This past weekend was Jared’s Bar Mitzvah.  I was so worried about this one, simply from a time constraint perspective.  No sooner did I finish Jess & Pete’s wedding in Orlando, I jumped in the car, drove home, taught Hebrew School from 9-10am, and was ready for Jared’s Bar Mitzvah at 10:30! (It required setup at 7:30 a.m., but it’s all in a day’s work..)

I was just worried that something might go wrong with driving back and forth, or that I might not be as focused as I needed to be, but from the moment we entered that room, there was a very special magic.

Jill’s friend, Janet, who is a mutual friend of my bff Mindy, was there, and she told me the story before we started about how she was responsible for baking Jared’s challah from scratch.  She baked one the night before, and she said “It just wasn’t feeling the love…” so..she got up the next morning, and baked a new one.  This time, she had all the positive, yummy, feel good intention for Jared that she was feeling as she was rolling the dough, and this one came out just perfect!  I thought – what a great thing to share in the service!!  It is so true that when we make things with love and positive intention, they come out even more yummy than we could ever imagine! YES!

The morning just got better from there.  Jared was one of the most poised, unflappable young men I have seen on a bimah. He knew his material, and was so proud to be there, that his attitude helped make the day so incredibly successful.  Jill, who was so worried about writing her “Dear G-d” prayer for Jared, spoke so beautifully and eloquently, and so did Bruce.  Their prayer for Jared was just what we all pray for, for our children, but knowing how nervous Jill was, it made it all the more special for me to listen to.  Hard not to shed a tear at that moment, for everyone – including me!

As I promised Jill, but she might not have originally believed, the service was over in a flash.  Torah reading, prayers, Aleinu, Kaddish…all short, but very sweet, and it was time to move on to the celebration everyone had waited for.  Jared was moving on to be the rock star of the day!

I moved on – to go collapse at home!  A wedding the night before and a Bar Mitzvah the next morning can take quite a bit out of a traveling Cantor.  But, the day was peaceful, and filled with beautiful memories of two amazing events in one single weekend.  This was one incredibly proud traveling Cantor!

What made me even prouder, was to receive Jill’s email the following day.  It was the best email I had ever received – and so I am going to be a tad boastful, and publish it here, on Jared’s blog entry.  (As well as my references page).  I’m just so proud and fulfilled to bring these kind of feelings to a an experience, not to mention a family who I have really grown to love…

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