Fighting For Life – Cancer
My online bat mitzvah student said that she was so upset to hear that one of her best friends was not going to be having a bat mitzvah because she’s suffering from cancer and reading from the Torah, and having this wonderful event is the last thing on her mind, and her families’s mind right now, as she is fighting for her life to survive this horrible disease.
As a Cantor who officiates bar and bat mitzvah ceremonies and helps prepare boys and girls for their milestone events, I often meet students and families who are going through really important things in their life, and I feel it’s incumbent upon me to be an empathetic listener and source of help and advice. At CoolCantor, I am not someone who only teaches students about reading Hebrew, lessons from the Torah, how to sing a Torah portion, I am a life coach and mentor for my Bar and Bar Mitzvah Students as well. This really sets me apart from other Hebrew schools.
This student in particular, wanted to do something meaningful as part of her bat mitzvah, and so she decided to partner with a charity to help other kids going through cancer treatments.
She decided to share her big day with a Jewish girl suffering from cancer who also wanted to have a bat mitzvah but because of ill health and expensive medical bills wasn’t planning on having one. At Hebrew school , my student learned how to read Hebrew but it was at CoolCantor online Jewish learning and bar and bat mitzvah education where she learned how to live intentionally and make deliberate choices to spread kindness and goodness in the world. Rabbis have long taught to make this world better one kind action at a time. A bat mitzvah is an opportunity to do just that. My student decided to bring her bat mitzvah service to the condo party room of the girl suffering with cancer and to have a joint service where both girls sing a Torah potion , read beautifully in Hebrew and read a speech inspired by Rabbi Sax who wrote about helping others in need.
Both girls partied together after the service like it was 1999 and they danced and ate and laughed all night long.
Singing a Torah portion confidently is great, but what also is awesome is sharing your bat mitzvah with a special friend who is battling for her life ! Learning to be a great human being through the lens of the Torah is what I teach at CoolCantor.
