They're Growing Up So Fast

When I lived in Austin for a couple of years with my sister, I was a nanny for a family that had an 11-year-old boy and a 9-year-old girl. Welp, now they're 13 and 15 (?!). My how time has flown by. Yesterday morning I was privileged to attend Gaby's bat mitzvah. I've been to one other bat mitzvah, so I sort of  knew what to expect, but it was still a very cool experience. This was the first time I had ever been inside a Jewish temple.

There's a lot of pew (right word?) in this picture
because I was trying to be inconspicuous.

The temple looked a lot like a Christian church, but instead of the cross in the middle of the front, there were the ten commandments and, below that, a sort of alcove which housed the Torah - in this case, a big set of scrolls - which is veiled. [Sidenote: I really like this concept, that the scripture is holy and should be approached with reverence. I think, as a Christian, we tend to be a little too casual with our Bible and what it says.] Also, as I entered, I was handed a Siddur, a Jewish prayer book, comparable to the Christian hymnal.

Before we started, the rabbi said he knew we were a congregation of mixed faiths and assured us that there wasn't anything in the service that we couldn't say and betray our [Christian] faith. Don't mind if I do, Rabbi. We did the "Morning Shabbat" portion of the Siddur. It was a mixture of prayers, chants, congregation participation passages, and songs. I really enjoyed it - it shed a new light on the Old Testament. The portions from the Torah that are not in the Christian Bible were wonderful. They thank God for everything. They thank Him for the ability to discern between dark and light, for the ability to wake up in the morning, for the feeling of our first morning stretch. I love it. Some day I'll get to thank God for more than 3 hours of uninterrupted sleep. Here's one of my favorite prayers recited:

Praise to you, Adonai our God, Sovereign of the universe,
Rock of all creation, Righteous One of all generations,
the faithful God whose word is deed, whose every command is just and true.
For the Torah, for the privilege of worship, for the prophets,
and for this Shabbat that You, Adonai our God, have given us
for holiness and rest, for honor and glory: we thank and bless You.
May Your name be blessed for ever by every living being.
Praise to You, Adonai, for the Sabbath and its holiness.

So, the purpose of a bat/bar mitzvah celebration is to welcome a 13-year-old child into the community of Jewish adults and congratulate him/her on accepting the responsibilities of Judaism. In preparation of this, Gaby did a lot of studying and memorizing and learning the prayers, chants and songs. I could tell she had worked really hard on this - she read beautifully. The Rabbi told her that if he ever needed a replacement for a sick day, he would call her. The rest of the service was more focused on Gaby specifically becoming a bat mitzvah. One part of the tradition is for her family to arc around her and give their blessing and encouragement as she recites scripture. Her mom and dad also read prayers for her; her mom's prayer made me cry.

After the sermon there was a luncheon. I got to catch up with Gaby's friend's mom who I really like. We marveled at how fast everyone was growing. Now that I'm a mom, I can really relate. Gaby will be in high school soon, and her brother Ben is already in 10th grade. They were just dorky little kids when I was with them.

Aww man, these pictures make me all sentimental.

In case you were wondering what Russ and Garrett were doing during all of this - Russ had to go to a conference (booo) and Garrett was sick (BOOOOO), so I didn't get to show either of them off. Garrett stayed with Auntie KayLynn, and I think it's safe to say he had a pretty good time!