Shelby’s Bat Mitzvah

Howdy from Plano, Texas!

Shelby became a Bat Mitzvah on February 24, 2007. We, of course, are proud of the hard work she put in to do a beautiful job in reading the torah, haftarah and everything she did.

One thing we learned — Mapquest was NOT reliable when looking up directions to the country club. Google Maps had the correct directions. We’re so sorry for those who had trouble finding the club.

* Photos

* Mitzvah Project

* Program, Videos and Speeches

* FAQ

Photos

The first album follows Shelby from birth to present. The second album shows snapshots of the weekend. More photos are coming as family send them in. Click “This Album” to see the full sized images. You can also see an abbreviated bat mitzvah album.

* More photos of the family here. What can we say? We love showing off the kids. Here are the photos of our house remodeling mess from January 2007.

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Bat Mitzvah Project

I believe helping others is something that should be a regular part of our lives. Shelby wants to educate others about Darfur, so I told her I’d post something here from her. She is contributing over $500 to Darfur to buy stoves for families.

Darfur is a place in Africa where a great deal of genocide and mass murder. Millions have been killed, and the government is causing it. I’d like to see good wishes sent to places like Darfur and the unfortunate who need help. I care about it because I believe everyone should have the option to at least help themselves, and they don’t even have that. I want people to take action and spread the knowledge, even possibly making it more of a grateful nation.

Here’s a PowerPoint presentation [pdf file] about Darfur. You can help Darfur by buying t-shirts or wrist bands to spread awareness, donate money for a stove and other needed supplies.

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Program, Speeches, and Video

* Videos of Shelby practicing haftarah and doing aliyah at the Thursday morning minyan.

* Bat Mitzvah Program: Note that the front page may not look right on your computer. [pdf file]

* Parent speech to Shelby [PDF file]

* Shelby’s haftarah and thank you speeches [PDF file]

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is Parshat Terumah (Exodus 25:1-27:19) about? (Shelby’s torah portion)

From a Jewish resource: “The people of Israel are called upon to contribute fifteen materials — gold, silver and copper; blue, purple and red-dyed wool; flax, goat hair, animal skins, wood, olive oil, spices and gems — out of which, G-d says to Moses, ‘They shall make for Me a Sanctuary, and I shall dwell amidst them.’

“On the summit of Mount Sinai, Moses is given detailed instructions on how to construct this dwelling for G-d so that it could be readily dismantled, transported and reassembled as the people journeyed in the desert.

“In the Sanctuary’s inner chamber, behind an artistically woven curtain, was the Ark containing the Tablets of Testimony engraved with the Ten Commandments; on the Ark’s cover stood two winged cherubim hammered out of pure gold. In the outer chamber stood the seven-branched Menorah and the Table upon which the ’showbread’ was arranged.

“The Sanctuary’s three walls were fitted together from 48 upright wooden boards, each of which was overlaid with gold and held up by a pair of silver foundation sockets. The roof was formed of three layers of coverings: (a) tapestries of multi-colored wool and linen; (b) a covering made of goat-hair; (c) a covering of ram and tachash skins. Across the front of the Sanctuary was an embroidered screen held up by five posts.

“Surrounding the Sanctuary and the copper-plated Altar which fronted it was an enclosure of linen hangings, supported by 60 wooden posts with silver hooks and trimmings and reinforced by copper stakes.”

What does that garbled line on the invitation say?

That’s Shelby’s Hebrew name: Simcha Netanya. She’s named for her maternal great-grandfather, Simcha Natan, Sidney Raimey (z”l). The programs will have more Hebrew on the cover (click to make larger). It has her Hebrew name under neath her English name. The Hebrew that appears in a curve says “Simcha Netanya bat Peretz Avraham and Miriam” (She’s the daughter of Paul and Meryl). It also has “Bat Mitzvah” and the date in Hebrew.

What the heck does “dressy casual” mean?

Yeah, we don’t like those fancy dress terms either, but there wasn’t a better way to say it. “Business casual” is just the wrong term to use for this event. For the most part, it means no jeans or shorts. Shelby would like folks to wear black and white, but that’s optional.

Many of Shelby’s friends wore knee-length dresses with a strap on each shoulder. Unfortunately, that’s standard today. Boys wore a collard shirt with khaki-style pants. Adults wore pants suits, dresses, collared shirts and khaki-style pants and a few things in between.

What can we expect at services? (Though this isn’t relevant anymore, we’re keeping everything here so we remember in four years when it’s time to plan Lane’s bar mitzvah — save the date! It’ll be late January or early February in 2012.

The synagogue has a babysitter for young kids. Let me know if you plan to use the sitter because if we have more young’uns than expected, I need to let the synagogue know so they get another sitter.

It’s OK not to show up right at 9:30am. Services last til lunch time and that’s why we reward you with a luncheon Dress is typical services attire: women in dresses or suits, men in suits or nice pants and shirts. All men (Jewish or not) wear a beanie (known as kippah or yarmulka — no worries, no propellers on them) they are available when they enter the building (right by the door).

Everyone is welcome to attend services.

What events can our kids attend?

A friend asked this and others may wonder, but aren’t comfortable asking. So we’ll save the awkwardness and put it here. Everyone can attend services. The only kids coming to the party are Shelby’s friends and cousins, brother Lane and his best friend, and baby brother Zachary (who won’t stay the whole time.). Rule of thumb: The names on the outside of the envelope should clarify this (with the exception of the service).

Even though the wonderful weekend is over and we have our memories, some of you might have questions about the service or anything — ask a question and we’ll add it to this page.

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