Our Temple Emanu-El Shabbaton concluded with a Havdalah service under the stars on a crisp, clear evening in February. Ella holds our family’s candle just before it is extinguished in the wine cup signifying the end of Shabbat and the beginning of another week.
For more information and pictures from the Shabbaton, visit the Lomdim site.
Maddy is a talented artist and this is one of my favourite pieces she has done.
This preceded her “wing period” in which all she ever draws is wings - birds, mythical winged beings, girls with wings sprouting from their back, and often just plain disembodied wings. Unfortunately, she’s still in the wing period.
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We celebrated the first day of spring with a fun-filled Purim carnival. Leigh-Anne did the make-up for everyone.
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All that planning and preparation, months of practicing and it was all over in the blink of an eye. Maddy was remarkably poised, Leigh-Anne was proud and I was beaming.
Photography for the event was ably handled by Jessica on whose blog site you can find sample pictures from the Tuesday afternoon rehearsal and the Sunday evening party.
In the end, I was not prepared for the pure joy I felt throughout the weekend. I was so proud of Maddy’s accomplishments and I was so happy to see her reveling in the attention. Then, it occurred to me that Bar/Bat Mitzvah’s are not just signifying a child’s passage into adulthood, but a parent’s passage to the next stage of parenthood - grandparenthood, perhaps. Hard to imagine, sitting there watching a 14-year-old chant from the Torah. But then again, I did not imagine 7 years ago when Maddy came into my life that I would be sitting behind her on the bimah while she chanted Torah at her Bat Mitzvah.
Life is full if surprises. And this one was one of the sweetest.
