By Judy Kandel (4-18-09)

Today is nine days, which is one week and two days of the Omer.

 

It is a tradition to count the days between Passover and Shavuot, as we mark our freedom from slavery and celebrate our freedom to accept Torah. This is called "counting the omer." This year we will observe the tradition of "counting the omer" by sharing stories about the many different ways that we have been turned on to Jewish learning, and through Jewish learning to Torah.

I was raised in an Orthodox family, the only daughter with two brothers - one older and one younger.  Both my brothers went to yeshiva, but with limited income it was decided that I, as the girl, could go to public school and afternoon Talmud Torah.  I learned to read Hebrew, but not much else. Both my brothers had Bar Mitzvah ceremonies and modest parties attended by our entire family and many friends. I got a catered lunch with a few friends when I turned "sweet sixteen."  I don't remember feeling that I missed much by not having a Bat Mitzvah - after all, I did not have to perform in front of everyone. 
 
I came to California for graduate school and attended egalitarian services housed at UCLA Hillel. There I first experienced being called up to the Torah and seeing the open scroll. It was magical. So at 33, I decided that I wanted to have a Bat Mitzvah. I hired a young man to teach me my Maftir and Haftarah.  He explained the trope marks. It was like being let into a secret society that had existed around me all these years. So that was how everyone knew the melody. 

 

Hearing Torah and Haftarah has never been the same. And while I still quake with anxiety whenever I volunteer to read in front of the community, I feel enriched and empowered and part of Jewish history.
 
And by the way, I threw myself a modest Bat Mitzvah party for many friends.
 
By Judy Kandel

These stories are brought to you by the Temple Emanuel RE-IMAGINE project, an 18-month initiative sponsored by Hebrew Union College, devoted to re-thinking and re-structuring our religious school.