B'NAI MITZVAH / TEEN (KESHER)

My name is Reilly Reyes and my Bat Mitzvah is on August 5, 2023. I am looking forward to celebrating this special day with my family and friends. In my free time, I enjoy participating in a variety of sports. My current favorites are volleyball and tennis. For my Mitzvah Project, I volunteered at the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (spcaLA), located in Long Beach and the Lovejoy Foundation in Inglewood. I chose this project because I wanted to help animals in need. In July 2020, we adopted a dog (Bixby) from the Lovejoy Foundation, and I realized I wanted to help shelter dogs find forever homes. While working at the spcaLA, I helped with laundry, sorting donations, cleaning kennels, and my favorite activity - training and walking the dogs. It was a long process to work through the different levels of certification at the spcaLA, but I am happy with my accomplishment. Most recently, I started a special project to create pet portraits, which are given to adopters of dogs and cats who have been at spcaLA for a while. Please consider donating to spcala.com or lovejoyfoundation. org, or providing a much needed home to a shelter animal.

My name is Zachary, I'm an only child that lives here in Long Beach. I was born and raised here, and I attend Long Beach Newcomb Academy. My parents are Bernadette and Darrin.

August 5, 2023

Shaiah Olim Vavak will be called to the Torah for his Bar Mitzvah on August 12, 2023.

Creative, caring, brilliant and dedicated are a few words that describe this young man. Shaiah is an Honor Roll student at Oak Middle School who also enjoys acting in their Drama program. In his free time he loves reading, building legos, and video games. Shaiah is always ready to help or play with the littler kids when they need an older role model. He’s generally quiet but when he shows you his heart, you see he’s one of the most caring 13 year olds on the planet. Helping others has always been important to Shaiah, so when it came time for his Mitzvah Project he decided to go door to door and collect canned food for the O.C. Rescue Mission.

August 12, 2023

August 26, 2023

My Mitzvah Project was creating cards for hospitalized children. I worked with a national organization called Cards for Hospitalized Kids to create and deliver cards to children who were sick or injured. It was a very rewarding experience and I'm glad that I was able to make a difference in the lives of these children and to give back to the community.

I am a very creative person, and I enjoy a variety of hobbies. I love to read, and I am always looking for new books to explore. I also enjoy playing video games, and tabletop role-playing games like Dungeons and Dragons with my friends. This past year I was also enrolled in a drama class and the band at my school.

Andi Board Installation

KOL M'YISRAEL / A VOICE FROM ISRAEL

By Jeremy Rosen

Friday is a busy day. Weekdays are reserved for working, exercising, seeing friends and resting, so Fridays are the errands day. Waking up a bit later than usual, I need to take stock of all the goods running low in the pantry. It might seem silly to wait until just one day to do all the errands, but as I have complained about before, the best stores are only open during the middle of the day. As I exit my house, walking down the alley, shopping list folded neatly next to my wallet, the sun always beats down a bit harder than usual. By the time my eyes adjust to the glare, I reach the main street. Already the tiny sidewalks are filled with locals also getting their errands out of the way or tourists who just need to get out of the way. Ascending the hill to the market, five times already I had to step into the street to bypass someone too slow or turn down a Chabbadnik offering me tefillin. This obstacle course leaves the sweat already starting to bead on my forehead.

Passing under the corrugated steel roof leaves, I enter the market. Passing by stalls, the vendors shout about boxes of this fruit or that for ten or twenty shekels. A game begins, between finding the best deals and falling for the vendors tricks. That good price might only be for half a kilo, and it’s important to check beyond the beautiful fruit specimens at the top of the box. Slowly, I make my way down the lane, crossing off items from the list or discovering some new produce in season to get excited about. Bags are weighed, shekels are exchanged. The change is shoved crumpled into my pockets alongside the deteriorating paper of the list. In the middle of a negotiation, never be surprised at the need to pause for a second and say hi to a passing friend. I duck into my favorite stores, where the shopkeeper has my favorite brand hidden away for me or finally has the specialty item I searched for weeks for back in stock. Eventually, I can feel my shoulders sagging under the accumulated weight of the bags and make my final stop. At the flower stand I choose the bouquet to send just the right message for the week to the man waiting at home.

By the time I reach home, the sweat is pouring down my face, bouncing off my nose, and I am struggling to keep my glasses from falling off, barely being able to lift my hand, full of the shoppings, to readjust them. I enter the house and let everything tumble onto the kitchen floor in explosive relief. Slowly I open bag after bag. The dry goods are placed in the pantry, the meats secured in the fridge, and the produce washed in the sink. Grabbing a cold glass of water, I pass the baton to the chef in the family.