you may come a little later if you wish) and our Sunday morning breakfast minyan (9:00 a.m. – be prompt, please!). I am confident that you will not disappoint me. Cordially, Rabbi Norman Lamm
Bar & Bat Mitzvah

Outline

Yoni's Bar Mitzvah (1997)

His size – intimidates me; my BM – orange crate. Tribute his parents: Rivkie – & fabulous sisters – (her parents)… & Josh – calm, normal, wise – & his bro/sisters (his mother). In both cases – pleasure note frndshp שבת אחים. ואתה עיף ויגע ולא ירא אלקים… תמחה את זכר עמלק מתחת השמים. Then: physical eradication; but today, how מקיים המצוה? Answer: by fighting contemporary evil… but also: by building up our own moral stature. Rabbis: “ואתה עיף ויגע” – זה ישראל – “ולא ירא אלקים” – זה עמלק. So, reverse it: instead of tired/weary – energetic… instead of Amalek having no fear of God, we do… We are surrounded by Amalek-type elements – certain bitter enemies… etc. BUT worse: defections from Judaism, ignorance, occasionally unethical behavior by religious Jews… So, the battleground has shifted from military to ideological… Our task – make Torah more central in our lives, make Torah more desirable to other Jews and non-Jews by our conduct – more desirable, more attractive. Hinted at in gematria: תמחה את זכר עמלק = מצוות 240 – 227 = 13… age of. Yoni: you’re strong and athletic, so fight evil… but more important: you’re gentle (vegetarian), warm, affable. Concentrate on the positive: מצוות… erase Amalek by… Moreover: 13 = אחד & אהבה – with abundant love of ה׳, תורה, ישראל – and realization that each individual must assume he’s the אחד, the only one who can do his assigned task…
Bar & Bat Mitzvah

Synagogue Sermon

Talk to Bar Mitzvah (1953)

On this occasion of your Bar Mitzvah, as you have made so eloquently obvious in your address, you reach your majority. According to Jewish Law, you are an adult in the full sense of the word – with all the privileges and responsibilities that it implies. When your Father, just a short while ago, recited the traditional formula ברוך שפטרני מעונשו שלזה, he announced that from now on you are, so to speak, “on your own.” You are expected to act and behave as a mature Jew acts and behaves.Let me draw your attention to an episode recorded in this week’s Sedra in which another young man was just coming into his own and beginning on the adventure of mature Jewish life. Joseph was sent away from home by his loving father Jacob. He was sent to inquire after his brothers, to learn to live with them, to make headway in Society and in Life. And so often happens with so many Jews, as we begin our adventures in maturity, we find ourselves והנה תועה בשדה – wandering in the field. We feel lost. We don’t know the right way from the wrong way. Many such people continue to travel in circles, and never reach the desired goal, they never find the right path. Their life is all wandering aimlessly. But not a Joseph. Not the son of Jacob. Not a young man with a love for his family and his people and his G-d. When such a young man first leaves his childhood behind him and begins to feel lost, then וימצאהו איש, then, as with Joseph, a “man” finds him. This man, who our Rabbis say was an angel, sets him straight, shows him the right path, points out to him how he can find his brothers and ultimately, after many adventures, realize his great ambitions and becomes a source of pride to his family.As you go out on the great road of life, we hope and pray that you too may be guided by an angel, that you too – thanks to the training your parents and family and community have given you – will find the right ways and follow it.And do you know who this angel is? Some Rabbis said it was Gabriel, and ot…
Vayeshev Bar & Bat Mitzvah