A Bat Mitzvah
First a little about us: This not a traditional Jewish style Bat Mitzvah, because our way of worship is not a formal one in a synagogue or church, which is most often the case in Judaism or Christianity. Rather, we gather in homes and may rent larger public places to meet for special occasions, such as this. Each individual man is the head of his household and student of The Word and is responsible for guiding his family is living out Scripture based life. Each family is responsible for their own Halahkah (walk). This is a carried out in partnership with their committed wives, who most often are homeschooling their children. There is no "leader" except YHVH (God). There is no "creed" like you find posted for each denomination, but rather the entire Bible, every verse in it's proper context, is our creed. There is no distinct organization except by people within the group connecting through the Father's leading. There is order and respect for our elders, however everyone who is committed is encouraged to contribute and participate; man, woman and child. This is done in respect and love, with humble hearts and reverence for our King. He is our governor and it is HE whom we are ALL under. We encourage the older men to train the younger and likewise the older women to train the younger. There is a strong desire for purity and raising families for service to our King. We have chosen to follow the examples given in Scripture to live set-apart lives, while at the same time being a light to the world. We have realized that we are constantly growing and changing IN HIM and that each individual needs room and encouragement to do that! Because this specific event was recorded during Sukkot, which is a Biblical FEAST of The LORD, this group is a larger community of people coming together from many areas and from out of state, but who are connected through the love of the Father and the love for His ways. This made the Bat Mitzvah quite special.
The Hebrew term "Bat Mitzvah", means "Daughter of the Commandments". This is the first Bat Mitzvah this group has ever done. The parents created a outline and invited the group to contribute. It's purpose was to encourage and recognize the girls as coming to a place of responsibility and accountability in their faith. This is a transitional time in their lives, they are no longer small children and they are on their way to becoming women. It is a beautiful and tender time of life. Each family has had their private times of recognition and encouragement for their daughters, prior to recording this event. This event was to further encourage the young ladies, while also encouraging the community to continue training their children up in the The Way. It is not a short video -- 2 1/2 hours long. We hope you are blessed. Feel free to comment or ask questions at the bottom off the page.
3 comments:
Ben and Pamela
I actualy spent sometime skimming trought the video, I really enjoy y;all and Oh my word the shirt she paitend to Ben was precious! What a great Bat MItzvah. Congratuations to her...!
Shalom Pamela!
Thank you so much for sharing this. It is so beautiful and inspiring. I have been considering having a bat mitzvah for my oldest, who just turned 12...would love your thoughts. I noticed that your daughter Hadassah was a little older when she did hers. Can you explain your reasons for waiting? Or hers? My daughter is 12 but she is a "young 12"...and very shy of public speaking/reading aloud. I like the idea of doing something special for her at this age, as it is traditionally the recognized time for womanhood, right? Yet I wonder if I should wait. She has grown tremendously in so many ways, would love to support who she is becoming, but I don't know yet that her faith in Yeshua has "clicked" yet. Should I wait until she has expressed understanding of her faith? I'm not sure what the signs are to look for that "she's ready". Would love your perspective.
Thanks & Blessings,
Mary (Miryam) Brady :-)
Shalom Shalom Miriam,
I can't remember if we talked about this "on the side" via email or not. (Forgive me this has been a busy winter and I ma just not catching up with my blog comments.) So at the risk of repeating myself - I will go ahead and answer it hear, "just in case". :-)
Yes, My daughter was older. Since this is a tradition, we feel like we have the freedom, privalage and right to express this how we feel appropriate for our family. SO that is what we do. We much prefer this event to mark a notable change in maturity and and "ownership" of the children's desire to make this walk/faith their own...not just their parent's. We do not put an age stamp on it - as it is officiated in Judaism. We feel this can be a wonderful point of encouragement and recgonition for children (and even the parents). It is a new stage that is beautifully marked. We can praise them for all the deep and wonderful things we WITNESS happening in them! That really strengthens and edifies them to want to continue! It can also minister to the young ones in the room - and give them something to "look up too".
There is the practical reality of busy seasons and family needs which may delay such a special event as we would like to "give it our all" when we do. This has been the case with our oldest son right now as I type. We feel has been ready for a Bar Mitzvah for a year now! But we don't want to "phone this in" just to give him one..the timing has not been right becasue of other outside circumstances. As it turns out - I think we will have an even richer Bar Mitzavah with him as well. We take this much more seriously than a birthday party or a "right". It's important to us and we want to make the time special and planned. We figure if the youth was ready 6 months ago, the will he not be even MORE ready six months from now..His walk with Yah will have deepend, and growns so it will mean even more to him and others who witness it. He will be able to contribute more to the event and so will others as they will be able to testify to more fruit! Right??
Some folks in our comunity skipped the Bar/Bat Mitzvah and do it later for their own reasons. They usually call it something else - becasue it may seem strange to them to give an 17-19 year old a Bar Miztvah...but..it really is the same idea..the same recognition and encouragement. Sort of like a spiritual "coming out" party. Our community has been SUCH a blessing in embracing and encouraging each other's children. We really encourage and enforce their roles at these events - becasue it is so good,important and beautiful to do! (then we continue to in our daily walk beside them!!) I sat with tears in my eyes last Sukkot as I looked at some young people whom we walk with. I have witnesses how much they have groan in character and wisdom and looked forward to watching them find their spouses and one day (Yah willing). I may bounce THEIR babies on my knee!! That is family! I guess I am getting off topic a little..but..all that to say that I would encourage you and any parent reading this to talk deeply and often with your spouse about this. Pray and seek Yah's council in what each of your children's timing is. And be blessed to walk in Yah's freedom to carry that out! May He be glorified!
Post a Comment