As we
reflect upon our oldest son's bar mitzvah with JFX, we realize that what
made it so very special to us and so many others, was the sheer fact
that it was a real simcha in every way imaginable. By definition, simcha means "a state of joy or pleasure." However, simcha is one of those Hebrew words that loses some of its meaning when translated into English.
What made this a real simcha
for us, beyond the ordinary translation of that word? Was it the
remarkable job our son did reading from the Torah? Not entirely,
although he did an excellent job and watching him brought us
immeasurable pleasure (thank you, Rabbi Helman!). Was it Rabbi Koval,
our incredible and very humble spiritual leader? Not entirely, although
his explanations and personalization of the service brought
unbelievable inspiration and meaning to all present. Was it the singing
by the Pella singing group? Not entirely, although their beautiful
voices added great ruach "spirit" to the service. Was it the friends and
family who joined us? Without them there would have been less support,
warmth and love shared with us, but our son would still have become a
bar mitzvah.
The
path that led us to have our sons' bar mitzvah with JFX was not a
direct one. Rather, we originally decided to take the "worn path" when
the opportunity arose to lay the groundwork for a "new path" by being
one of the first families to have a son "bar mitzvahed" through JFX .
It was really our son's choice, to diverge from our path of first
choice and trod upon and expose this "newer" JFX bar mitzvah path. Were
there challenges, struggles, doubts and fears leading up to this simcha? Absolutely! However, we couldn't be more thrilled with our ultimate decision!
As we learned recently in a mussar (character
development) class, if you want to bring people closer to Torah, let
its beauty emanate from you, and others will want to follow your lead.
Our prayer is that our son's bar mitzvah in some way touched the lives
of all who joined us and somehow inspires them to live and learn more
Torah. From the sampling of what we have heard, many lives were
personally touched. For some it "was the most meaningful of their
Jewish experiences thus far." For those few who expressed some doubt or
concern with the traditions they read or experienced, it is our hope
that this presents an opportunity for additional questioning, thought,
understanding, acceptance and study of Judaism.
So what made our sons' bar mitzvah with JFX such a real simcha, one beyond the literal meaning of the word? The answer is quite simple, it was the perfect conglomeration of all of the above!
We will
continually be grateful for JFX and the many ways this community, a
perfect conglomeration of Torah learning and meaningfulness,
inspiration, ruach, support, understanding and unconditional love,
continues to guide us along a path of personal growth and Jewish
learning. Our oldest son's bar mitzvah was just one real simcha, albeit a very bright and shiny one, along our family's spiritual journey with JFX.
Shabbat Shalom,
Matt and Shawna Rosner
