Celebrating Chanukah is my favorite thing about being Jewish, because I get to spend time with my family and I get to sing the blessing when we light the candles. I also like latkes. I enjoy going to Saturday morning services because I know all of the prayers and the tunes to go along with them, so I am able to fully participate in the service.

I am looking forward to becoming a Bat Mitzvah because it is a day I get to share with all of the important people in my life. It feels good to be able to stand in front of the community and know that people trust me enough to lead them through the service.

One of the things that surprised me during my bat mitzvah preparation was how much I ended up liking services. In the beginning, I didn’t think I would enjoy going to services, but as I continued going to tutoring, it got better, and I got better, and I was able to participate more and more, and it got more fun.

For my Mitzvah Project, I volunteered to read with the little kids at Freedom School. At first I didn’t think I’d have fun with them, but as I got to know them, and realized that I could relate to them about all sorts of things, I ended up having a good time. I also learned how to be better at communicating – the longer I was there, the more comfortable I became interacting with the scholars, which made it easier to communicate and motivated me to keep coming back.

Now that I am a Bat Mitzvah, I plan to continue my Jewish education by celebrating holidays, coming to services once in awhile, and I am considering joining a youth group!

Alison is the daughter of Adam and Shannon Berliner. She is the sister of Carolyn Berliner. She is the granddaughter of Adrienne and Alan Berliner, and Linda Church, who all live in Florida. Send notes of mazal tov.