תורת רושל זלLetters to a Future Child
Letter to my Daughter on the Friday Night of Her Bat Mitzvah Dina Barrish D ear Amanda, For about three years now, all you’ve been thinking about is tomorrow. Tomorrow is the nerves; tomorrow is the pride; tomorrow you put on the dress we devoted hours to choosing. Channel your months and months of preparation, and approach the Torah as a Bat Mitzvah. Tomorrow culminates your Jewish life thus far. The issue with anticipating tomorrow, however, is that we forget today. So for just this moment, I want to pause, take a step back, and remember where we are. Specifically, Amanda, where you are. You stand beside me, surrounded with the love of family and friends the night preceding your Bat Mitzvah. You are about to embark upon the journey of Jewish adulthood — about to exist in the most sacred of covenantal relationships with God, Torah, the Jewish people, humanity at large, and, especially, yourself.
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I would be remiss, then, not to take advantage of this precious “sanctuary in time,” as Heschel would say — this inhale before your release into the covenantal community — to impart a mother’s wisdom and destine you for a life of happiness and fulfillment. I want to equip you with the knowledge I’ve amassed from deep study of Judaic texts: my understanding of what it means to be human, craft a just society, and the nature of the relationship between the individual and the community. I want you, as my daughter, to embody all the value this religion has to offer, and I wish that you perpetuate this sacredness throughout your life. First and foremost, I’d like to recognize the principles of Judaism that you inherently manifest. So please, bear with me as I analyze the fundamental sources that encapsulate your personality. Mishnah Sanhedrin 4:5 famously asserts, “Lefichach nivra adam yechidid lelamdach shekol hameabed nefesh ahat ma’ale alav hakatuv keilu ibed olam maleh.” See Barrish, next page
